No. 14 Memphis Falls in Overtime at Wichita State
WICHITA, Kan. – The No. 14 Memphis Tigers fell to Wichita State, 84-79, in overtime Sunday afternoon inside Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kansas.
The loss ended Memphis’ 8-game win streak and dropped the Tigers to 21-5 overall and 11-2 in American Athletic Conference play. Wichita State improved to 15-10 and 5-7 after picking up its fourth-straight victory.
Senior guard Tyrese Hunter led the team with 24 points and six rebounds, while sophomore PJ Haggerty followed with 14 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals.
Fifth-year center Moussa Cisse recorded his best game of the season with 12 points, 14 boards and five blocks. Senior forward Nicholas Jourdain also reached double figures with 12 points and six rebounds.
Both teams struggled offensively out of the gate before Memphis was able to get things flowing with a 12-2 run to take an 18-12 lead midway through the first half.
After a few minutes of back-and-forth ball, the Shockers reeled off 11-straight points to grab their biggest advantage of the day before going into the break up, 32-28.
Memphis came out of the break and quickly made up the deficit with back-to-back dunks from Jourdain.
With less than 13 minutes left in the game, it seemed as though Memphis was about to put the game away after PJ Carter buried two 3-pointers just 15 seconds apart to give the Tigers their largest lead of the game at 53-45.
Immediately, Wichita State went on another 8-0 run to get back into the action.
With less than 40 seconds to play and Memphis up four after a breakaway dunk from Hunter, the Tigers turned the ball over on an inbounds play and Wichita State’s Harlond Beverly responded with a bucket from the paint.
The Shockers then tied the game on two free throws with 18 seconds remaining. Colby Rogers missed a game-winner at the buzzer to send it to overtime at 71-71.
Memphis scored the first four points of the extra period at the free throw line, but Wichita State outscored the Tigers 13-4 the rest of the way, aided by a three-pointer from Bijan Cortes to put the Shockers in front for good.
The Tigers were dominated on the glass, giving up 54 rebounds. It’s the most Memphis has allowed in a game since Dec. 19, 2022 against Bradley (55).
POSTGAME NOTES
Memphis used the starting lineup of PJ Haggerty, Tyrese Hunter, Colby Rogers, Nicholas Jourdain and Dain Dainja for the ninth time this season. They dropped to 8-1 on the year with that group. The Tigers fell to 11-3 this season on courts away from home, and are now 8-2 in true road games. Memphis totaled eight blocks and five steals in the game. It’s the most blocks since swatting nine against Ole Miss (Dec. 28).The Tigers finished with 22 assists to just 10 turnovers. It’s their fourth time with 20+ dimes in the last seven games. The Tigers have recorded 135 assists in the last seven games. Memphis shot 36.0 percent overall (27-75), and 38.5 percent from three (10-26).It’s the third-lowest field goal percentage of the season. The Tigers have hit double-digit triples now in seven games on the year. Wichita State outscored the Tigers in the paint 50-34 and grabbed 19 offensive rebounds. Tyrese Hunter led the Tigers with 24 points, six rebounds and two dimes. It’s his second-highest point total of the season behind 26 against UConn. It marks his seventh game of the year with 20+ points and seventh with four made triples. He paced the team with four 3-pointers and six free throws. PJ Haggerty finished with 15 points, eight rebounds, six dimes and two steals in 43 minutes. After shooting 1-for-8 with two points in the first half, he scored 13 points after the break to reach double figures for the 25th time this season. Moussa Cisse recorded his second double-double of the year and the 16th of his career with 12 points and 14 rebounds. The big man swatted a season high five shots, one off his career high. The 14 rebounds are his most since Dec. 20, 2022, and he now has three games with 10+ rebounds this season. Nicholas Jourdain reached double figures for the sixth time this year, finishing with 12 points and six rebounds. PJ Carter and Colby Rogers each hit two 3-pointers and both finished with six points.
UP NEXT
After a short and busy weekend that have the Tigers traveling nearly 3,000 miles roundtrip back-and-forth to Tampa and Wichita, Memphis will get some much needed rest this week.
The Tigers will have their final midweek break of the season before hosting Florida Atlantic in a return visit next Sunday (Feb. 23) at 1 p.m. inside FedExForum.