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 with more than 16 minutes to play, Harris gave it to them. A layup with 16:03 left tied the game. Eighteen seconds later, he came up with a steal that led to a Dainja bucket, giving the Tigers the lead for good.
It remains unclear how long Hunter will be out, but the program considers him day to day.
Memphis basketball better in the paint
Memphis’ 88-81 loss to Temple in January was marred by significant frontcourt deficiencies. The Tigers were out-rebounded 49-25 and outscored 13-6 in second-chance points.
On Sunday, they won the rebounding battle and held Temple to 24. It also dominated the points in the paint stat column (40-26) and in second-chance points (16-8).
Dainja was a big reason why. He finished with 18 points and eight rebounds. No Owls player had more than five rebounds. Temple’s Shane Dezonie, who had 13 rebounds in the first matchup, was held to just four at FedExForum.
Memphis’ Moussa Cisse contributed 10 points and six rebounds. Nicholas Jourdain also scored 11.
Still in a long-distance groove
Led by Rogers, who had three 3-pointers, Memphis finished 8-for-19 beyond the arc against Temple.
It marks the fifth game in a row the Tigers have connected on eight or more from long distance. They went into the game with four straight games of nine or more 3’s, a feat accomplished for only the third time in the past 12 years.
Haggerty and PJ Carter knocked down two 3-pointers apiece.
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com, follow him @munzly on X, and sign up for the Memphis Basketball Insider text group.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis basketball avenges Temple loss, extends winning streak to 7
