No. 19 Tigers Extend Win Streak at Tulane

Thursday, January 30

New Orleans, La.

8:00 PM

University of Memphis

17-4,7-1AAC

Tulane

11-10,5-3AAC

Memphis

Tulane

Jan 30, 2025 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

NEW ORLEANS – Behind Dain Dainja's double-double and hot three-point shooting, No. 19 Memphis and head coach Penny Hardaway exorcised their demons Thursday night with a 68-56 road win over Tulane inside Fogelman Arena.

Hardaway was 0-3 at Tulane as a head coach and the Tigers hadn't won inside that building since December 2020 – 1,506 days ago.

Memphis (17-4, 7-1 American) put three players in double figures, but none included their top-two scorers of the season; one of who entered the game as the No. 2 bucket-getter in the nation.

These Tigers and this team are different, though. They have now won four-in-a-row and eight of their last nine.

In his second-straight game back in the starting lineup, Dainja pulled down his third double-double as a Tiger with 19 points and 10 rebounds. He was 8-of-11 shooting.

After going 0-for-7 from three-point range to start the night, Colby Rogers caught fire in the second half, shooting 4-for-4 from deep and scoring 14 points in the final 10:30 of the game. PJ Carter came off the bench to score 14 points for the second-straight game in 26 minutes.

The Tigers scored the first six points of the night, but it was a back-and-forth affair for much of the game. Tulane led 26-20 with under four minutes to play in the first half, but four different players for Memphis scored a bucket down the stretch, including Carter's second triple of the night and a coast-to-coast runner from PJ Haggerty at the buzzer to rip off a 9-0 run and take a 29-26 lead into the halftime break.

Memphis opened up the second half with back-to-back buckets from Tyrese Hunter and Dainja to go up five, but over the next 10 minutes, there were five lead changes and neither team led by more than four points.

The Green Wave (11-10, 5-3) took a 46-45 lead with 10:45 on the clock following a Kaleb Green layup, but from that moment on, it was all Memphis.

Rogers finally got going and nailed back-to-back three balls in a 90-second span to put the Tigers in front for good. Tulane cut it to three points on another layup with 4:41 to go, but Memphis scored 12 of the final 15 points, including the last two dagger threes from Rogers, to seal the 68-56 road victory.

Memphis didn't have its best shooting night at 44.8 percent (26-58), but the Tigers' defensive effort limited Tulane to just 36.2 percent (21-58) overall and 16.7 percent (4-24) from beyond the arc.

Rowan Brumbaugh led the Green Wave with 19 points, seven rebounds and four dimes. Kaleb Banks added 14 points and five boards.

POSTGAME NOTES

Memphis used the starting lineup of PJ Haggerty, Tyrese Hunter, Colby Rogers, Nicholas Jourdain and Dain Dainja for the fifth time this season.
- They improved to 5-0 on the year with that lineup.
The Tigers improved to 9-2 this season on courts away from home, including 7-1 in true road games.
Memphis leads the all-time series now, 63-15 overall and 23-11 in New Orleans.
- It's the first victory for the Tigers in Fogelman Arena since Dec. 16, 2020.
The Tigers are now 45-3 in seven seasons under Hardaway when holding an opponent to 60 points or less.
- They have won 26-straight such games, and have held two of their last three opponents to under 60.
The Tigers held their second-straight opponent below 40-percent shooting and their third in four games.
- They have held five of their eight conference opponents under 40 percent from the floor, and Wichita State shot 40.4 percent.
No free throws were attempted in the first half – by either team.
- The Tigers went to the line for the first time 22:30 minutes into the game.
Memphis – the No. 17 and No. 18 team in the nation in free throw attempts and makes – entered the night averaging 24.6 attempts and 17.7 makes at the charity stripe.
- On Thursday, the Tigers were just 7-of-10 at the line – their fewest totals of the season.
Memphis dished 18 assists and turned the ball over just 11 times.
- Their 1.6 assist/turnover ratio was the second-best of the season. They recorded a 1.9 ratio last Sunday against UAB.
  - Over the last two games, the Tigers have put up 42 assists to just 24 turnovers.
Dain Dainja finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds and three assists in 35 minutes.
- He has scored double figures in 11 of his last 13 games and has hauled in at least eight rebounds in four straight contests.
  - It marked the first time in his career that he's scored at least 19 points in back-to-back outings.
Colby Rogers scored 14 points with five boards in 26 minutes.
- He finished 4-of-8 from long distance and all of his points came in the final 10:30 of play.
PJ Carter put up 14 points off the bench for the second-straight game.
- He matched Rogers with a team-high four triples and finished 5-of-11 from the floor overall with three rebounds.
  - He posted a team high plus/minus of 20.
PJ Haggerty had his worst scoring game of the season with eight points, five assists and four rebounds in 38 minutes.
- It was his lowest point total in his last 47 games, since also scoring eight at Little Rock on Nov. 25, 2023 with Tulsa.
  - Haggerty entered the night as the nation's No. 2 leading scorer at 22.1 points per game.
Tyrese Hunter scored seven points (3-8 FG) with five dimes, three rebounds and two steals in 38 minutes.
- It was his fewest points scored in conference play.
Moussa Cisse scored four points, but finished second on the team with six rebounds in 13 minutes off the bench.

UP NEXT
The Tigers head to Houston for their first visit to Rice as AAC members on Sunday for a 2 p.m. tip to wrap up the first half of its conference season.

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.