RECAP: Memphis basketball wins slug-fest over San Francisco

The Tigers didn’t make it easy on themselves, but they’ll still head to Hawaii undefeated.

Memphis (4-0) edged out San Francisco 68-64 inside the Chase Center—home of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors—Thursday night. This counts as a neutral court victory for Penny Hardaway’s club, which now prepares to face back-to-back national champion UConn in its Maui Invitational opener Monday (1:30 p.m., ESPN2). Memphis also plays either Michigan State or Colorado on Tuesday before concluding the tournament against North Carolina, Iowa State, Auburn or Dayton on Wednesday.

Memphis shot 37% from both the field and 3-point range. The Tigers also racked up 15 forced turnovers, 12 offensive rebounds, 10 steals, 9 blocks and 8 assists. They won after breaking five ties that lasted a total of two minutes and seven seconds.

Chris Gerlufsen’s team (4-1) shot 33% on field goals and 21% from beyond the arc. It also outrebounded Memphis 46-43 while recording 18 offensive boards, 15 forced turnovers, 9 steals, 8 assists and 6 blocks. The Dons fell despite leading for 23 minutes and 20 seconds.

Here are some takeaways from Memphis’ win.

Memphis offense sputters in the first half

The Tigers hit a grand total of 6 field goals in the first half.

You read that correctly. Six.

Memphis went to halftime shooting a dastardly 24% overall and 29% on 3-pointers. It also turned the ball over 10 times compared to 7 for San Francisco in the period. Dain Dainja led all scorers with 8 points at the break.

The Dons didn’t experience much first-half offense either, shooting 35% from the floor and 25% from beyond the arc.

Starting lineup change fails quickly

Memphis made a slight change to its opening lineup, starting Moussa Cisse over Dainja for the first time this year. PJ Haggerty, Tyrese Hunter, Colby Rogers and Nick Jourdain began the game as usual.

But it didn’t exactly work out. Far from it, in fact.

The Tigers sunk themselves into a 10-1 deficit with 16:41 left in the first half. Dainja then subbed in for Cisse at the 16:09 mark, and scored his first bucket 20 seconds later. The 7-foot Cisse had a rough first half overall with 3 points and a rebound on 3-for-7 free throw shooting.

Dainja, Hunter, Haggerty lead second-half surge

Memphis’ offense pulled off another second-half explosion against San Francisco.

The Tigers started the second half with a 10-0 run and never trailed again after taking a 40-39 lead with 12:40 remaining. San Francisco later made the score 56-56 at the 3:22 mark, but a Haggerty 3-pointer quickly broke that tie with 2:31 on the clock. Memphis remained ahead following that point.

Dainja added another 10 points in the final period. Hunter and Haggerty scored 9 each in that span. Memphis outscored the Dons 46-33 after halftime while shooting 48.1% overall and 42% on 3-point tries. The Tigers held Gerlufsen’s team to a 30% clip in the second half.

Dainja compiled a game-high 18 points (60% shooting) to go with 7 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals. Haggerty notched 13 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals. Hunter contributed 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 4 steals.