Crawford, the league’s Sixth Man of the Year, connected on a 3-pointer from the left wing to put the top-seeded Tigers (30-4,19-0) up 78-76 with 2:44 remaining. He also had a jumper and a pair of free throws in a 9-0 run by Memphis soon after that finally put the game away.
Crawford had been on the hottest of stretches, setting new career highs with 30 points and eight 3-pointers in the semifinals. Those numbers eclipsed his 24 points and six 3-pointers from the previous game, which had been the best of his career.
This time, he had just three points with 3 minutes left in regulation before making the biggest plays once again and being named tournament MVP.
“To start the game off, I was really rushing my shot. I wasn’t in a rhythm really,” Crawford said. “The second half, my teammates kept telling me to keep shooting after I was missing. They had a lot of confidence in me. My coaches kept telling me to keep shooting and in the second half, I found a rhythm.
Game Stats:
| Memphis Tigers | |||||||
| STARTERS | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| G. Johnson, G | 46 | 4-9 | 0-1 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| J. Jackson, G | 44 | 9-15 | 4-7 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 22 |
| A. Thomas, G-F | 44 | 7-15 | 5-7 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 19 |
| D. Stephens, G-F | 38 | 3-6 | 5-6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 12 |
| S. Goodwin, F | 20 | 1-7 | 0-0 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| BENCH | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| C. Crawford, G | 40 | 8-16 | 2-2 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 23 |
| T. Black, F | 16 | 0-1 | 0-2 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| A. Barton, G | 1 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |