PJ Haggerty’s deep 3-pointer staved off North Texas, but Penny Hardaway still strives for more.

Penny Hardaway drew up another post play for Dain Dainja with just over two minutes left in No. 21 Memphis’ American Athletic Conference (AAC) home opener against North Texas Sunday afternoon.

It was appropriate timing, since the Tigers wanted an easy basket to extend their 3-point advantage and potentially secure a victory. Dainja torched UNT with 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting up to that point, so he definitely seemed like the man for the job.

But a North Texas defender hit Dainja’s funny bone just as he primed himself for yet another soft finish at the rim. The 6-foot-9 center temporarily lost feeling in his right arm, so he flatly tossed the ball out to star guard PJ Haggerty with minimal seconds left on the shot clock.

The redshirt sophomore, who scored a game-high 27 points, knew just what to do from there. Haggerty squared up from nearly halfcourt, and hoisted the ball as long and high as possible. Ross Hodge’s club stood there in awe as Haggerty’s shot sank straight through the hoop.

Haggerty, however, wasn’t surprised in the slightest.

“Nah, not really,” he said when asked if he was postgame.

Haggerty’s outrageous shot propelled Memphis to a 68-64 victory over the Mean Green. It’s not the first time his second-half heroics bought the Tigers a win. Hardaway knows it won’t be the last either.

“That’s what he does. He has that knack for doing things like that,” Hardaway said. “It was definitely needed, because we knew that team was gonna be coming right back at us.”

Hardaway’s right, because North Texas seemingly had an answer for everything Memphis threw its way. The Tigers overcame a 14-7 run to take a 4-point advantage in the first half, but UNT cut the deficit to a point by halftime. Memphis then took a 7-point lead less than eight minutes into the second half, and the Mean Green also trimmed that down to a point with 5:45 on the clock.

North Texas—the nation’s No. 5 scoring defense—generated early 6-0 runs in both halves, outrebounded Memphis 30-21 and limited the Tigers to a season-low 44 field goal attempts. Hardaway’s team got outplayed in several areas. And it largely won because it forced 16 timely turnovers and made more big plays in crucial moments.

The seventh-year coach knows that formula—though it worked Sunday—is faulty at best.

“It just seemed like the mood was that we were just gonna come out and blow them out after we played FAU,” he said. “It just lets you know how far that we can grow when we get guys like PJ, Tyrese [Hunter], Colby [Rogers], Dain, Moussa [Cisse], Nick [Jourdain]—that core—to really start believing in practice, defense, getting stops and all the things that you gotta have to go all the way. Then it’s gonna change.

“Until then, we’re gonna have back-and-forths with teams going on 5-0, 6-0, 7-0, 8-0 runs, and we think we’re just gonna miraculously come back. It didn’t happen against Mississippi State. It didn’t happen against Arkansas State. And it’ll happen to us again where we lose if we don’t come out and just get laser-focused from the practices and then bring it over to the game.”

Dainja scored double-digit points for the third consecutive game against North Texas, but he also committed 7 of Memphis’ 15 turnovers. The Illinois transfer recognizes that he and the other Tigers must play cleaner too.

“Definitely a lesson learned today for sure. I feel like with some of my turnovers, I just was going too fast,” Dainja said. “When I just slow down and take my time, nobody can guard me.”

Haggerty has led Memphis to nine Quad 1 and 2 victories this season, which bests the rest of Division I. And his 21.8 points per game currently make him the No. 6 scorer in college basketball and a perennial All-American candidate.

But he spent last season on a Tulsa squad that finished No. 8 in the AAC last year, so he expects a bigger fight to win the league than most anticipate.

“This conference is not as easy as people say it is,” he said. “I think it’s a pretty tough conference.”

Hardaway, who concurs with Haggerty’s sentiment, feels his players might need an extra push to get through the league’s minefield schedule filled with potential Quad 3 and 4 losses—too many of which could heavily damage Memphis’ NCAA Tournament resume like they did last season.

Whether it’s chewing a player out mid-game, benching somebody, administering hard practices after Christmas break or even calling his team soft, Hardaway is doing whatever it takes to ensure he wins his first AAC regular season title this year. He’ll even let his temper flare sometimes, if he has to.

“An angry Penny’s a scary Penny,” he said. “It just pushes the right buttons. You gotta push these guys because in today’s era, there’s so much complacency and entitlement. You gotta put your foot down…An angry Penny is gonna make sure that we get the job done no matter what and we did today.”