Memphis, Tennessee: Tigers Beat VCU 89-88 as Jayden Reid Scores 32 and Hits the Winning Free Throws

Memphis trailed for most of its home opener and still won it at the line. Jayden Reid scored 32 points and hit two free throws with 5.7 seconds left on Saturday at FedExForum, lifting the Tigers past VCU 89-88 in a game the Rams controlled for 31 minutes.

VCU led 48-44 at halftime and pushed the margin to 54-44 less than two minutes into the second half, when Michael Belle and Brandon Jennings turned steals into layups on back to back possessions. The Rams led for all but the final 5.7 seconds of the second half. Memphis kept the gap close, tied the game at 76-76 on a Reid 3-pointer with 7:15 left, and traded the lead with VCU the rest of the way in a game with 10 ties and nine lead changes.

Reid closes it twice, and the second time counts

Reid had a first chance to tie the game at the line with about three minutes left and split the pair, leaving Memphis down 85-84. Ahmad Nowell then drove for a left handed layup that put VCU up 87-84 with 1:33 remaining. Reid answered with a 3-pointer from the right wing to tie it at 87-87 with 1:19 left. A VCU free throw gave the Rams an 88-87 lead, and Reid drove hard to his left, drew a foul on the way to the rim and went back to the line.

"I missed one previously, but that is the pressure that I want," Reid said after the game. "We practice free throws every day." This time he made both. VCU had one last chance and could not connect on a contested jumper at the buzzer.

Reid finished 11 of 21 from the field with seven assists, and 15 of his 32 points came after halftime. In the final eight minutes he scored 12 of Memphis last 17 points and was the only Tiger to make a field goal in that stretch. "To be able to have the luxury to have a guard like Jayden Reid means a lot," Memphis coach Penny Hardaway said. "He is in attack mode. He is aggressive, he is a winner. We know when we need a basket that he can get it for us."

Numbers behind the comeback

Tylik Weeks added 17 points for Memphis, 11 of them at the free throw line, and Rihards Vavers also scored 17. Memphis shot 50 percent from the field, made 10 of 22 3-pointers and went 25 of 38 at the line. The Tigers forced 13 VCU turnovers and turned them into a 21-9 edge in points off turnovers, the margin that kept a trailing team within reach all night.

Blake Harper led VCU with 22 points on 7 of 14 shooting, including 5 of 9 from 3-point range, with four assists and three rebounds. Nowell scored 17 points with seven rebounds, and Nyk Lewis added 14 points and seven assists. The Rams shot 48.1 percent and made 13 3-pointers, nine of them in the first half, but their last lead of the night lasted only until Reid stepped to the line.

Two wins, and a short handed roster

Memphis is 2-0 after beating a ranked Iowa State team 80-76 in the season opener in Sioux Falls on Nov. 2, and the university said the win was the program 25th straight in a home opener and kept Hardaway at 9-0 in home openers. The Tigers are still playing without starting center Nemanja Popovic, who has four more games to sit out before he can play.

Memphis plays at Vanderbilt in Nashville on Tuesday, Nov. 10. VCU, now 1-1, returns home to host NJIT on Wednesday, Nov. 11.