Tigers Begin Road Trip With Win in San Francisco

Thursday, November 21

San Francisco, CA

9:00 PM

University of Memphis

4-0,0-0AAC

San Francisco

4-1,0-0WCC

Memphis

San Francisco

Nov 21, 2024 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

SAN FRANCISCO - The University of Memphis men's basketball team remained undefeated with a 68-64 road win over the University of San Francisco inside Chase Center in San Francisco Thursday night.

The Tigers (4-0) got an efficient, 18-point effort off the bench from redshirt-senior forward Dain Dainja to lead the team offensively in a hard-fought victory as Memphis handed the Dons (4-1) their first loss of the season. Dainja added seven rebounds and three blocks to add to his production on the defensive side.

Neither team led by double digits at any point in the game as the Tigers trailed for over 23 minutes before completing a second-half comeback and earning the win to stay perfect on the season and improve to 4-0 for the second-straight year.

A cold open from the Tigers forced them to play from behind the entire first half, shooting just 24 percent from the field and turning the ball over 10 times in the opening frame.

San Francisco pushed its lead back out to seven midway through the half before Memphis tied the game at 14 when Moussa Cisse and Nicholas Jourdain added in four combined free throws while Colby Rogers sank a transition three in front of the Dons bench to force a USF timeout.

Memphis trailed by nine at the break but came out of the half with a 10-0 run to take a 32-31 lead. The Tigers outscored the Dons 46-33 in the second half on 48.1 percent shooting from the floor.

After a 10-0 run to open the second half got Memphis in a rhythm, a lay-up from Tyrese Hunter gave Memphis its first lead of the night less than four minutes into the frame.

A completed and-one from Dainja with 12:40 remaining on the clock put the Tigers back on top and never relinquished it. While the Dons continued to stay within reaching distance, Memphis locked in for nine free throws in the final five minutes of the game secured the 68-64 win to remain undefeated.

Memphis finished the game shooting 36.5 percent from the field and just under 37 percent from long range.

Redshirt-sophomore guard PJ Haggerty chipped in 13 points and hit on 7-of-8 free throws, including some clutch makes down the stretch. He pocketed three steals and pulled down a team-high seven boards.

Senior guard Tyrese Hunter had a team-high four steals and added 11 points offensively to go with five of the team's eight assists on the night.

Memphis is back in action on Monday afternoon in the opening game of the Maui Invitational against No. 2 UConn. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. CT with coverage available on ESPN2.

How to follow the Tigers: For complete information on Memphis Tiger Men's Basketball, visit www.GoTigersGo.com and follow the team's social media channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.