Final Stats MEMPHIS, Tenn. – More than halfway through the first period, the Nicholls men's basketball team was within seven points of No. 11 Memphis Saturday afternoon, but long stretches of scoreless ball and relentless pressure by the Tigers would do in the squad as the Colonels fell to the Tigers 98-59 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

Nicholls (0-4) already down by 24 points coming out of the halftime break, would never be able to threaten the Memphis (2-1) lead in the final 20 minutes of the contest, as the Tigers outscored the Colonels 20-8 over eight minutes through the period, which also included a 13-2 run that lasted nearly four minutes.

Jeremy Smith scored in the double-digits for the second consecutive game, earning 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting, as he was the only player to finish the game with at least 10 points, as Amin Torres and Luke Doyle led the bench with seven each, while Dantrell Thomas had seven before fouling out. Liam Thomas grabbed a season-high nine rebounds with just two points.

Memphis was on from the tip and it was evident that the Tigers were on a mission, finishing the night with five players scoring in double figures led by Austin Nichols' game high 20 points with nine made shots from the field. The Tigers shot 53 percent from the field during the game and made 16 shots in the second half after sinking 15 in the first.

Nicholls committed 37 fouls on Saturday and turned the ball over 18 times against Memphis, which also was another point of emphasis for the Tigers as they took 50 free throws and made 31. By that same token, Memphis had 18 and Nicholls only took 17 free throws and was horrendous from the stripe making nine, taking only seven and connecting on four in the second period. The Tigers clamped down and if not for two Piers Carroll 3-pointers in the final two minutes, the Colonels would not have made one from distance for the final 20 minutes of action.

52 of Memphis' 36 points came in the paint, while they got 25 points off turnovers, 19 second chance points, 21 fast break points and 41 from the bench.

The Colonels scored 30 points in the second period, one more than it had after the first, but it was a struggle to get to that number as the team shot below 30 percent with less than three minutes remaining, regrouping a bit to finish the game strong to finish with a 36 percent clip from the field. Just like in the first half, Nicholls went 5:19 without making a bucket from the 7:58 mark to the 2:39 minute stoppage.

The Tigers led by as many as 15 points midway through the first half, as the Colonels went over 3:30 without scoring a point just before play had reached five minutes into the contest.

However, after a Doyle 3-pointer, the Colonels came within seven points of Memphis trailing 29-22 with less than eight minutes remaining scoring 14 points in a little over three minutes, before a hoop and foul by Michael Dixon Jr. pushed the Tiger lead back to double-digits.

After that Nicholls trey, the squad once again went on another long scoring draught, this time spanning six minutes that allowed Memphis to outscore Nicholls 22-7 over the final 7:36 of the first to pull ahead of the Colonels for good and go into the half leading 51-29.

Smith's eight points were the most for any Colonel individual in the first 20 minutes, as the Colonels shot 41 percent from the field and 29 percent from behind the 3-point line. The team worked to get to the line, but only made five of 10 attempts and didn't take its first free throw until the 8:08 mark.

For Memphis, They had two players in double figures on the scoring end, while shooting 50 percent on 15-of-13 from the floor with just one 3-pointer. The Tigers coerced the Colonels into 14 fouls and went to the line 26 times and made 20-of-26 free throws. Jackson was a perfect 11-for-11 from the charity stripe, which accounted for over 80 percent of his first half points.

The Colonels will be back in action on Tuesday night, hosting the UTSA Roadrunners in Thibodaux at 6:30 p.m.