The No.22 Memphis Tigers defeated the 15-11 Florida Atlantic Owls 84-65 at the FedEx Forum. This is the Tigers first game since their loss to the Wichita State Shockers, which ended their 8-game winning streak.
Since that Wichita State loss, the Tigers have had six days off. Coach Penny Hardaway was expecting his squad to start slower, and he explained that the history of basketball points to a well rested team starting sluggishly.
However, Hardaway solved his energy problem by substituting PJ Haggerty, Tyrese Hunter, and Colby Rogers for Dante Harris, Baraka Okojie and Demarien Yates. Yates finished with 2 points, 2 assists, and 2 steals.
This substation came around the 14 minute mark of the first half, when the Tigers trailed 9-4. Hunter and Haggerty returned a few minutes later, and Memphis was still trailing 16-12.
"They were kinda licking their wounds on the sideline a little bit," said Hardaway. Hardaway added, "We put the guys out there that we knew would change the tide in to our favor, and they did that."
Despite the boost of energy, Memphis still trailed 24-18, until 6:08. PJ Haggerty sparked a 14-point run that included buckets from PJ Carter, Dain Dianja and Colby Rogers, who hit his a triple to conclude the run.
The 6-minute run gave the Tigers a 32-24 lead. Going into halftime, Memphis led FAU 37-32.
Memphis continued to build their lead in the second half. At the 17:29 mark, Tyrese Hunter made a layup that started a 12-0 run for the Tigers.
Once again, Dainja contributed points and the run was capped off by a 3-pointer from Colby Rogers. By 14:56, Memphis led 53-38.
The Tigers were not done with the double-digit runs. Minutes later, Haggerty, Hunter, and Dainja created a 13-0 run that pushed the Tiger's lead to 27, their largest of the game.
Memphis was able to keep the lead in the 20s, until they pulled their starters and Florida Atlantic hit a triple to cut it to 19 with 84-65 with 22 seconds remaining.
Memphis finished shooting 33-70(47.1%) from the field and 5-19(26.3%) from beyond the arc. Despite the struggle to shoot from the perimeter, the Tigers dominated on the glass, out-rebounding the Owls 44-33. This resulted in 19 second chance points.
The Tigers finished with a positive assist to turnover ratio, 17-10. Memphis capitalized off of the Owl's turnovers and scored 24 points off 12 giveaways.
The game ball goes to Dain Dainja. The big scored 22 points with 13 shot attempts and recorded a double-double, grabbing 11 rebounds. Rebounding was a point of emphasis for Dainja after he was disappointed in his effort on the glass vs Wichita State where he finished with 1.
The Tigers will host the 13-15 Rice Owls on Wednesday. Memphis remains at the top of the American and will look to build momentum before the AAC tournament. Tip-off is set for 7.p.m.
