Kendric Davis too much for Tulsa. 3 takeaways from Memphis basketball's 5th straight win

TULSA, Okla. − The game was tied early in the second half, and the Memphis basketball team got off five field goal attempts on one possession.

None of them went down.

Tulsa responded by putting together a 6-2 mini-run. Enter: Kendric Davis. The Tigers’ star made each of his team’s next three field goal attempts – including back-to-back 3-pointers – then sank his fourth consecutive shot at the 13:17 mark to give Memphis (17-5, 7-2 AAC) the lead for good. Penny Hardaway’s team finished off the Golden Hurricane 80-68 at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. It sits a half-game behind Temple for second place in the league standings and a full-game behind first-place Houston.

Davis, the AAC's leading scorer, dropped 26 to lead the Tigers to their fifth straight win. The former SMU star passed former Cincinnati star Jarron Cumberland for second-most career points in conference history. Davis now has 1,789 points in his AAC career. He also passed the 2,000-point plateau for his career, which began at TCU.

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DeAndre Williams gave Memphis 17 points. Keonté Kennedy contributed 12 points, while Elijah McCadden chipped in with 11.

Here are three takeaways from Sunday's game:

A three spree?

The Tigers have left quite a bit to be desired in the 3-point shooting department this season. But those misfortunes are slowly being turned.

In Memphis’ three games leading up to Sunday, the team connected on 43.1% of its long-range attempts, which improved its season mark to 32.7%.

Spearheading the effort has been Davis, Kennedy and Williams, and that trio kept it going against Tulsa, combining to hit on 6 of 16 3-pointers. As a team, Memphis shot 40% from three in the first half and finished at 31.6% Sunday.

DeAndre Williams doing it all

Last week, Williams was named AAC Player of the Week for the first time in his two-plus season Memphis career.

Williams has become one of the league’s most complete players and it was back on display against the Golden Hurricane. The super senior forward may not have piled up the points this week like he did in wins over Wichita State and Cincinnati last week, but his contributions ran the gamut.

Williams scored 17 points against Tulsa and supplemented that with 11 rebounds and five assists. It was the second game in a row (and the fifth time this season) that he has put up at least 10 points, five rebounds and five assists in the same game.

Building balance

One of the primary knocks against the Tigers this season has been how top-heavy they are, with Davis and Williams combining to do the bulk of the heavy lifting.

But that duo has not had to shoulder as much of the burden in recent weeks. In a win over SMU, five Memphis players scored in double-figures. In the win over Tulsa, four Tigers scored at least 11 points and Jayden Hardaway added six.

Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis basketball: Kendric Davis shines again in win over Tulsa