How Memphis basketball dismantled No. 16 Ole Miss, added to March Madness resume

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The Memphis basketball team needed to make a statement against No. 16 Ole Miss Saturday.

The Tigers got exactly that with an 87-70 win over the Rebels (11-2) in front of an estimated crowd of more than 15,000, including Memphis legends Jerry “The King” Lawler and “The Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart.

Colby Rogers rebounded from back-to-back tough outings with a season-high 28 points, one off his career-high. Tigers’ leading scorer PJ Haggerty put up 17, while Moussa Cisse – against his former team – registered a double-double (13 points and 11 rebounds), his first since March 15, 2023, when he was at Oklahoma State.

The Tigers (10-3), with as many March Madness resume-building wins as they had piled up, lost some of that momentum last week with a loss to Mississippi State – their second loss at FedExForum in as many games. Penny Hardaway’s team also needed the victory because it won’t get another potential Quad 1 opportunity the rest of the season.

Now, Memphis has eight Quad 1 and Quad 2 wins, more than any team in the country.

Three Rebels scored in double figures, but the Tigers held Memphis native Matthew Murrell to just seven points on 3-of-11 shooting.

Ole Miss made a 7-1 run late in the second half to cut into a 75-60 Memphis lead. But Rogers put an end to that, dropping his sixth 3-pointer with 4:06 remaining. Dain Dainja then made back-to-back buckets to bring the Tigers’ advantage to 16 points.

Dainja gave Memphis 16 points, while Nicholas Jourdain had eight points, seven rebounds, six assists and three blocks.

The Tigers came out swinging to start the game. Haggerty found Cisse 13 seconds into the game with an emphatic alley-oop dunk that drew uproarious applause from the crowd.

Memphis applied consistent pressure throughout the majority of the first half, leading by as many as 13 points with less than eight minutes to play before the break. Rogers, who was 1-of-19 from the field in two games last week, and Haggerty combined for 21 first-half…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/memphis-basketball-dismantled-no-16-212556647.html

Author : The Commercial Appeal

Publish date : 2024-12-28 21:25:00

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