In their season opener, the Memphis Tigers defeated the Missouri Tigers 83-75 in a physical battle.

Memphis trailed for most of the first half, and after a PJ Carter 3 put them up 12-11 with 10:34 remaining, they did not lead again until 10:34 in the second half.

The Tigers found themselves down 32-42 at halftime, and then after a spirited halftime speech from Tyrese Hunter, and adjustments from Penny Hardaway, the Tigers looked like a new team in the remanning 20-minutes.

Memphis was booed into the locker rooms, but coach Hardaway said, "that gives the team more confidence when they hear your fans kinda boo a little bit, so that's what we needed the most, because now we know how it really is here at home."

Hardaway has mentioned multiple times how this team's toughness and grit is special, and the second half proved his point.

In the second half, Memphis started to press and it changed the game. The Tigers forced just 3 turnovers in the first half compared to 11 in the second.

The pressure was even noted by Missouri Head coach, Dennis Gates, "It was two different games in the first half and second half."

Another game changer for Memphis in the second half was PJ Haggerty. The guard came out of the locker room with 3 points and finished with 25. Haggerty's aggressive drives to the paint open up shooting opportunities for shooters, and get him easy points at the foul line.

The Tigers outscored Missouri 20-6 in a 7-minute stretch that ended with 4:55 left to play that propelled them to a victory. The aggressive defense of Memphis created the opportunity for the offense to score, something that was absent at the start of the game.

Memphis closed out the remaining minutes with perfect execution, not allowing Missouri an opportunity to close the gap they created.

Memphis finished the game shooting 26-58(44.8%) and 8-20(40%) from beyond the arc. The Tigers grabbed 37 rebounds along with 3 blocks and 8 steals. They turned the ball over 16 times and had 16 assists, but the ball movement and team chemistry passed the eye test.

Guys were making the extra pass and looking for teammates in the right spots, but it didn't always result in something you can read on a stat sheet.

The MVP of this game was PJ Haggerty. He finished with 25 points along with 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Haggerty flipped a switch at halftime and took over the game for the Tigers.

Overall, this was a great showing for a team that has not played with one another in a regular season game. Coach Hardaway had his guys ready to go and kept them motivated after a rough start and even after boos from the home crowd.

Memphis will face off with the UNLV Rebels on Saturday in Las Vegas at 5.p.m.