National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Memphis 71, George Washington 66
When: 6:55 PM ET, Friday, March 21, 2014
Where: PNC Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina
Officials: # Eric Curry, # John Higgings, # Brett Nansel
Attendance: N/A

Memphis 71, George Washington 66: Michael Dixon Jr. scored 19 points and the Tigers held off a late charge by the Colonials to prevail in the second round of the NCAA tournament in Raleigh, N.C.

Joe Jackson finished with 15 points on 6-for-12 shooting from the field for eighth-seed Memphis (24-9), which advances into the East regional’s third round Sunday against top-seed Virginia. The Tigers saw a 55-45 lead midway through the second half trimmed to 67-66 with 13 seconds remaining but Dixon calmly hit both ends of a one-and-one four seconds later.

Isaiah Armwood scored a season-high 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting to lead ninth-seed George Washington (24-9). Kevin Larsen added 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting but the Colonials shot just 14-of-24 from the free-throw line and Maurice Creek missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with five seconds to play.

George Washington trailed most of the night but drew within 67-66 on Joe McDonald’s driving layup. Dixon hit two free throws with 9.6 seconds to go to push Memphis’ advantage to 69-66 and after Creek’s attempt to tie the game from the right wing missed badly, Dixon sank two more from the free throw line to put the game away.

Dixon bookended a 10-4 run that pushed the Tigers’ lead to 55-45 with less than 10 minutes left and Memphis led 64-55 with 3:59 to go before George Washington used a 7-0 run to draw within 64-62 on Patricio Garino’s steal and layup with 2:40 to play. Jackson calmly drained a 3-pointer from the right wing on the ensuing possession but the Colonials pulled within 67-64 on two Creek free throws with 1:28 remaining.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Tigers used a 16-6 first-half spurt to move ahead 26-16 with just under eight minutes left, but George Washington rallied to within 31-26 at intermission. … Jackson and Chris Crawford each finished with six of Memphis’ 19 assists. … George Washington held Memphis to 35.5 percent shooting from the field in the first half, but the Tigers shot 66.7 percent in the final 20 minutes.
Top Game Performances
 
George Washington   Memphis
Isaiah Armwood 21 Scoring Michael Dixon Jr. 19
Patricio Garino 3 Assists Chris Crawford 6
Patricio Garino 7 Rebounds Austin Nichols 6
Joe McDonald 5 Free Throws Made Michael Dixon Jr. 5
Kevin Larsen 3 Steals Chris Crawford 2
Patricio Garino 1 Blocks Shaq Goodwin 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
George Washington 66 44.6 2-12 14-24 8 26 2 9 10
Memphis 71 49.1 6-22 11-16 19 33 4 8 12