PJ Haggerty made his first seven shots on his way to a game-high 27 points, Dain Dainja added 14 and No. 21 Memphis held off a feisty North Texas squad to earn a 68-64 home win on Sunday.
It was not without drama, however, as a dunk by Moulaye Sissoko helped North Texas trim the deficit to two points with 12 seconds remaining. But Colby Rogers made two free throws to earn Memphis (12-3, 2-0 American) its fifth win in six games.
Haggerty, who scored 23 or more points for the sixth time in nine games, also eclipsed 1,000 points for his career. Tyrese Hunter chipped in with 12 points and six rebounds.
The Tigers snapped UNT’s four-game winning streak.
Brenen Lorient paced North Texas (10-4, 1-1) with 18 points, including 14 in the second half, while Sissoko posted a career-high 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting to go along with eight boards.
The Mean Green, though, saw three of their top scorers struggle from the floor with Atin Wright, Latrell Jossell and Johnathan Massie combining to shoot 1-for-19 from the floor, including 0-for-13 from 3-point range.
After North Texas jumped to a 14-7 lead early, Memphis settled into a hounding, full-court defense to force four straight UNT turnovers. The Tigers went on a 13-2 run to grab a 20-16 lead.
North Texas opened the second half strong, hitting three of its first four shots to jump in front 38-33. Once again, though, Memphis settled into that hassling defense, setting up a 17-5 surge, capped by a steal and layup by Nicholas Jourdain.
While the Mean Green made a push to cut the deficit to one point, Haggerty took over with nine straight Memphis points. That included a long, high-arcing 3-pointer to beat the shot clock and earn the Tigers a 64-58 advantage with just 2:18 remaining.
–Field Level Media
