Behind PJ Haggerty's 27-point performance, the Memphis Tigers overcame the North Texas Mean Green 68-64 at the FedEx Forum. The win improves Penny Hardaway and the Tigers to 12-3.
Haggerty also surpassed 1000 career points during this game.
Memphis got off to a slow start, scoring just 10 points in the first 9 minutes. They trailed 16-10 with 11-minutes to go. The Tigers went on to score 10 unanswered in the following 3 minutes, and led 20-16 with 8:50 to play in the first half.
Memphis came out playing conservative defensively, but after falling behind, they turned on the press and gave the Mean Green issues.
The Tiger's could not pull away in the half, and their advantage never surpassed 4 points. Memphis led 33-32 going into half.
Memphis had 7 turnovers compared to just 2 assist at halftime. The Tigers were also shooting 2-7 from beyond the arc. Memphis relied on their defense and PJ Haggerty to keep this one close in their favor.
North Texas jumped out of the their locker rooms to a 5-point lead, after a 6-0 run to start the half. Memphis responded with their own 9-2 run that was capped off by a Nick Jourdain layup, coming off his own steal during the inbound.
Memphis led 50-43 with 12:21 to play.
The Tiger's turnovers kept the Mean Green in the game, and they cut the deficit to 1 with 5:45 to go.
The remaining time belonged to PJ Haggerty.
The Tulsa transfer hit a corner 3, and then, minutes later, finished at the rim to give the Tigers a 61-56 advantage with 3-minutes remaining.
The following possession, the guard made his clutchest play of the night when he sunk a heartbreaking logo-3 that beat the buzzer by half a second. It capped off Haggerty's night, and gave Memphis the needed momentum to close the game out.
With minimal resistance, the Tigers made their necessary free throws and kept the ball safe to survive the Mean Green's efforts. Colby Rogers hit game sealing free throws to extend the lead to 4 with 8 seconds remaining.
Memphis shot 24-44(54.5%) and 5-13(38.5%) from the perimeter. The Tigers were out rebounded 30-21, 12 of those coming on the offensive glass for North Texas.
The Tigers also committed 15 turnovers, and finished with just 7 assists. The turnover bug continues to plague Memphis.
However, they did force 16 turnovers on the Mean Green and scored 15 points off takeaways.
The MVP belongs to PJ Haggerty. Haggerty finished with 27 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, and 3 steals. He also shot an efficient 11-14 from the field and a perfect 3-3 from 3.
Dain Diana was the next closest scorer with 14, however, he also committed 7 turnovers.
Memphis will have some rest before their next game on Saturday, January 11 vs the (8-7) East Carolina Pirates. The Pirates have yet to win a conference game, and will be coming into FedEx Forum for a 1.p.m. tip off.
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