Friday night, the Memphis Tigers used a dominant second half to defeat the Missouri Tigers 70-55 in front of a sold-out Missouri crowd.
After beating Jackson State in the season opener, Memphis traveled to Columbia, Missouri to face the Missouri Tigers.
Missouri came into the game shorthanded, as 7’5 center Connor Vanover was suspended for his participation in the Portsmouth Invitational this past summer.
Missouri jumped out to an early lead as veteran guard Sean East II controlled the game in the first half.
Memphis struggled to stay in front of the Missouri guards, and the Memphis offense seemed stagnant for much of the half.
Missouri got their lead up to double digits at the 8-minute mark, as the Memphis bench unit struggled to find any identity on the offensive end.
Memphis kept themselves in the ball game, closing the half with a mini 4-0 run to lower their deficit to 7. Missouri led 33-26 at halftime, and Sean East II had 14 points at the break.
In the second half, Memphis interim head coach Rick Stansbury elected to shorten the rotation to 8 guys.
The move paid off, as the Tigers started to build some offensive momentum.
Jahvon Quinerly took total control of the game for Memphis as the Tigers tied the game just two and a half minutes into the second half.
Memphis fans were able to see the offensive skillset of transfer big Jordan Brown, who went on a 4-0 run of his own giving the Tigers a 46-36 lead.
Missouri got back within 7 when Jahvon Quinerly was subbed out to catch his breath, but the Memphis defense maintained their stellar second-half performance.
When the starters came back in, Memphis extended its lead to 17. The Tigers never took their foot off the pedal in the second half, closing out an impressive 70-55 win.
Memphis doubled up Missouri 44-22 in the second half, led by transfers Jordan Brown and Jahvon Quinerly.
Quinerly led the Tigers in minutes and put up 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists. Despite coming off the bench, Brown played a key role in the second half, finishing with 12 points and 5 rebounds.
Memphis had 4 players finish in double figures, with David Jones and Jaykwon Walton each providing clutch shooting.
Memphis’ shortened rotation of Quinerly, Mills, Walton, Jones, Brown, Young, and Dandridge completely took control of the game in the second half, dominating both ends of the court.
The Tigers will return home to host former Tiger player and coach Tony Madlock and his Alabama State Hornets next Friday at 7 p.m. CT.
After that, the Tigers will get coach Hardaway back from his suspension before heading to the Battle 4 Atlantis to play Michigan.
