The No.16 Memphis Tigers took down the 13-18 USF Bulls en route to a regular season conference title and a 26-5 record. This marks coach Penny Hardaway's first outright regular season conference championship.
Although the Tigers won by 18 points, they trailed for a majority of the first half. USF held an 11-5 lead until Memphis scored seven straight to take their first advantage.
PJ Haggerty hit his first triple of the night at the 9:30 mark to tie the game at 18. Dain Dainja then scored the next six for the Tigers.
Points became few and far between for the Tigers until the 3:33 mark when PJ Haggerty split a pair of free throws. Moussa Cisse and Colby Rogers also added to the scoring column to give the Tigers a 29-28 lead.
Both squads traded free throws before heading into the locker rooms, tied at 35. Memphis committed 10 turnovers in the first half, allowing for 14 points off turnovers for South Florida. The Tigers totaled just five assists.
Memphis pulled away in the second half and Tyrese Hunter set the tone with back-to-back threes to start them off. Hunter finished with 16 points and shot 4-7 from beyond the arc in his final time playing in FedExForum.
The Memphis defense started to open doors for the offense ,forcing seven South Florida turnovers. Tyrese Hunter accounted for three steals in the second half.
Hunter sunk a stand alone three at the 9:06 mark to erupt the Forum and give the Tigers a 65-50 advantage. Minutes later, PJ Haggerty stood at the free throw line and chants of "one more year" rung through the crowd.
Coach Penny Hardaway encouraged fans to show the star love as a way to keep him in Memphis amid the offering's of the transfer portal. " I think he's the MVP of the league," said Hardaway. He added, "For the fans to do that, it makes me proud to be from Memphis, because that's what we want. That's who we are."
Haggerty appreciated all of the support, but remains focused on the postseason, as he believes the Tigers are a final four team.
Haggerty was not finished scoring either, he converted on his second triple of the game 3:22 to go, putting Memphis up 18 points.
Nicholas Jourdain, the only returning starter from last year's team, put an exclamation point on the Tiger's season and win with a slam dunk to give Memphis a 19-point lead. The forward finished with four points, nine rebounds, and five assists.
Following the confetti and a message from Penny Hardaway where he thanked God and the city of Memphis for the championship, the Tigers hoisted the trophy and cut down the nets. Hardaway and Haggerty sported the nets around their necks in their postgame appearances.
The Tigers finished shooting 31-59(52.5%) and 10-25940.0%) from beyond the arc. They out rebounded the Bulls 43-30 and committed just four second half turnovers.
PJ Haggerty and Dain Dainja contributed 20 points on the Tiger's final regular season game.
Memphis will now have a week off before the American Athletic tournament. Since the Tigers are the No.1 seed, they will face the winner of the eight versus nine game on Friday at Noon in Denton, Texas.
