Memphis head coach John Calipari said earlier this week his team didn’t have the experience to come back against Charlotte if the Tigers got down early on the road Wednesday night. He was right.
After digging itself into an 18-point hole late in the first half, Memphis’ second-half comeback efforts were doused by the 49ers before 7, 626 at Halton Arena Wednesday as Charlotte held off the Tigers, 75-63.
Memphis (20-6, 10-2 in Conference USA), which hit just one of its first 13 shots through the game’s first nine minutes, managed just 18 first-half points on 7-of-29 shooting. The Tigers compounded their problems with 11 turnovers before the break, which Charlotte (15-8, 9-3 in C-USA) turned into 12 points and a 32-18 halftime lead.
But Memphis, led by freshman guard Dajuan Wagner, would rally early in the second half, hitting five of its first nine shots after the break during an 11-0 run to pull to within six points (35-29) with just over 16 minutes remaining.
Wagner made it 47-45 seven minutes later after two made free throws, but it was as close as the Tigers would get as senior guard Jobey Thomas nailed back-to-back three-pointers to put Charlotte back in control, 55-47.
Thomas, who came into the game averaging just under 19 points per contest, scored 22 of his game-high 28 points in the second half and finished the game 7-of-14 from the field, including 5-of-9 from three-point range. Sophomore forward Butter Johnson added 16 points for Charlotte while point guard Demon Brown turned in a 15-point performance.
But it was Thomas’ performance that offset the hot hand of Wagner, who scored 16 of his 22 points after the break. Junior forward Chris Massie collected his sixth double-double of the season, scoring 12 points to go with 11 rebounds. Anthony Rice, a freshman guard, also had a solid game with 14 points and six rebounds. Rice hit three of the Tigers’ five three-pointers on the night, going 3-of-4 from behind the arc.
Memphis did hit 50 percent (16-of-32) of its second-half shots, but the 49ers remained steady from the field throughout, knocking down 45 percent (23-of-51) of their shots for the game to Memphis’ 38 percent (23-of-61).
Senior forward Kelly Wise, still recovering from a sprained right knee which kept him out of Memphis’ 62-46 loss to Alabama-Birmingham last week, managed just two points and three rebounds Wednesday.
The Tigers, who had won 10 consecutive games before losing their last two, will look to regroup against Houston Saturday afternoon at The Pyramid.
