ORLANDO, Fla. -- Kyvon Davenport scored 27 points with nine rebounds and Memphis held off a late-game push from South Florida for a 79-77 win on Thursday in the first round of the American Athletic Conference Tournament.
No. 5 seed Memphis (20-12) advances to meet fourth-seeded Tulsa (19-11) in Friday's quarterfinals. The Tigers have won six of the last seven, including an upset of then-No. 23 Houston.
USF (10-22) was seeded 12th and had won just three games in conference, but one was a 75-51 drubbing of Memphis a week ago. Stephan Jiggetts swished an open 3-pointer from the wing and USF, which had trailed by 15 midway through the second half, was within 79-76 with 19.