Tyler Harris scored 18 off the bench and Emoni Bates chipped in 16 points as No. 11 Memphis cruised past visiting nonconference rival Saint Louis in a 90-74 win on Tuesday night.
Jalen Duren had 13 points, eight rebounds and six blocks while Josh Minott added 12 points for the Tigers, who earned their third straight win to begin the season.
Terrence Hargrove Jr. had a game-high 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Billikens (3-1).
Jordan Nesbitt scored 13, Marten Linssen added 11 points and Francis Okoro totaled seven points and 13 boards off the bench for Saint Louis, which had its three-game, season-opening winning streak snapped.
Despite entering the game ranked third in the country in scoring offense (103 points per game), the Billikens were held to a season low in points on 31.2 percent shooting (24 of 77).
It was the first matchup between the former longtime conference rivals since the 2011-12 season. Memphis (3-0) trimmed its all-time series deficit to 32-27 after Saint Louis had won five of the last eight meetings.
Memphis was up 42-27 at halftime and led by as many as 24 in the second half. Nesbitt’s layup with 18:22 remaining cut Saint Louis’ deficit to 43-31, but the Tigers scored 15 of the next 21 points and were up 58-37 after Bates’ 3-pointer at 14:22.
Minot’s dunk with 12:06 left in the first half put Memphis up 15-13 and started an 18-3 run capped by Harris’ trey that made it 31-16.
The Billikens closed within 35-25 before a 7-2 Tigers run to end the half.
Tigers forward John Camden missed his second straight game with a foot injury.
Memphis hosts nonconference opponent Western Kentucky on Friday. Saint Louis returns home to face Mercer on Saturday.
–Field Level Media
