MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Chris Crawford and Michael Dixon Jr. both had 11 points, and No. 24 Memphis scored the final 10 of the game to beat 23rd-ranked Gonzaga 60-54 on Saturday night.
Dixon's layup with 1:11 left came in the midst of the final rally as the Tigers (18-5) erased Gonzaga's nine-point lead.
Shaq Goodwin and Joe Jackson had 10 points each for Memphis, which has won six of seven. Goodwin had eight rebounds and three blocks as Memphis controlled the boards 44-28.
Sam Dower led Gonzaga (21-4) with 18 points and eight rebounds, shooting 9 of 12 from the field. Przemek Karnowski and Gerard Coleman had 12 points apiece.
Gonzaga led 54-50 with 3:16 left when Kevin Pangos connected from 15 feet. But the Zags did not score again, and Dixon had six points in the final 4 minutes.
Gonzaga made 45 percent of its shots, including half of its 24 attempts in the second half. But the Bulldogs, one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the country at 42 percent, were 2 of 16 from outside the arc. Pangos was 1 for 7.
Pangos, Gonzaga's leading scorer at 15.3 a game, was limited to seven points.
Meanwhile, Memphis shot 35 percent for the game after a poor first half.
Memphis struggled with Gonzaga's inside game until the middle stages of the second half. The 7-foot-1 Karnowski used his height advantage to get post position on the smaller Memphis frontline.
But down the stretch, Memphis got to the basket and the free throw line with its quick senior guards.
Gonzaga led 25-22 at the break in a half that saw tight defense for both teams leading to low shooting percentages, particularly for Memphis.
The Tigers were 9 of 34 from the field for 26 percent. Gonzaga was better at 41 percent.
Gonzaga's defense caused the Memphis offense to stall at times in the first half, and the Tigers weren't nearly as successful as they were in their win over Rutgers on Wednesday when they were 12 of 19 from outside the arc.
Coleman came off the bench for 10 points to lead the Zags in the first half. Crawford connected on a pair of late 3-pointers in the half to collect nine for Memphis before the break.
Gonzaga scored the first five points of the second half, and extended the lead to 10 at 38-28 when Karnowski hit consecutive baskets near the 16-minute mark.
The lead would stretch to a dozen before Memphis would answer.
Memphis chipped away at the advantage, cutting it to 44-42 with 8:16 left, but that wasn't enough as Gonzaga kept the lead, stretching it back to nine. Memphis got to within 52-50 on Dixon's drive at the under 4-minute timeout.
It wasn't until another drive by Dixon with 1:11 left that the Tigers took the lead. That was part of winning stretch for the Tigers, who ended Gonzaga's seven-game winning streak.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.