PJ Haggerty scored a game-high 22 points Thursday night and No. 24 Memphis finished with a 12-2 run that allowed it to avoid an upset against visiting Wichita State with a 61-53 American Athletic Conference win.
Tyrese Hunter added 16 for the Tigers (15-4, 5-1 AAC), who survived sloppy play. They committed 20 turnovers and scored many of their baskets in one-on-one play, managing only six assists. They were also outrebounded 32-29.
But Memphis played its best when it had to. Hunter drained a 3-pointer with 4:29 remaining to give it the lead for good at 52-51. PJ Carter added a turnaround jumper at the 3:28 mark for a three-point cushion.
Hunter then dunked in transition and Haggerty converted a runner with 59 seconds remaining for a 58-51 advantage.
Harlond Beverly scored 18 points to pace the Shockers (11-8, 1-5) but also committed six of their 22 turnovers. Corey Washington added 11, while Quincy Ballard chipped in 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Wichita State made only 40.4 percent of its field-goal attempts and coughed it up 13 times in the second half. It canned just 3 of 16 3-pointers.
Memphis came into the game looking to build on an easy 77-68 win Sunday at Charlotte that saw it hold a comfortable double-digit lead most of the day. But it got off to a ragged start and never found any kind of offensive rhythm.
Wichita State held the Tigers to one point for more than six minutes of the first half but had its own issues offensively, hitting only 36.7 percent of its field goals in the half and going just 2 of 11 from the 3-point line.
But the Shockers still owned an 18-10 lead on Justin Hill’s layup at the 8:34 mark and withstood their own drought to take a 27-23 edge to halftime. Memphis finished the half with a whopping 14 turnovers and made only 9 of 23 field goals.
–Field Level Media
