PJ Haggerty scored a game-high 25 points Sunday while Dain Dainja put together a double-double as No. 18 Memphis took a big step toward an American Athletic Conference regular-season title, stopping UAB 88-81 in Birmingham, Ala.
Dainja scored 16 points and grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds for the Tigers (24-5, 14-2 AAC) as they upped their league lead on North Texas to 1 1/2 games. Colby Rogers drilled five 3-pointers and added 21 points, while Tyrese Hunter chipped in 11.
Four players scored in double figures for the Blazers (19-10, 12-4), led by Ja’Borri McGhee’s 22 points. Christian Coleman added 14 and nine rebounds, while Bradley Ezewiro came off the bench to tally 12 points.
Leading scorer Yaxel Lendeborg played just 24 minutes for UAB due to foul trouble and finished with only 10 points, more than seven below his average, on 4-of-10 shooting from the field. But the Blazers still owned a lead, 69-68, with 8:18 left before Memphis pulled away.
Nicholas Jourdain’s putback with 4:40 remaining put the Tigers ahead for good at 75-73 and started a game-clinching 13-1 run. UAB went 4:15 without a field goal in that span.
The first time these teams played this season, Memphis ripped UAB 100-77 on Jan. 26 at home. With a sellout crowd on hand, the Blazers showed the rematch would be a much different game.
It took UAB nearly 3 1/2 minutes to score, but once it did, it clicked into rhythm and controlled most of the remaining 15 minutes of the first half. The Blazers did so without much of a contribution from Lendeborg, who managed just four points on 1-of-7 shooting in the half.
Coleman carried a good chunk of the freight with nine points and eight rebounds in the half as the Blazers led by as many as 11 points. They went to halftime with a 42-36 advantage, the most points the Tigers have allowed in the first half of a league game this season.
–Field Level Media
