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Memphis dominates Houston

Jan 24, 2014 - 4:27 AM Memphis, TN (SportsNetwork.com) - Shaq Goodwin scored 20 points and Joe Jackson added 18 as No. 23 Memphis rolled to an 82-59 victory over Houston in an American Athletic Conference clash from FedExForum.

The Tigers (14-4, 4-2 AAC) shot an impressive 58.9 percent from the field and never trailed at any stage, with Jackson hitting on 8-of-11 attempts while dishing out seven assists and Michael Dixon Jr. going 5-for-7 in a 13-point effort.

Tashawn Thomas paced Houston (11-8, 3-3) with 14 points and seven rebounds. Brandon Morris finished with 13 points in the loss, the Cougars' third in four games.

Goodwin was a force early on, racking up 12 points over the first 4 1/2 minutes of action to lead Memphis on a 14-4 run to open the contest. Four of his five baskets during the stretch came on dunks.

"We gave up way too many easy baskets early on, especially with Goodwin," Houston head coach James Dickey remarked.

Following a timeout called by Dickey, Jherrod Stiggers netted the final seven points of a 9-2 burst that got Houston back in it, with the surge trimming the deficit to 16-13.

However, Jackson and Dixon knocked down back-to-back threes to ignite a 15-3 Memphis run that stretched the margin. Dixon collected six points during the flurry, which he capped with a steal before feeding Goodwin for another dunk that made the score 33-18 with 8 1/2 minutes left in the half.

"They way we started and controlled the game set up the pace for the whole game," said Tigers forward David Pellom. "We played as a team and everyone was on the same page."

A 3-point play from Thomas and Morris' steal and layup gave Houston some brief momentum later on, but the Cougars went cold again thereafter and the Tigers strung together a 10-1 sequence to further increase their cushion.

The tear put Memphis up by 17 points prior to Danuel House's tip-in that sent the Cougars into the break down 47-32.

Houston failed to make any headway in the second half, with the teams trading baskets for much of the final 20 minutes and the Tigers never holding a lead under 13 points.

Memphis' advantage reached 20 points when Jackson buried a trey with 7:29 left that staked the Tigers to a comfortable 68-48 spread.

Game Notes

Houston made good on just 2-of-14 attempts from 3-point range and went only 11-of-20 on free throw tries ... Memphis scored 48 of its points in the paint ... Cougars guard L.J. Rose managed just one point in 25 minutes, but delivered a season-high 10 assists ... The Tigers have now won four straight over Houston and own a 28-12 advantage in the all-time series.