Memphis basketball bands together without Tyrese Hunter, wins 7 in row. Here are 3 takeaways

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Penny Hardaway walked off the court at halftime Sunday, head in hands, his Memphis basketball team tied with Temple at FedExForum.

Upon his return from the locker room, Hardaway was clapping. The No. 15 Tigers (20-4, 10-1 AAC) gave their coach plenty to applaud in the second half, eventually pushing away and hanging on to beat the Owls 90-82. It is the seventh straight victory for the Tigers and represents a measure of payback against Temple, which upset them Jan. 16 in Philadelphia.

Memphis, missing starting point guard Tyrese Hunter (knee injury), got big second-half performances from PJ Haggerty, Dain Dainja and Dante Harris against Temple (14-10, 6-5), which was missing its own star, Jamal Mashburn Jr. (lower body injury).

Nursing a one-point lead, Haggerty ignited a 13-3 run with a midrange jumper and 13:53 left in the game. By the time Colby Rogers’ 3-pointer (his second of the game) went down with 11:13 remaining, Memphis was up 60-49 — its largest lead of the game to that point.

Haggerty led the way with 20 points, while Dainja put up 18 and Harris finished with 14. The trio combined for 32 in the second half.

The Tigers are set to face South Florida (12-12, 5-6) Thursday (8 p.m. CT, ESPN2) at Yuengling Center in Tampa.

Here are three takeaways from Sunday’s game.

No Tyrese Hunter — and it showed early

Hunter is not just the Tigers’ second-leading scorer. He is also their steady hand and level head.

All of which they needed and missed against Temple, especially early. Coming off a season-low eight turnovers in a win earlier this week over Tulsa, Memphis committed an eye-popping 11 in the first half versus the Owls.

But the Tigers cleaned things up in the second half, finishing with just a pair of turnovers during the final 20 minutes.

Harris, a midseason transfer from Virginia, made his first start in a Memphis uniform in place of Hunter. He gave the Tigers 12 points (on 6-of-8 shooting) and had two rebounds and a pair of steals.

When Memphis needed a spark, down 42-40…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/memphis-tigers-band-together-tyrese-212443615.html

Author : The Commercial Appeal

Publish date : 2025-02-09 21:24:00

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