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LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) - Austin Nichols scored 19 points, Chris Crawford had 17 and No. 21 Memphis beat LSU 76-69 Friday night in a semifinal at the Old Spice Classic.
Joe Jackson added 16 points for Memphis (4-1), which will play No. 5 Oklahoma State in Sunday night's championship game. The Cowboys got a major scare in Friday's other semifinal before beating Butler 69-67.
Memphis' only loss this season came to Oklahoma State, which won handily 101-80 on Nov. 19.
Anthony Hickey scored 20 points for LSU (4-2).
A pair of baskets by Jackson gave Memphis a 68-64 advantage with 3 minutes remaining. After Shavon Coleman made two free throws for LSU, Nichols connected on a jumper and Jackson converted two free throws that made it 72-66 with just under a minute remaining.
Hickey's 3 with 17 seconds left keep LSU close at 72-69.
Two more free throws by Jackson and Crawford's dunk during the final 13 seconds secured the win.
Memphis put together a 7-0 run, which featured a 3-point play and rebound basket by Nichols, to get to 57-56 midway through the second half. Memphis took a 60-59 lead when Crawford went the full board to score on a layup with 9 1/2 minutes to play.
Coleman put LSU up 55-47 on a jumper 7 minutes into the second half.
Hickey had eight points as LSU went up 38-34 at halftime. His jumper 91 seconds before the break gave LSU its largest lead during the opening 20 minutes at 38-30.
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