The Memphis Tigers won at home against the FAU Owls 84-65. The team led by a dominant double-double performance by forward Dain Dainja overpowered FAU’s small lineup.
Dainja and the team came off a loss to Wichita State. He had 4 points and a rebound last Sunday. He said after today’s game he worked tirelessly in practice to prepare for FAU.
“I probably watched the Wichita State game like three times just to see what I was doing wrong,” Danja said. “I only had one rebound. I kinda took that personal–with myself.”
In the first half, FAU won the tip and both teams were scoreless for the first two minutes. The Tigers passing had some issues as Tre Caroll came up with a steal and a fast break layup for the Owls.
Memphis didn’t score for over three minutes, until Moussa Cisse hit a layup to break the ice.
FAU continued to control the game through the opening 10 minutes, as the Memphis offense really struggled to get going.
At this point, Coach Penny Hardaway made several substitutions including Damarien Yates and Moussa Cisse. Dain Dainja had early foul trouble and the Tigers struggled to finish plays defensively in the first few minutes of the half.
Yates, who had only played in 8 games this season, provided a spark, getting a bucket, a pair of rebounds, and two assists in limited action.
In the final five minutes in the half the Tigers scored again and again on the inside to tie the game at 24. FAU could not stop fouling Dain Dainja in the first half, as Dainja went to the FT line 4 times. He shot 6-7 from the line.
Memphis went on a 8-0 run and went into halftime up 37-32.
In the second half, Dainja would continue to pressure the FAU defense in the paint. He got a quick layup to start the half.
The Tigers’ lead continued to grow. In spite of FAU’s effort to keep up with the Tigers, the Owls' small lineup could not match Dainja or Cisse's size. Combine that with 15 points from Rogers, 22 from Haggerty, and a double-double for Dain Dainja, 22 points and 11 rebounds, the Tigers won comfortably, 84-65.
Takeaways from the Game:
Memphis struggled for the first few minutes of the game on defense. In the last game against Wichita State, the team struggled to finish plays on defense, and coach Hardaway wanted his team to do better in that area.
“None of our guards kept their guards in front of them,” Hardaway said. “We did not play the pick and roll the way we said we were going to play. Even in every four minute timeout we were talking about adjusting and doing it properly.”
Hardaway said today’s game showcased the team’s improvement on defense.
“We came here today after having the week off and we made those changes, " Hardaway said.”I am proud of the guys for changing what they did.”
The Tigers had 8 blocks and 9 steals on defense and they had more rebounds than the Owls.
In spite of a good shooting performance by Colby Rogers, the team did not perform well from three. Points in the paint came in bunches for the Tigers.
FAU shot 40% from deep. They also kept Memphis at bay in the paint early on.
What’s Next
Memphis will face another Owls team in Rice on Wednesday at the FedExForum. Then they have UAB and UTSA on the road before they wrap up the season at home against the South Florida Bulls.
