Dainja’s Double-Double Sends Tigers to AAC Title Game

Saturday, March 15

Fort Worth, Texas / Dickies Arena

2:00 PM

University of Memphis

28-5,16-2AAC

(4) Tulane

19-14,12-6AAC

Tulane

Memphis

Dainja’s Double-Double Sends Tigers to AAC Title Game

Mar 15, 2025 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Postgame Notes

FORT WORTH, Texas – The top-seeded Memphis men's basketball team scraped by the Green Wave of Tulane Saturday afternoon 78-77 to advance to the American Athletic Conference Championship finals for the third time in four years.

Led by forward Dain Dainja's game-high 23 points and 11 rebounds, the Tigers pulled out the win after PJ Haggerty sank eight of his 14 made free throws in the final 40 seconds of the game.

Memphis will now play for the AAC Tournament crown Sunday afternoon against No. 3 seed UAB. The Tigers have won 15 of their last 16 games and have their most wins in a season since going 31-5 in their final Conference USA season (2012-13) before moving to the AAC.

"First and foremost for me, to God be the glory," Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway said. "Thank God for the opportunity to get this W. That is 28 wins, which is really amazing. Tulane did a phenomenal job today. They had a great game plan going and took us to the wire.

"To my guys, I'm super proud of them because we hit adversity today and we withstood the storm and got a great victory. Dain, unbelievable job all day. What a phenomenal game from him."

Along with Dainja's performance, Haggerty added in 18 points and nine boards while Moussa Cisse came off the bench for a 10-point, 11-rebound performance.

Coming off a slow start in the beginning, Memphis (28-5) was able to pull away with a 39-32 lead going into the half after PJ Carter nailed his first of three buckets from long range. The Tigers lead lasted less than two minutes into the second half as Tulane strung together a 7-0 run out of the break to tie things up at 39-39.

Memphis seemingly started to pull away a few minutes later with an 8-0 of its own behind a tip-in and an alley oop from Cisse sandwiched around a pull-up 3-pointer from Carter that gave the Tigers a 53-46 advantage.

From that point on after a Tulane layup with 12:45 to play, the game saw six lead changes and five ties while neither team had more than a two-possession lead.

After Haggerty's go-ahead free throws that put Memphis in front 72-71 with 40 seconds remaining, Tulane's Rowan Brumbaugh had a layup pinned against the backboard by Cisse. The refs initially ruled it was interference and counted the basket, but changed the call after a review.

The Green Wave retained possession with 26 seconds on the clock, but Haggerty then poked the ball away from Brumbaugh, diving over him to grab the rock and call timeout. Haggerty made six free throws after that.

Brumbaugh, who led Tulane with 22 points, closed the game with a long 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Memphis a 78-77 victory.

Kam Williams added 16 points and eight boards for the Green Wave, while Asher Woods contributed 15 points, six rebounds and five dimes.

The Tigers struggled shooting the ball for most of the afternoon, connecting on 38.5 percent (25-65) overall from the floor. They also went just 5-of-23 from long distance (21.7%) and 23-of-38 at the free throw line (60.5%).

POSTGAME NOTES

Memphis used the starting lineup of PJ Haggerty, Tyrese Hunter, Colby Rogers, Nicholas Jourdain and Dain Dainja for the 16th time this season.
- They are 15-1 on the year with that group.
The Tigers moved to 15-3 this season on courts away from home.
- Memphis is now 64-15 all-time against Tulane.
When playing in the state of Texas in the month of March under Hardaway, the Tigers are now 14-5.
Dain Dainja recorded his seventh double-double of the year with a game-high 23 points and 11 rebounds while playing a career-high 39 minutes. He entered the day averaging 26.0 minutes per game.
- The Brooklyn Park, Minnesota native shot 10-of-15 from the floor, but struggled mightily at the line, going 3-of-13.
  - It marks his seventh game of the year with 20 points, and they hall have come in the last 14 games.
PJ Haggerty played all 40 minutes and just missed a double-double with 18 points, nine rebounds and five steals.
- A day after making 16 shots, he finished just 2-of-13 on Saturday from the field. It ties his season low of made field goals.
  - The sophomore had his best game of the season at the line, going 14-of-14. He is now 44-of-48 from the stripe in the last four games.
Moussa Cisse picked up his third double-double of the season with 10 points, 11 rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks in 22 minutes off the bench.
- The big man did most of his work in the second half, recording seven points and eight rebounds in the final 20 minutes.
PJ Carter led the Tigers once again with three triples to give him nine points and four rebounds in 23 minutes of bench work.
- He has made seven 3-pointers over the last three games.
Nicholas Jourdain pulled down seven rebounds in 15 minutes, while Colby Rogers and Tyrese Hunter each added seven points. Hunter also dished four assists.
Memphis outrebounded Tulane, 47-34, including a season-high 22 offensive boards.
- It's the most offensive rebounds in a game for the Tigers since pulling down 23 against Auburn in December 2020.
Memphis led for 30:46 on the day, despite there being 13 lead changes and 11 ties.

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