It wasn’t easy, but Memphis basketball still got the “get-back” PJ Haggerty and Dain Dainja hoped for.
The No. 17 Tigers (20-4, 10-1 AAC) defeated Temple 90-82 at FedExForum on Sunday. The Owls handed Penny Hardaway’s club its only conference loss in Philadelphia last month, giving each team one win apiece in their regular-season series. Memphis next plays at South Florida on Thursday (8 p.m., ESPN2).
Memphis shot 56% overall and 42% at the 3-point line. It also outrebounded Temple 26-24 while recording 16 forced turnovers, 16 assists, 10 offensive boards, 10 steals and 5 blocks. Memphis outscored the Owls 40-26 in the paint and 20-6 in fastbreak points. Tyrese Hunter sat out Sunday’s game with a knee injury. Midseason transfer guard Dante Harris started in his place. Hunter’s injury status is considered day-to-day, a Memphis spokesperson told Bluff City Media.
Adam Fisher’s team (14-10, 6-5 AAC) shot 50% from the field and 3-point range. It also compiled 13 forced turnovers, 12 assists, 8 offensive rebounds, 8 steals and a block. The Owls played without leading scorer Jamal Mashburn Jr. (foot) for the second consecutive outing. Aiden Tobiason (18), Steve Settle III (17), Quante Berry (16), Shane Dezonie (13) and Elijah Gray (10) scored double-figure points for Temple.
Here are some takeaways from Memphis’ seventh consecutive win.
Memphis flips the script on the boards
Temple outrebounded Memphis 49-25 in last month’s meeting, where the Owls also collected 22 offensive boards—just three shy of matching the Tigers’ total rebounding production on that end alone.
Sunday’s rematch, however, was a different story. The Tigers grabbed 6 rebounds—5 on the offensive glass (4 for Dain Dainja)—before Temple notched one. Memphis ultimately held a 14-13 edge on the boards at halftime, and logged 7 offensive rebounds compared the Owls’ 5 in the first 20 minutes.
No Temple player had more than 3 rebounds either half, and more than 5 rebounds total. Dezonie, a 6-foot-5 guard who finished with 13 rebounds (8 offensive) in the first matchup, grabbed 4 rebounds total in 33 minutes.
First-half turnovers handicap Tigers
Memphis looked discombobulated on offense after Hunter was ruled out just minutes before tipoff.
Both the Tigers and Temple combined for 21 first-half turnovers, but the Owls capitalized on the home team’s mistakes much better than vice versa. Temple scored 11 points off Memphis’ 11 giveaways, while the Tigers scored just 4 off the the Owls’ 10.
The two teams drew even with 35 points apiece at intermission.
Memphis pulls away with another 3-point barrage
Memphis used six second-half 3-pointers to finish off Tulsa Wednesday, and put Temple away with a similar strategy on Sunday.
The Tigers drilled six more shots from beyond the arc in the second half after hitting just two in the first. Memphis first took a double-digit lead at the 11:13 mark after a 13-3 run over three minutes, and a deep 3-pointer by Haggerty gave the Tigers their largest advantage at 15. Memphis also committed just 2 turnovers in the second half while scoring 14 points off 6 Temple giveaways.
Haggerty led the Tigers with 20 points (8-for-15 shooting), 7 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals and a block. Dain Dainja totaled 18 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks while shooting 5-of-7 from the field and 8-for-10 at the free-throw line. Harris filled in nicely for Hunter with 14 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals on 6-of-8 shooting. Nick Jourdain compiled 11 points, 3 assists and 2 rebounds, while Moussa Cisse had 10 points, 6 boards and 3 steals.
The Tigers won the second half 55-47.