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HOUSTON — The Memphis basketball team survived another dogfight on the road Sunday, holding on to beat Rice 86-83.
The Owls got a 3-pointer from Jacob Dar with 11.8 seconds left in the game to cut the Tigers’ lead to 82-81 at Tudor Fieldhouse. But PJ Haggerty and PJ Carter made four clutch free throws in the last eight seconds to give Memphis some breathing room.
It’s the fifth straight win for the 16th-ranked Tigers (18-4, 8-1 AAC), who return to action against Tulsa on Wednesday (7 p.m. CT, ESPN+) at FedExForum. The victory keeps Penny Hardaway’s team in sole possession of first place in the conference and in an enviable position in the March Madness picture. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s most recent projection, which was on Saturday, has the Tigers as a 4-seed.
“Y’all know my faith, man. I believe we’re the best team in the country,” Hardaway said. “We keep winning on the road. Great teams win on the road. I’m proud of the guys for coming out, fighting hard and getting a W.”
Here are three takeaways from the game.
PJ Haggerty bounces back in hometown
The Tigers’ leading scorer was not himself Thursday at Tulane.
Haggerty scored just eight points (on 11 field goal attempts) and had only four rebounds. But there was a reason. During his postgame radio interview, Hardaway said his All-American candidate had been dealing with an illness and was not 100% healthy.
Haggerty — who is from Baytown, a suburb of Houston — came back with a vengeance Sunday, scoring nearly twice as many points in the first half alone (14) than he did in 37-plus minutes against Tulane.
With the Crosby High basketball team in attendance, its star alum was back to his old self. On top of his 26 points, Haggerty finished with a game-high eight rebounds and had five assists.
“That’s one guy I knew I didn’t have to worry about on this trip to be ready to play,” Hardaway said. “When he got home, we knew he was going to be ready to go. He was feeling much better. When we traveled, I could tell he…
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Author : The Commercial Appeal
Publish date : 2025-02-02 22:28:00
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