TULSA, Okla. — Jahvon Quinerly had to do something to help Memphis escape Tulsa with a 78-75 win.

The senior point guard could not risk having the 15th-ranked Tigers' potentially special season be spoiled by the Golden Hurricane (9-4, 0-1 AAC). He could not let it play out in the direction it was trending, because much of the blame would have been placed at his feet.

After all, it was Quinerly who nearly melted down late in the game at Reynolds Center. It was Quinerly who committed a turnover that led to a Tulsa layup that cut Memphis' lead to 75-72 with 36 seconds to play. And it was Quinerly who on the ensuing in-bounds play lost his cool and was whistled for an offensive foul before the ball even made it in bounds. All of which preceded Tulsa's game-tying 3-pointer with 33 seconds remaining.

So Quinerly did something. As the game clock was careening toward zeros, the 6-foot-1 former Alabama star launched a 3-point shot (contested by 6-5 Carlous Williams) with 5.5 seconds showing. And he made it with 4.0 seconds left. It was the only one out of the 11 the Tigers attempted in the second half that did go in.

On the other end, Cobe Williams' would-be game-tying 3-pointer missed the mark. Fittingly, Quinerly was the defender in front of him.

There wasn't much in the way of a celebration from Quinerly in the immediate aftermath. For him, it should not have come down to that. Plus, he was still thinking about the mistakes that could have cost the Tigers (12-2, 1-0) the game.

"It just happened so fast," he said. "The play was really for a slip for Nick (Jourdain). He never slipped. I just came back to the ball and just drained it. I had to make up for the two turnovers at the end of the game."

Coach Penny Hardaway drew up a new play during the timeout before Memphis' final offensive possession.

"Obviously, JQ threw it to Nick," Hardaway said. "Nick threw it back to JQ, and JQ made a play. It wasn't the play that I initially ran, but that was a wrinkle to it. And JQ made a big shot."

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Hardaway, like Quinerly, wishes it didn't have to play out the way it did. He admitted he was somewhat disappointed that his normally level-headed point guard lost his composure at a critical juncture.

"(Tulsa's PJ) Haggerty fouled him at half-court. All he had to do was bring the ball back out, and he lost the ball," Hardaway said. "Then, he came down after a score and then gets the offensive foul. And, then, now you're losing it. You've got to be more composed than that.

"Was definitely happy he composed himself enough to come back and hit the shot. But fifth-year senior, we want to go a long ways. Things like that are gonna happen again. You just have to be able to control it. I'm sure he'll do better next time."

Quinerly finished with 11 points (nine coming off 3-pointers). David Jones and Nae'Qwan Tomlin each scored 17 to lead Memphis.

The Tigers are back on the court Sunday (4 p.m., ESPN) against SMU (10-4, 1-0) at FedExForum.

Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or follow him @munzly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: How Jahvon Quinerly redeemed himself to lift Memphis basketball to win