No. 19 Tigers Hang on to Beat Pirates, 74-70
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The No. 19/20 University of Memphis men's basketball team came out on top over East Carolina, 74-70, in an American Athletic Conference matchup on a snowy Saturday afternoon inside FedExForum. Full coverage Monday beginning at 9:00 a.m. on 92.9 FM ESPN.
The Tigers (13-3, 3-0 AAC) shot 41.0 percent for the game, led by guard PJ Haggerty, who scored 25 points on 7-of-16 shooting, going 10-for-10 from the stripe.
The Pirates again had an answer with a 10-point run of their own before Memphis scored nine straight in response - capped by an alley oop from Colby Rogers to Nicholas Jourdain with 1:45 remaining in the first half to make the score 36-19, Tigers.
The Tigers' defense forced nine turnovers and garnered five steals in the opening half. Memphis maintained the lead throughout the first frame, going into halftime up 38-24. The 24 points allowed by Memphis in the first half were the fewest by any Tiger opponent this season.
The Pirates came out of the break with a vengeance, going on a 9-0 run in the opening two minutes of the second half to trim the Memphis lead to five. Haggerty responded with a 6-0 run of his own to extend the advantage to 11 points.
After consecutive turnovers from the Tigers, East Carolina cut the lead to two points with 8:03 left in the game. Haggerty drilled a step-back three before Hunter followed suit with a triple of his own to push it to six with just over seven minutes to play.
Free throws down the stretch for the Pirates brought them back within a point of the Tigers with 2:50 remaining before ultimately tying it at 68 apiece with 1:11 to play.
With 18 seconds left on the clock, Hunter drove through the defense and laid it in for a four-point advantage.
A few seconds later, ECU was awarded and converted two shots at the line to make it a one-possession game. Then with nine seconds to go, Haggerty nailed a pair of free throws to seal the Tigers' win. He sank four clutch free throws in the game's final 1:01 to secure the victory.
East Carolina was led by RJ Felton’s double-double (20 points, 13 rebounds) and a 23-point, 7-rebond performance from big man C.J. Walker.
ECU blocked seven shots, tying the most by a Tiger opponent this season (Virginia, LA Tech – 7). The Pirates also added 11 steals, which are tied for the second-most by an opposing team this season.
Memphis improved to 3-0 in conference play for the second time under Penny Hardaway (2023-24) and has now won four-straight games.
POSTGAME NOTES
Memphis used the starting lineup of PJ Haggerty, Tyrese Hunter, Colby Rogers, Nicholas Jourdain and Moussa Cisse for the 13th time this season. They are 10-3 on the year with that lineup. The Tigers improved to 6-2 at home this season. Memphis extended its lead in the all-time series to 27-5, including a 15-1 mark at home. Memphis shot 41.0 percent overall (25-of-61), its lowest of the conference season. The Tigers went 6-of-23 from deep (26.1%) and 18-of-23 at the free throw line (78.3%).ECU controlled the boards 40-36, including a slight 14-13 advantage on the offensive end. Six Tigers hauled in at least four rebounds in the same game for the second time this season (Missouri).Memphis coughed the rock up 16 times, with ECU turning those miscues into 24 points. The Tigers outscored the Pirates 14-2 off the bench. PJ Haggerty recorded his 11th game of 20-plus points this season, including four of his last six. The nation’s leading free throw maker went 10-of-10 at the line, his sixth outing this year with double-digit makes. He is only the second player in Division I this season to score at least 25 points and go perfect at the charity stripe with at least 10 attempts. And he’s the first Tiger to do so since Jeremiah Martin on Feb. 23, 2019 at Wichita State (37pt, 14-14 FT).Tyrese Hunter hit double figures for the 12th time this season behind 14 points in 31 minutes. He has led the Tigers in scoring for 10 games in 2024-25.Dain Dainja has now scored 10-plus points (14) in four-straight outings and in 10 total games this season. All of his points came in the second half on 4-of-5 shooting in 13 minutes. The big man grabbed five rebounds, tying Nicholas Jourdain for the team high, his 11th game with five or more boards. Colby Rogers fouled out after playing only 20 minutes of action, his third time fouling out on the year. He knocked down a game-high three triples (3-of-7),and finished with nine points and four rebounds. Moussa Cisse posted the team-best plus/minus (14) in just 19 minutes of play. The big man notched eight points, four boards and two blocks. Dante Harris had perhaps his best day as a Tiger behind two points, two rebounds, two steals and four assists in a season-high 22 minutes off the bench. Nicholas Jourdain totaled four points, five rebounds, three blocks and two dimes.
UP NEXT
Memphis hits the road for a pair of contests next week. The Tigers travel to Temple on Thursday (6 p.m. CT, ESPN2) and then to Charlotte next Sunday (2 p.m. CT, ESPN2 or ESPNU).