PJ Haggerty scored a game-high 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and No. 19 Memphis held on to post an 86-83 American Athletic Conference win over host Rice on Sunday in Houston.
Tyrese Hunter added 19 points and five assists for the Tigers (18-4, 8-1), which took a one-game lead in the conference over North Texas and UAB. PJ Carter came off the bench to can 5 of 7 3-pointers and tally 19 points as Memphis connected on 55 percent of its field goals, including 11 of 21 from the 3-point line.
Carter made two foul shots with 4.2 seconds left to give the Tigers a three-point lead. After the Owls were called for a five-second violation on the inbounds pass, they forced a turnover on Memphis’ inbounds pass but Carter blocked a desperation shot just before time expired.
Three players scored in double figures for the Owls (11-11, 2-7), led by Trae Broadnax with 19 points and six assists. Jacob Dar added 17 points and eight rebounds, including a 3-pointer with 11.7 seconds remaining to draw Rice within 82-81, and Alem Huseinovic kicked in 13 points.
The Owls pulled within 60-59 with 10:52 left in the game when Denver Anglin drilled a 3-pointer off Broadnax’s feed. But Dain Dainja dunked at the 9:57 mark to start a 9-2 run that Hunter ended with a 3-pointer for a 69-61 advantage with 8:02 remaining. The Tigers led by as many as 11 points in the last three minutes before Rice’s final comeback.
Rice canned 45.2 percent of its shots from the field, going 10 of 25 on 3-pointers, and scored 23 points off 16 turnovers.
Carter made a 3-pointer at the 12:50 mark of the first half for a 21-10 Tigers lead but Rice rallied to take a brief 29-28 edge. Memphis responded and got to halftime with a 44-39 advantage.
The teams came into this game traveling in opposite directions. While Memphis entered with a four-game winning streak, the Owls limped in with six straight losses, four coming by a total of 16 points.
–Field Level Media
