Freshman brothers Dedric and K.J. Lawson led a balanced scoring attack as Memphis overcame a sluggish start to beat Grambling State 83-65 on Thursday night at FedExForum in Memphis, Tenn.

Dedric Lawson scored 16 points and K.J. came off the bench to add 13 points. Senior forward Trahson Burrell and guard Ricky Tarrant Jr. each scored 12 for Memphis (2-1).

Forward Mark Gray and guards Nigel Ribeiro and Ervin Mitchell each scored 13 points to pace Grambling State.

Memphis was coming off a close-fought 84-78 loss to No. 8 Oklahoma on Tuesday and it took the Tigers about 18 minutes to get in gear, but when they did, Grambling State (1-2) didn't have a chance.

Memphis started the second half on a 22-7 run to open a 62-43 lead. Senior guard Shaq Goodwin, held scoreless in the first half, sparked the spurt by scoring six points early in the run.

Memphis cruised from there and led by as many as 21 points.

Grambling State, which was clobbered 82-55 by Ohio State on Tuesday, came out ready to play and maintained the lead for the first 10 minutes. A 3-pointer by sophomore guard Markel Crawford gave Memphis its first lead of the night at 21-20.

But Grambling State did not wilt and stayed close until another 3-pointer by Crawford and two free throws by Lawson gave Memphis a 40-36 lead at halftime.