Feb. 4, 2002

Final Stats

NEW ORLEANS, La. - Dejuan Wagner showed why he was the most highly-sought recruit in the nation last year. The freshman guard nearly single-handedly lifted first-place Memphis to a 78-72 victory over Tulane in Conference USA men's basketball action on Monday evening at The Pyramid.

Tulane (12-9, 4-6 C-USA) took a 70-69 lead with 2:02 to go on a putback in a crowd by freshman Ben Benfield. However, Memphis (20-4, 10-0) knotted the game on an Earl Barron free throw and Wagner scored seven straight points. The freshman guard picked off a Wave pass and drove the length of the court for a go-ahead slam dunk. After the Tigers' Kelly Wise blocked a Wave shot, Memphis worked the shot clock down top four seconds and Wagner calmly swished a deep three-pointer, making it 75-70 with 44.8 seconds to go. Not done yet, Wagner picked up another steal and was fouled, hitting both free throws to ice the victory.

"We were in a position to win the game," Tulane head coach Shawn Finney said. "But we had a couple of crucial turnovers and then Juany took over the game. That is why he is going to be an NBA player."

Tulane trailed 63-52 with 9:27 to go after an 8-0 Memphis run. However, Brandon Brown took charge for the Green Wave. The junior big man scored six points to key a 10-2 Green Wave run, making it 65-62 with 5:04 to go.

The Tigers had a pair of free throws from Massie to stall the Wave for a bit, but Linton Johnson scored inside, Waitari Marsh hit a pair of free throws and Johnson scored again, giving Tulane a 68-67 advantage with 2:37 to go. Kelly Wise followed with a turnaround jumper to lift the Tigers back on top, but Benfield drove along the left side of the lane and tossed up a runner, which glanced off the rim, and directly back into his hands. Surrounded by the Tiger big men, the Green Wave rookie used multiple head fakes and then went up for a layup, putting Tulane back on top.

However, Wagner took charge in the final two minutes.

"We have been practicing late-game situations," Brandon Brown said. "But we didn't execute down the stretch and we didn't take care of the ball."

Brown had another dominating game against the first-place Tigers with 25 points and eight rebounds. In the teams' last meeting, a 78-70 Memphis victory in New Orleans, Brown had 29 points and nine rebounds.

"Brandon Brown is an unbelievable player," Finney said. "He was focused today and came with his work shoes on."

Wagner scored 25 points for Memphis, shooting 9-of-24 from the field. Chris Massie had 13 points and 14 rebounds for the Tigers.

Tulane battled a distinct rebounding advantage in the first half and fell behind by as many as 12, however, Sinville and Tinsley scored four points each to key an 11-0 Green Wave run, making it 33-32 with 2:02 to go. The Wave trailed by one at the break, 37-36.

Tulane departs for Tampa, Fla., on Friday and will face South Florida on Saturday at 6 p.m. (Central). The Wave then has five days off before returning to action against UAB at home at Fogelman Arena on Saturday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m.

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