Memphis closes strong to beat Gonzaga

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Darius Washington scored 22 points and had 10 assists to help fourth-ranked Memphis hold off No. 8 Gonzaga 83-72 on Tuesday night.

Memphis (10-1) continued its best start since 1985-86 by winning its seventh straight game.

The Tigers are the only ranked team in the revamped Conference USA, a distinction Gonzaga holds in the West Coast Conference.

Memphis will host No. 15 Texas on Monday.

Adam Morrison, the nation's top scorer, did his best to lead Gonzaga (9-3). He finished with 34 points, including a perfect 12-of-12 at the free throw line.

But the Tigers snapped Gonzaga's five-game winning streak when the preseason All-American went cold at the wrong time. His basket put Gonzaga up 62-59 with 9 minutes, 31 seconds left, but he didn't score again.

Memphis, feeding off the emotion from a crowd of 18,208, took the lead with an 8-2 run that was capped on Chris Douglas-Roberts' three-point play with 7:25 left. It gave Memphis a 63-62 advantage, the Tigers first since 1:10 was left in the first half.

Gonzaga last led 67-66 on a bucket inside by J.P. Batista with 5:13 to go. He was the only other Bulldogs player in double figures, finishing with 15 points and eight rebounds.

The Tigers outscored Gonzaga 17-5 down the stretch with Washington scoring nine of the final 12 points in the last 3:18. Washington had missed the last game with a deep thigh bruise.

Rodney Carney had 17 points for Memphis and Shawne Williams added 14 points and 11 rebounds. The Tigers outshot Gonzaga 31-of-63 (49.2 percent) to 22-of-64 (34.4 percent).

The Tigers opened up sprinting up and down the court, and Gonzaga was more than willing to keep pace in a physical game.

Gonzaga missed its first seven shots, while the Tigers seemingly couldn't miss despite not having played in a week. But Gonzaga led 40-35 at halftime as the Bulldogs hit 14-of-17 at the free throw line, compared to 0-of-2 for Memphis.

The Tigers jumped to a 13-5 lead after a pair of buckets from Washington and harassed Gonzaga into missing its first seven shots. Morrison sunk a pair of free throws, but the Bulldogs didn't score from the floor until Derek Raivio hit a 3-pointer with 15:35 to go.

Morrison scored his first bucket on a hook shot, starting a 6-0 spurt that got the Bulldogs going.

No. 13 Boston College 81, Duquesne 69

Craig Smith scored 21 points and held off a late Duquesne comeback bid by scoring on three consecutive Boston College possessions.

Backup forward Akida McLain scored 17 points for the visiting Eagles.

Sean Marshall added 13 points and Jared Dudley and reserve Tyrese Rice had 10 each to help Boston College (9-2) win its third in a row.

No. 20 Nevada 56, Norfolk State 69

The Wolf Park (9-1) overcame 37.5 percent shooting from the field.

-- The Associated Press