Sean Pedulla had a great look to get the game within 6 after two open court Memphis turnovers, but he missed the wide open transition three. Colby Rogers, as he did all afternoon, responded with a three of his own, and Dain Dainja slammed home any chance Ole Miss had at a comeback to put Memphis up 14 with 3:42 to go. For the first time all season, the FedExForum, which was blanketed in over 15,000 snowflakes of white, erupted in joy and celebrated the finishing touches on what has been an incredible non-conference stretch.
Memphis cruised to a dominant 87-70 victory over No. 16 Ole Miss, finishing non-conference play 10-3 overall and with a NCAA lead 8 Quad 1 and 2 wins in a game they had to have. Here is how it happened:
Explosive Start
Memphis got off to an incredible start, beginning with a bang with a Moussa Cisse poster dunk off a PJ Haggerty lob the first 13 seconds of the game. Memphis went on a 9-2 run to open and got the lead to as much as 27-14.
Though Tyrese Hunter was scoreless, three Tigers came to play from the jump: Colby Rogers reemerged from his two horrible outings against UVA and Mississippi St. where he shot a combined 1/19 from the field with 13 points on ¾ from deep in the first half, Moussa Cisse was everywhere with 8 points and 6 boards in just 10 minutes, and PJ Haggerty was his usual scoring self with 10 points as well.
Ole Miss coach Chris Beard said that the team who wins is often the aggressor and said, “Memphis was the aggressor for most of the game.” That was clearly evident in their start in both halves.
Ole Miss got back into the game with a shot making flurry, where they went on a stretch of going ⅞ from the field and a perfect 4/4 from deep to get the game within four. That combined with Memphis finishing the first half a frigid 1/7 from the field made the halftime score the closest margin since Memphis was up 2-0, with Memphis leading 38-36.
After such an incredible start, it felt somewhat demoralizing for Memphis to only be up by a bucket at half.
Second Half Tigers
How many times has this been the title of a section of a game story this year? Well, here it is again, as Memphis was +15 in the second period. Memphis opened the second half on a 14-4 run to get the lead to 12 almost instantly and extended their lead up to as much as 16, leading 63-47 with back-to-back Colby Rogers treys.
They also got Ole Miss’ frontcourt into serious foul trouble on this run, getting the starting frontcourt of Malik Dia and Dre Davis benched early in the half due to foul trouble, as well as key reserve Mikeal Brown-Jones ejected with a shot to the head on Moussa Cisse that was embellished enough by Cisse to warrant a Flagrant 2 for Brown-Jones and maybe an Oscar nomination for Cisse.
“I took advantage of it (Brown-Jones’ physicality) and just fell,” Moussa admitted after the game.
Memphis was in the bonus with 12 minutes left in the half, and that loomed rather large for the remainder of the period.
After going up 16, the lead never got within 9, and Memphis effectively controlled the rest of the game, getting it to the as much as 19 in garbage time and winning by 17.
Non-PJ Haggerty and Tyrese Hunter Players
In the drubbing by Mississippi St. in the Forum last Saturday, the story was nobody was contributing outside of PJ Haggerty and Tyrese Hunter. Today, that was not the case, in what was the most balanced performance of the season.
Haggerty chipped in 17 points, but Hunter had an off night, with only 4 points on 2/9 shooting. The story is that three other Tigers were in double digits, including what were clearly the two most impactful players today in Colby Rogers and Moussa Cisse.
Rogers had a season high 28 points on 6/9 shooting from behind the arc, bouncing back from his combined 2 points on 1/19 shooting in his last two outings.
“Colby works harder than anyone on his shot and he’s his toughest critic… he really was in a bad space mentally. For him to come out and stay aggressive… and not lose his confidence and do what he did against Ole Miss, that’s his hard work paying off.” said Penny Hardaway after the game.
“Everyone goes through slumps,” said Rogers after the game. He attributed this mindset, saying that even Steph Curry goes through slumps, to how he got out of his own one.
Cisse on the other hand had 13 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks in just 20 minutes against his former team, and was clearly a motivated man today.
“I think Moussa is one of the best players in college basketball when he knows who he is and does what he can do well, and I saw that tonight,” said Beard.
“If Moussa plays like this every game, it’s going to be a great end of the year this year.” said Hardaway.
Dain Dainja also had 16 points, many of which being thunderous dunks that helped put the game away in the final minutes.
Key Stats
The two main stats to take away from this one are turnovers and rebounds. Ole Miss came into the game 1st in the nation in turnover differential, while Memphis came in 233rd, which was a clear advantage for Ole Miss that they did not take in this game. Ole Miss only won the turnover battle by two, which is pretty great for a team that has had 6 games of winning the turnover margin by double digits and has only lost the turnover battle once all year.
For rebounding, the effort on the boards along with the less physically imposing presence that Ole Miss is when compared to Mississippi St. led to the Tigers dominating the boards 45-34.
Dante Harris Debut
Dante Harris debuted as a Tiger today after the news broke yesterday of the 6’0 Virginia mid-season transfer joining the team. Obviously, his minutes were limited, and he looked a little out of place on the court, but the vision with him can be seen. In 7 minutes of play, he added just 1 point and 2 boards.
“He came in, on ball defense was great… he’s one of the best defensive guards in the country, he pushes pace, and he’s a leader.” said Hardaway.
What’s Next
Memphis will begin conference play at Florida Atlantic, against what projects to be the third best team in the league on January 2.
“Gonna be another t-shirt game” said Hardaway, a sight Memphis will have to get used to over these final 18 games.
For now, though, fans can celebrate the day that was and the non-conference season that was.
