DeAndre Williams had 14 points and Memphis held off a second-half Boise State rally for a 64-53 victory Thursday in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

Gorham scored Houston’s last six points on a nifty one-handed reverse layup and four free throws, and the Cougars held off Memphis for a 76-74 semifinal win Saturday. That was only seven days after losing in Houston on a game-ending banked 3-pointer after tying that game with 1.7 seconds left. The whole season we’ve been working to try to get to the NCAA Tournament,” Ellis said. Cincinnati (12-10) won the last two AAC title games over Houston, 69-57 in 2019 and 56-55 in 2018. Memphis hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2014.