The unbeaten Tigers defeated the Ohio Bobcats 94-70 behind PJ Haggerty's 23-point performance. Once again, Memphis started off with a slow first half, but came up big in the second to secure their third win of the season.
Memphis only trailed the Bobcats for 1:45 and once they hit their first 3 to go up 3-2, the Tigers did not give up the lead.
Behind 3s from PJ Haggerty, who shot 4-5 from 3 tonight, and Nick Jourdain, the Tigers found themselves up 18-4 with 12:27 to play.
"Let's bury them," was coach Hardaway's message to his team following the 18-4 lead. Ohio responded with 7 threes over the next 6-minutes and cut the lead to 4.
Memphis would go on to build that lead all the way back to 10 before the Bobcats fought their way back and trailed by just 4 at halftime.
PJ Haggerty finished the half with 17-points and 4-made threes. Tyrese Hunter was not scoring well in the first half, but he contributed in other ways, providing 5-assists and 2-steals.
The Tigers shot 8-12 from 3 in the first half, but did turn the ball over 11 times.
The second half was all Memphis. The Tigers went on a 10-3 run in the opening minutes of the half and extended their lead to 15.
Tyrese Hunter had his best scoring half of the season and put up 16-points off 6-8 shooting and 4-4 from the perimeter. Hunter finished with 21 on the night.
Ohio was still in the fight up until a Tyrese Hunter 3 put the Tigers up 15 with 5:30 minutes to go.
Ultimately, Memphis handled business and won convincingly over a team they should have beat. They cleaned up the turnovers in the second half, only giving the ball up 3 times, and continued to show improvement with ball movement and in defensive execution.
"Right now, we already have five defenses in 1 zone and 4 different presses," said Penny Hardaway when asked about the Tigers defensive effort. "So, that lets you know where our mindset is," added Hardaway.
Standout performances in tonight's game come from PJ Haggerty, 23-points and 7-rebounds, Tyrese Hunter, 21-points, 6-assists, and 4-steals, and Nick Jourdain, 15-points and 8-rebounds.
The Tigers finished shooting 56.7% from the field and continued their hot streak from 3, shooting 72.2%.
While this is not the most impressive win for the Tigers, it does speak to the group Hardaway has assembled and their mentality when it comes to handling the team infront of them.
Memphis will travel to the Chase Center and take on the San Francisco Dons on 11/21. Tip-off is set for 9p.m. as the Tigers look to improve to 4-0.
