Make it seven consecutive weeks in the Associated Press (AP) Top 25 for Memphis basketball.
The Tigers (20-4, 10-1 AAC) are up to No. 14 in Monday’s poll after two home wins over Tulsa and Temple. This is the best spot in the rankings Memphis has drawn this season. It’s also the highest since Penny Hardaway’s club rose up to No. 10 last year.
PJ Haggerty, who transferred from Tulsa to Memphis last April, torched his former team during Wednesday’s 83-71 victory. The 6-foot-3 guard finished with 23 points, 3 assists and 2 steals while shooting 10-of-16 from the field and 3-for-5 at the 3-point line. The Tigers led the lowly Golden Hurricane 39-34 at halftime after allowing 24 paint points in the first half, but Haggerty headed a 44-37 charge in the second half where Memphis shot 60% (6-of-10) from beyond the arc. Dain Dainja dominated Tulsa too with 21 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 blocks and 3 steals. He and Haggerty scored 15 and 13 second-half points respectively.
Both headlined the box score again in Sunday’s 90-82 victory against Temple, which dealt the Tigers their only conference loss in Philadelphia last month. Haggerty recorded 20 points (8-for-15 shooting), 7 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals and a block. Dainja, meanwhile, 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.
Midseason transfer guard Dante Harris made his first start this season after Tyrese Hunter (knee) was ruled out minutes before tipoff. He didn’t disappoint either, helping the Tigers bounce back from an 11-turnover first half by scoring 8 of his 14 points in the final period. The 6-foot redshirt senior was Memphis’ only starter to not commit a giveaway. The Tigers were plus-6 with Harris on the floor.
Hardaway, however, still focuses on an unfortunate, but common theme for both outings. One of Memphis’ negative quirks this year is its struggles with putting inferior competition away, and that trend continued during its homestand. The Tigers led Tulsa by as many as 19 points with less than six minutes to play, but the Golden Hurricane finished the contest with a 13-6 run. Memphis then held a 15-point lead over Temple with less than five minutes remaining, only to permit an 18-11 run before the final buzzer. The Owls even cut the Tigers’ advantage down to 6 points with a minute left.
“At the end of the games, we’re not finishing them the way that I really want to. I mean, a win is a win. But when you’re up 12, 13, 14, you wanna get it to 20,” Hardaway told reporters Sunday. “All year long, we’ve allowed that lead to diminish and get down to almost making it a game with seconds to go. We just have to do better.”
Memphis’ inability to blowout bad opponents is largely why it’s still much lower in advanced metrics. The Tigers are currently No. 44 in KenPom, No. 45 in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) and No. 53 in Bart Torvik. They were No. 46 in the latter metric before defeating Tulsa. KenPom dropped Memphis two spots each after both of its wins at FedExForum. CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm and ESPN’s Joe Lunardi project Memphis, which has 10 combined victories in Quads 1 and 2, as a No. 4 and 5 seed respectively in their latest bracketologies. But Bart Torvik forecasts the Tigers to be the lowest 9-seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Other human polls are much kinder to Hardaway and Co. CBS Sports personality and Grind City Media host Gary Parrish ranks Memphis No. 12 in his Top 25 and 1. Jon Rothstein, also of CBS Sports, slots it at No. 11 in his top 45, as does NCAA correspondent Andy Katz in his Power 37. Field of 68 host Jeff Goodman has the Tigers at No. 16 in his top 25.
The Tigers visit South Florida on Thursday (8 p.m., ESPN2).