• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Memphis cruises past Austin Peay

Nov 15, 2013 - 4:13 AM Memphis, TN (SportsNetwork.com) - Joe Jackson had 16 points and seven assists, Michael Dixon Jr. scored 15 and No. 13 Memphis won its season-opener 95-69 over Austin Peay on Thursday.

Nick King added 13 points for the Tigers (1-0), who were the last top-25 team to play their first game this season.

Chris Crawford and Geron Johnson both posted 11 points in the win and Shaq Goodwin had 10 to round out six Memphis scorers in double digits. Johnson had 10 rebounds for his first career double-double.

Ed Dyson had 11 points to lead the Governors (1-1) and Zavion Williams and Chris Freeman both scored 10.

Austin Nichols was the first Tigers freshman to start a season-opener in three years. His dunk sparked an 8-0 Memphis run to start the game, which was capped by Dixon's jumper two minutes in.

The Governors cut it to three but Memphis never trailed, using a 14-2 run later in the first half to build a 16-point on Crawford's 3 to make it 34-18.

It was 51-29 at halftime and Memphis went up 31 points on a Nichols dunk with 8:25 remaining. The lead ballooned as high as 33.

Memphis outshot Austin Peay 53.6 percent to 46 percent.

Game Notes

The Tigers have won 10 straight season openers ... Memphis leads the all-time series with Austin Peay 19-4, winning the last eight meetings ... The Tigers are coming off 31-5 record in their last season in Conference USA before joining the American Athletic Conference. They won an NCAA tournament game for the first time under Josh Pastner, who is in his fifth season ... The Governors beat Oakland City 84-69 last Friday in their season-opener.