RECAP: No. 16 Memphis advances to AAC Tournament semifinals with win over Wichita State

FORT WORTH, Texas — It wasn’t easy, but Memphis basketball is still moving on to the American Athletic Conference (AAC) Tournament semifinals.

The No. 16 Tigers (27-5, 16-2 AAC) defeated Wichita State 83-80 in Friday’s quarterfinal matchup at Dickies Arena. This is Memphis’ sixth consecutive win, and its second over the Shockers this season. Penny Hardaway’s club—the No. 1 seed in the AAC Tournament—plays either 4-seeded Tulane or 5-seeded Florida Atlantic on Saturday (2 p.m., ESPN2).

Memphis shot 45% overall and 20% on 3-pointers. It also outrebounded WSU 42-29 while recording 17 forced turnovers, 17 assists, 14 offensive rebounds, 11 steals and 10 blocks. PJ Haggerty scored a career-high 42 points (16-for-25 shooting) to go with 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Dain Dainja followed him with 18 points (7-for-12 shooting), 5 rebounds and 3 blocks. No other Tiger scored more than 8.

The Tigers won despite the Shockers trimming an 11-point second-half lead down to 3 on three separate occasions in the last 30 seconds.

Paul Mills’ team (19-14, 8-10 AAC) shot 42% from both the field and beyond the arc. It also compiled 15 forced turnovers, 11 steals, 8 offensive rebounds, 7 steals and 6 blocks. Bijan Cortes (19), Xavier Bell (18) and Ronnie DeGray III (14) scored double-figure points for Wichita State.

Here are some takeaways from the Tigers’ postseason opener.

Wichita State starts white-hot from 3-point range

The Shockers were one of the AAC’s worst 3-point shooting teams in the regular season, but they’ve flipped the script in conference tourney play.

WSU shot 42% from beyond the arc in Thursday’s win over South Florida, and picked up right where it left off against Memphis. Mills’ crew drilled its first four 3-point attempts, which helped it generate a 20-10 lead just over five minutes into the contest. Cortes, who dropped 20 points on USF, finished the first half with 11 on 3-for-5 perimeter shooting.

Wichita shot just 2-of-8 from deep for the rest of the period, though. It missed its last six 3-pointers in the final seven minutes and seven seconds before halftime.

Haggerty and Dainja stabilize Memphis

The Tigers needed their two biggest stars to keep up with the Shockers, and both delivered in earnest.

Haggerty and Dainja—the AAC’s Player and Newcomer of the Year respectively—scored 31 of the Tigers’ 39 first-half points. Haggerty went to halftime with 21 points (8-for-13 shooting), including 12 in the first eight minutes of the contest. Dainja, meanwhile, tallied 10 points (3-for-6 shooting) before intermission. All other Tigers shot a combined 13% in the first 20 minutes.

Memphis started the second half with a 17-5 run that gave it a 56-45 advantage with 13 minutes to play, and it never relinquished the lead again for the rest of the afternoon. Haggerty and Dainja combined for 15 of those points.

Shockers upend Colby Rogers again

Rogers’ old team shut him down for the third time in a row.

The 6-foot-3 guard didn’t score in 21 minutes, and missed all five of his field-goal attempts. He fouled out with just over a minute to play.

Rogers scored 9 total points on 13% (3-of-23) combined shooting in his three meetings with Wichita State this season.