Dajuan Wagner’s mission Wednesday night: develop his outside shot, penetrate through BYU’s perimeter defense, take care of the ball, and get his teammates involved.
And he had to do it all with an upset stomach.
Wagner, who apparently accepted the mission, did do it all, and subsequently had perhaps his best game of the year in the Tigers’ 80-69 victory over BYU before 7,201 in the second round of the NIT Tournament.
With the win, The University of Memphis (24-9) moves on to host Tennessee Tech Saturday at noon in quarterfinal action at The Pyramid.
BYU guard Travis Hansen was unable to shut down Wagner, who scored a game-high 24 points on 9-of-19 shooting against the over-matched guard.
Even more impressive, though, was Wagner’s ability to effectively get the ball to his teammates, as evidenced by his nine assists against just two turnovers.
One of the players that benefited from Wagner’s unselfish play was Memphis speedster Antonio Burks, who shot a near-perfect 7-of-9 from the field for 18 points while adding four assists.
“We just tried to go out and give our all. They were coming into our gym (and) it’s hard to win in our gym,” Wagner said.
Senior forward Kelly Wise, who had missed two consecutive games with a strained right knee, returned to action midway through the first half. Wise battled hard for 25 minutes, scoring eight points and grabbing seven rebounds to go along with three blocks.
“(Wise) came right in and gave us a lot of energy,” sophomore teammate Earl Barron said. “He did what he’s been doing the whole season, rebounding, scoring the ball down low and contesting shots. He’s doing the little things that help us win.”
Memphis head coach John Calipari said he was pleased with the effort his players put forth against a well-coached BYU team, which finished the year 18-13.
“That was a good win, and I thought our guys played with great emotion, which they have all year,” Calipari said. “They have responded all year.”
Calipari said he was equally satisfied with Wise’s production, pointing out that Wise needs to have a good tournament to improve his NBA draft status.
“I wasn’t gonna go back to Kelly. I said, ‘Just stay out,’ and he looked at what was going on in the game and he said, ‘Let me back in.”
Memphis big man Chris Massie had a dominating performance, powering his way through the paint for 16 points. Massie also hit four key free throws to put the game out of reach for the Cougars, who had cut an 18-point Tiger lead down to just seven points with 9:41 remaining in the game.
“Chris Massie has been an absolute monster, and today, again, he made big plays,” Calipari said.
Massie is beginning to use his 255-pound frame to his advantage and said he feels like he is playing the best he has all year.
“I just tried to muscle them, and go up with the ball,” Massie said. “I knew I would either get fouled or get a three-point play.”
Massie said the Tigers aren’t concerned with proving the NCAA Tournamentselection committee wrong in its decision to omit Memphis.
“We’re not worried much about what we’ve proved. We are worried about us as a team,” he said. “We’re gonna keep our heads up and just continue to play.”
