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Memphis Beats Missouri, 83-75, For The Tigers 22nd Consecutive Home Opening Win

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The University of Memphis men's basketball team opened its season with an 83-75, come-from-behind win over Missouri to extend its winning streak to 22 in home openers Monday night inside FedExForum in Memphis.

Memphis (1-0) trailed by 10 at the half but rallied to outscore Mizzou 51-33 in the second half behind 57.7-percent shooting (15-of-26).

In his debut game as a Tiger, redshirt-sophomore guard PJ Haggerty led the Tigers with a game-high 25 points – including 22 in the second half to lead the Memphis comeback. Last year's unanimous AAC Freshman of the Year went 10-for-11 from the charity stripe and added six boards and five assists.

Three more Tigers chipped in double-digit scoring efforts as former Big 12 Freshman of the Year Tyrese Hunter scored 14 points with four rebounds and a pair of assists. Fifth-year center Moussa Cisse added 14 points himself to accompany seven rebounds from the bench. Redshirt-senior guard Colby Rogers added 10 points.

The Tigers were sluggish out of the gate, turning the ball over eight times and trailing by as many as 14 late in the first half. But 'Big Memphis' showed up after halftime and so did that vaunted Penny Hardaway defense.

Memphis trailed 55-47 with just over 12 minutes remaining, but Hardaway's crew used an 11-0 run over the span of 2:28 to retake the lead for good after a fastbreak layup and three ball from Hunter on back-to-back possessions. Haggerty scored 13 points in the final 10 minutes and Cisse sank five free throws to ice the victory.

Missouri (0-1) was led by Anthony Robinson II's 16 points and seven assists. Tamar Bates and Trent Pierce each added 13 points, while Aidan Shaw chipped in 11.

The visiting Tigers shot 45.6 percent overall (26-57) and hit 7-of-24 from long range.

POSTGAME NOTES

  • Memphis opened its 104th season of basketball with Monday's win and improved to 74-30 all-time in season openers.
  • The win moved Memphis to 9-2 against SEC opponents over the last two seasons, and 13-8 in seven years under Hardaway.
  • The Tigers used the starting lineup of Nicholas Jourdain, Colby Rogers, PJ Haggerty, Tyrese Hunter and Dain Dainja.
  • Jourdain collected the Tigers' first points of the season with an alley-oop from Hunter at the 17:44 mark.
  • The Tigers won their 22nd-straight home opener and seventh-straight season opener.
  • Memphis collected 16 assists and forced 14 Missouri miscues.
  • The Tigers had eight steals and three blocks in the win.
  • PJ Haggerty recorded 20-plus points for the 21st time of his career.
  • Moussa Cisse made his Memphis return with 14 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. He was 4-of-8 from the floor and 6-of-10 from the stripe.
  • Tyrese Hunter started his 107th straight game. That's every single game he's ever played in college.
  • PJ Carter led the Tigers with three triples to record nine points in 11 minutes of action. He was 3-of-6 from distance.
  • Dain Dainja finished the night with six points, eight boards and two dimes.
  • Memphis shot 23-of-29 at the charity stripe for a 79.3 percent mark. Haggerty led the team with 10 makes, while Hunter converted on all four of his attempts.
  • Eight different players scored in their season debut.

UP NEXT
The Tigers will hit the road later in the week when they travel to Las Vegas on Saturday to take on the UNLV Runnin' Rebels in a 7 p.m. CT showdown on the Mountain West Digital Network. Memphis will then return home to host Ohio on November 15.