Behind Dain Dainja's 18-points, the Memphis Tigers defeated the San Francisco Dons 68-64 in the Tiger's fourth straight win. Yet again , Memphis struggled in the first half scoring just 22-points before turning it on in the second and winning the game.
The Tigers were scoreless in the first two and a half minutes and found themselves down 10-1 at 16:41. After a 7-0 run capped off by a pair of Nick Jourdain free throws, the Tigers and Dons were tied at 14.
In the 6-minutes following the tie, Memphis was outscored 12-3. This led to the Tigers trailing 31-22 at halftime.
The first half was a bad offensive showing, even by the Tigers first half standards. Memphis shot 6-25(24%) from the field and 2-7(28.6%) from three. Alongside the shooting, the Tigers turned the ball over 10 times.
Although the offense was not executing, the defense was excellent. They were able to keep the game close on the defensive side of the ball with 4-blocks and 5-steals. They also played suffocating on ball defense and executed traps and presses well.
In the second half, Memphis came out strong and scored 10 straight to take back the lead. It wasn't until Dain Dainja converted an and-one layup that the Tigers would gain the advantage and hold onto it. Then, it was just minutes later that Tyrese Hunter would finish a fast break and give the Tigers full momentum up 45-39.
Tyrese Hunter began to come alive after a scoreless first half, the guard finished with 9-points, 5-assists, and 4-steals.
The Dons did not go away. San Francisco tied the game at 6, after a 6-0 run, with 3:22 to play.
PJ Haggerty had been having a quiet night. He had scored 4-points and shot 1-6. As soon as the game came down to clutch minutes, Haggerty flipped the switch.
Haggerty hit his first three of the half and pushed the Tigers up 59-56 with 2:47 to play and then hit a pair of free throws a minute later to put Memphis up 4.
With 22 seconds remaining, Tyrese Hunter split a pair of free throws only for Dain Dainja to grab the long rebound and make his pair of free throws after being fouled, extending the lead to 64-59.
Dainja finished with 7 rebounds, but that was his most important of the night.
Haggerty converted on two sets of free throws and ended the game for Memphis.
The Tigers finished shooting 19-52(36.5%) from the field and 7-19 from beyond the arc (36.8%). Memphis was out rebounded 46-43 and 18-12 on the offensive boards. The Tigers turned the ball over 15 times and totaled just 8 assists, 10 of those turnovers coming in the first half alongside 2 assist.
The MVP of the Tigers tonight was Dain Dainja. In this physical contest, Dainja proved himself the most dominant. He finished with 3 blocks, and gave Memphis the push they needed to win. PJ Haggerty proved once again, he is the closer on the team.
Memphis will travel to Maui to take on the #2 ranked UConn Huskies on November 25. This is the first game in the Maui invitational. Tip off is set for 1:30 on ESPN2 as the Tigers look to pull of the upset against the Dan Hurley led squad.
