Memphis takes down No. 16 Ole Miss at home

Tigers top Rebels for another win over a ranked opponent

From the University of Memphis

gotigersgo.com

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Memphis Tigers made a statement on national television with a dominating 87-70 victory over No. 16 Ole Miss in front of 15,643 raucous fans Saturday afternoon in a 'White Out' at FedExForum.

The win improved Memphis to 7-1 against ranked AP teams over the last two seasons.

Memphis (10-3) picked up its second win over a Southeastern Conference opponent this season and the fifth against a power conference program.

Four Tigers were in double figures, led by Colby Rogers, who scored a season-high 28 points on 10-for-16 shooting, including a 6-of-9 performance from long distance.

PJ Haggerty chipped in 17

See TIGERS, page A10 TIGERS

From page A7

points while also recording seven rebounds and six assists.

Big man, and former Ole Miss Rebel, Moussa Cisse pulled down his first doubledouble as a Tiger with 13 points and 11 boards in 20 minutes. He also led the team with three blocks.

Fellow big man Dain Dainja had a monster second half, scoring 11 of his 16 points after the break on 4-of-4 shooting.

Memphis played one of its most well-rounded games of the season, leading for 39:47 of the contest and never trailing.

The Tigers shot 47.5 percent overall (29-61), connected on 7-of-19 from deep and drained 22-of-31 at the free throw line. They dominated the rebounding battle (45-34), dished out 15 assists and blocked a season high-tying nine shots.

Memphis took an early 11point lead in the first half using an 8-0 run behind a huge dunk from Dainja. The Rebels hit four 3-pointers in the final seven minutes to close the gap and send the Tigers into the break with a 38-36 advantage.

It didn't take long for the Tigers to push their lead back out after the break, however, as they used a 9-2 run to open the half. They then connected on trio of triples from Haggerty and Rogers to balloon the advantage to 16 with less than 12 minutes to play.

Ole Miss was able to get back within nine with five minutes on the clock, but Rogers came up clutch like he had all afternoon with another three ball to spark an 11-1 run that put the game out of reach.

The Rebels were led by Sean Pedulla's 13 points, while Jaylen Murray added 12 and Malik Dia contributed 11.

GAME NOTES

Memphis used the starting lineup of PJ Haggerty, Tyrese Hunter, Colby Rogers, Nicholas Jourdain and Moussa Cisse for the 10th time this season.

They are 7-3 on the year with this lineup.

Memphis still leads the alltime series between the two schools, 30-16.

The Tigers improved to 22-3 all-time against the Rebels in Memphis and have not suffered a home defeat in the series since 2015.

The win is the sixth over an AP ranked team at home under Penny Hardaway.

It's the third-straight home ranked win and the sixth in the last seven opportunities.

Saturday's win gives the Tigers 10 nonconference wins for the fourth time in seven seasons under Hardaway.

Colby Rogers scored a season high 28 points, just one off his career high, and added four rebounds.

After going 0-for-12 from long range the last two games, Rogers broke out of his slump with a 6-for-9 night from distance. It was one off his career high.

It marks the second 20-point game of the season for Rogers Moussa Cisse recorded his first double-double in his last 41 games with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

It marks the 15th double-double of his career and his first since March 15, 2023.

That was also his last game with double-digit rebounds.

Seven of his 11 rebounds in the win were on the offensive end, the most by a Tiger since 2022.

PJ Haggerty finished with 17 points, seven boards and six dimes in 37 minutes.

He is only the second player in Division I to finish with 17-7-6 in a game this season, and the first Memphis Tiger to do so since DeAndre Williams on Feb. 12, 2023.

Dain Dainja had a big game with 16 points, three rebounds and two blocks in 18 minutes.

It marks his seventh doubledigit game this season.

Nicholas Jourdain became the first Tiger since DeAndre Williams on Dec. 3, 2022 against Ole Miss to record eight points, eight rebounds, six assists and three blocks in a game.

His six dimes are a career high and his eight rebounds matched his season best.

Dante Harris made his Memphis debut with one point, and one rebound in seven minutes off the bench.

UP NEXT

Memphis gears up for AAC action as the Tigers head to Florida Atlantic on January 2 for a 6 p.m. CT tilt on ESPN2 against the Owls. The Tigers will then return home for a pair of contests against North Texas (Jan. 5 – 4 p.m.) and East Carolina (Jan. 11 – 1 p.m.)