Sion James scored 22 points, Collin Holloway's layup gave Tulane the lead for good and the host Green Wave defeated No. 10 Memphis 81-79 on Sunday afternoon in New Orleans.
Kevin Cross scored 21 points and Holloway finished with 13 for the Green Wave (12-6, 3-3 AAC).
David Jones had 32 points and 11 rebounds, Marcus Dandridge scored 13 and Jaykwon Walton and Jahvon Quinerly added 11 apiece for the Tigers (15-4, 4-2), who lost their second straight after a 10-game winning streak.
Holloway's layup gave Tulane a 79-77 lead with 1:43 left and he added two free throws for a four-point lead. Nae'Qwan Tomlin made two free throws to get Memphis within two and a shot-clock violation with 13 seconds left gave the Tigers a chance to tie or win.
Jones missed two 3-pointers in the final seconds and the Green Wave beat Memphis in New Orleans for the third consecutive season.
The score was tied at halftime and four more times early in the second half before 3-pointers by Jaylen Forbes and Cross gave the Green Wave a 52-48 lead.
The score was tied three more times before Jones made a 3-pointer and Dandridge scored five straight points to give the Tigers a 64-57 lead.
Holloway made a layup for Tulane's first field goal in more than three minutes and the Green Wave eventually took a 71-70 lead on a basket by Cross.
Memphis regained a one-point lead before James made a 3-pointer to push Tulane up 77-75.
Quinerly made two free throws to tie the score with two minutes remaining.
The score was tied three times early in the game before Tre' Williams made a 3-pointer and James added two free throws to give the Green Wave a 20-15 lead.
Jones made back-to-back 3-pointers and Dandridge added a three-point play to move the Tigers ahead 24-20.
Cross made a jumper for Tulane's first field goal in more than four minutes before Memphis increased its lead to six points.
The Green Wave went on a 12-2 run to grab a four-point lead before consecutive layups by Dandridge and Quinerly left the scored tied at 34 at halftime.
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