Behind PJ Haggerty's 27-point performance, the Memphis Tigers took down the University of Virginia Cavaliers. The 9-2 Tigers handed UVA their first home loss of the season, and brought their record to 6-5.
The Tigers did not lead for the entire first half, and fell behind by as much as 9 at the 10:33 mark. After Dain Dainja converted on both his free throws, the score was 19-14 with 9 minutes remaining. The Tigers would go on to score just 2 points in the following 6 minutes.
They trailed by 11, their largest deficit of the game.
Going into the locker rooms, the Tigers were shooting just 28.6% and 14.3% from 3. They had no scorer in double digits, Dainja was the closest with 9.
Right out of halftime, PJ Haggerty went on a 1-minute 6-0 run, and closed the gap to just 5 points. It wasn't until Haggerty and Dainja went on another 6-0 later in the half that Memphis got their first lead of the game, 39-37 with 12:31 to play.
Virginia answered with a bucket to tie, only for the Tigers to put together an 8-0 run that would extend their lead to 47-39.
Memphis outscored Virginia 14-2 over a 3-minute time frame to take control of the game.
Following a Tyrese Hunter 3, Moussa Cisse hit a jumper to extend the Tiger's lead to 9 with 5:57 remaining.
PJ Haggerty sunk his one, and only, 3 with 2:28 to go to put Memphis up 60-53.
The Cavaliers were able to cut the lead all the way to 2 after they hit a shot with 9 seconds left. Once again, Haggerty saved the day and converted on both free throws to put the Tigers up 64-60.
Memphis finished shooing 21-56(37.5%) and 5-23(21.7%) from beyond the arc. Memphis out rebounded UVA 38-31, but did turn the ball over 12 times, and only totaled 11 assists. Memphis struggled to take advantage of the Cavalier turnovers, only scoring 13 points off 11 turnovers.
The MVP for the Tigers was PJ Haggerty. The Tulsa transfer continues to show up in a big way for Memphis. Tonight, he finished with 27 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists.
The Tigers will be back home at the Forum on December 21 to take on the 10-1 Mississippi State Bulldogs, led by head coach Chris Jans. Tip off is set for 11:30 a.m. as Penny Hardaway and the Tigers look to make it 3 straight wins.
