Why Dain Dainja embarrassed Yaxel Lendeborg, even if he didn’t even know who he was.

Dain Dainja knew he had to open Sunday’s matinee with a bang.

Memphis basketball’s 6-foot-9 center logged his first start in 16 games as the Tigers hosted UAB inside a striped-out FedExForum. Coach Penny Hardaway subbed in Dainja for Moussa Cisse in hopes of giving his slow-starting offense a boost against the Blazers.

Dainja delivered in less than four minutes by ferociously slamming in his first two points over American Athletic Conference (AAC) Preseason Player of the Year Yaxel Lendeborg—forcing Lendeborg’s face in between his legs in the process.

It seemed deliberate and personal in the moment—as if Dainja had something to prove to UAB’s best player. But the Illinois transfer, as it turns out, had no idea who Lendeborg was before Memphis began scouting the Blazers.

“I didn’t even know who he was,” Dainja said postgame. “I didn’t know he was Preseason Player of the Year until we had the scout on him. I knew he was good, but I didn’t know all that…No disrespect, but I just [don’t] see it.”

So, why did Dainja do it?

“I dunked the ball. And then I ain’t wanna just come down to hurt myself, so I kinda pulled in,” he said with a chuckle, lacking a straight face. “Next question.”

Dainja firmly dominated Lendeborg and the Blazers from there, leading the Tigers to a 100-77 victory. He finished the game with 21 points, 8 rebounds, a block and a steal while shooting 10-of-12 from the field in just 25 minutes before fouling out at the 6:21 mark in the second half. He even scored 10 consecutive Memphis points over a three-minute span in the first half.

Hardaway said he considered reinserting Dainja into the starting lineup for months after making him Memphis’ lead reserve. He’s happy he pulled the trigger just in time.

“Exactly what I thought was gonna happen happened. He went out there and dominated,” Hardaway said.

Lendeborg (16.8 points and 10.1 rebounds per game) is tied for fourth in Division I with 12 double-doubles this season. That includes an 18-point, 10-rebound outing against Memphis on Sunday. Dainja, however, feels his performance challenges Lendeborg’s proverbial crown as the AAC’s best big man.

“I feel like I’m the best big in this conference, and it’s not even close,” he told Tigers play-by-play man Dave Woloshin.

Dainja’s showing—and that dunk—set the tone for the rest of Hardaway’s team. PJ Haggerty totaled a game-high 23 points and tied his career-high with 9 assists. He also notched 6 rebounds and 3 steals. PJ Carter scored 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting off the bench. Colby Rogers bounced back from his recent struggles with 12 points (4-for-7 shooting), 3 rebounds and 3 steals. Nick Jourdain notched 11 points (4-for-7 shooting), 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks. Cisse and Tyrese Hunter both added 9 points. Cisse grabbed 8 rebounds too, while Hunter distributed 4 assists.

Memphis shot 62% from the field and 53% from 3-point range. It also outrebounded UAB 37-33 and led wire-to-wire by as many as 24 points. The Blazers ranked No. 9 in the country in offensive rebounding and No. 10 in total rebounding before tipoff.

Memphis, which scored 54 paint points and 32 points off 16 forced turnovers, obviously played with a chip on its shoulder against UAB—the league’s preseason favorite over Memphis. The Tigers hesitated to admit it, though.

“I [saw] that they [were] picked above us early in the season,” Haggerty said. “It wasn’t really personal, [but] it might’ve been a little personal.”

Haggerty isn’t the only Tiger that’s downplayed Memphis’ motivation to hammer the Blazers all the way to the century mark. Carter did so as well following Memphis’ win over Wichita State last Thursday.

But Hardaway exposed his club’s facade shortly after the final buzzer. The Tigers were out to send a message to the rest of the AAC. They feel as if they’re the class of the league, and they want everyone to know it too.

“We wanna send a message to all the top teams,” Hardaway said. “I respect the voters voting [for UAB]…But we have something that we want, and we wanna win the conference. So, to win conference, you gotta beat teams like UAB. And that drove us today.”

No. 24 Memphis (16-4, 6-1 AAC) visits Tulane on Thursday (8 p.m., ESPN2 or ESPNU).