First place in the AAC on the line. Beef on X between big men Dain Dainja and Yaxel Lendeborg stemming from Memphis’ 100-77 drubbing of UAB earlier in the year. A fever-pitched atmosphere inside a nearly sold out Bartow Arena, named after the late Gene Bartow, coach of the legendary 1973 Memphis Tigers NCAA Championship and founder of UAB athletics. This game had plenty of storylines, plenty of intensity, and it lived up to the billing.
Memphis won 88-81, coming behind from an 11-point deficit against UAB to all but clinch a share of the AAC regular season title behind PJ Haggerty’s 25 points and 4 assists, and Colby Rogers 21 points on 5-of-9 from deep, his highest scoring output in AAC play.
"The game was physical, it was frenetic, it was athletic, it was fast, and I think the game just came down to execution and Memphis did a better job executing." said UAB Coach Andy Kennedy.
Here are takeaways from the rivalry affair:
Surviving the First Half
In a frenzied environment such as this, UAB came out with incredible energy. After a back-and-forth first few minutes, UAB jumped on Memphis with a 17-4 run to build the lead to double digits, getting as high as 30-19 with 5:32 left in the first half.
“We knew we had to come in and play way harder than them to offset everything they had going,” said Penny Hardaway about the motivation UAB had coming into this game.
The Tigers struggled with taking care of the ball and shooting early, as they notched nine first half turnovers and opened shooting 1-of-8 from three, which lead to UAB gaining the advantage. The Memphis offense was clearly bothered by UAB’s energy and ball pressure to start the game.
Memphis was lucky to enter halftime only down 42-36, and that was thanks in large part to Dain Dainja’s first half double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds, along with Colby Rogers 11 first half points.
Dainja ended the day with 16 points and 17 boards, but played only 10 minutes in the second half due to foul trouble. However, he won the battle of the X beef against Yaxel Lendeborg today, who also struggled with foul trouble and had a, for his standards, measly 10 points and 6 rebounds.
Second Half Outburst
After halftime, the game really came alive, and opened with a frenzied pace, as 35 points were scored between the two teams in just the first 6:07 of the second half.
Memphis’ offense was electric in the second half, scoring 52 points on 66.7% shooting, but UAB responded well, thanks to Ja’Borri McGhee’s season high of 22 points.
But when it was winning time, PJ Haggerty and Memphis awoke for good. With UAB withstanding Memphis’ first punch of the second half and the Blazers up 65-56 with 11:47 to go, Haggerty scored 17 points from there on out and Memphis went on an extended 30-8 run to close the door on UAB’s upset bid
“We wanted it more at the end of the day,” said Haggerty after the game.
What’s Next
Memphis has a quick turnaround, as they play at UTSA on Tuesday, before closing the regular season at home against USF on Friday.
“We’ve never had this much excitement after a game, even in Hawaii,” said Hardaway. “After today’s game, that group is ready.”
