The No.19 Memphis Tigers defeated the Tulane Green Wave on the road, 68-56. Dain Dainja finished with a double-double, scoring 19 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
This win puts the Tigers at 17-4 on the season, and marks their 4th straight victory.
Dainja scored 4 of the opening 6 points for the Tigers, asserting his presence early in the game. Memphis led 12-9 with 14 minutes remaining in the first half.
Inside of the 5 minute mark, Tulane went on a 6-0 run that gave them their biggest lead of the game, 26-20. Memphis answered with a 9-0 run sparked by a PJ Carter 3, his second of the half.
PJ Haggerty hustled down the court and beat the buzzer with a lay in to give the Tigers a 29-26 lead going into the break.
Memphis leaned on Dainja early, but went away from him in the middle chunk of the half. The Tigers struggled to find consistent offense, but made up for it with defensive effort and rebounding.
Just 2 minutes into the 2nd half, the Green Wave went on a 9-0 run of their own and took the lead back, 37-33. A combination of stagnant offense and turnovers from Memphis allowed for Tulane to gain the advantage
After going 0-5 in the first half, Colby Rogers hit his first 3 of the night at the 10:29 mark to give the Tigers a 2-point lead. About 90 seconds later, Rogers sunk his second and set the score to 51-46.
PJ Carter scored his 14th point of the night at 6:29, adding to the Memphis advantage. The following possession, Dain Dainja found a cutting Tyrese Hunter and he converted under the basket, giving Memphis a 55-48 lead.
Minutes later, the Tigers led by just three, and the Green Wave held the momentum. However, despite nearly perfect defense, Colby Rogers nailed a step back 3 that hushed the arena and gave the Tigers back the energy.
Dain Dainja scored his final points of the game with 3 minutes remaining to push the lead to 7, 60 seconds later, Rogers made another triple that served as the dagger for the Green Wave, putting Memphis up 10 with 2 minutes to go.
Rogers converted his late game free throws, resulting in the final score of 68-56.
Memphis shot 26-58(44.8%) from the field and 9-23(39.1%) from beyond the arc, just under their season average. Memphis finished with a positive assist to turnover ratio, with 18 assists and 11 giveaways.
The MVP goes to Dain Dainja. Dainja recorded a double-double and gave the Tigers offense whenever he was on the court. It was good to see another player step up in the event of a quiet night from PJ Haggerty, who finished with 8 points.
The Tigers have struggled in past years to win games at Tulane, but broke that curse tonight. Memphis, once again, showed improvement in handling the ball and limiting turnovers.
The Penny Hardaway led squad has been able to close out games all season, and did it without the help of PJ Haggerty vs the Green Wave, at least scoring wise. Despite the single digit in the scoring column, Haggerty still orchestrated the offense, finishing with 5 assist.
Memphis will look to continue their winning streak when they travel to Tudor Fieldhouse to take on Rice. The Owls are 11-10 and 2-6 in conference. They currently sit at 11th in the AAC. Tip off is set for 2.p.m. on Sunday.
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