Haggerty Erupts for 42 to Lead Memphis Past Wichita State and Into the AAC Semis

Friday, March 14

Fort Worth, Texas / Dickies Arena

12:00 PM

University of Memphis

27-5,16-2AAC

(8) Wichita State

19-14,8-10AAC

Wichita St.

Memphis

Haggerty Erupts for 42 to Lead Memphis Past Wichita State and Into the AAC Semis

Mar 14, 2025 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Postgame Quotes

FORT WORTH, Texas – Friday afternoon at Dickies Arena was one for the record book as the top-seeded Memphis men's basketball team defeated eighth-seeded Wichita State, 83-80, in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference championship.

The Tigers improve to 27-5 on the year and advance to the semifinals to face No. 4 Tulane at 2 p.m. Saturday for a trip to the title game.

Memphis sophomore PJ Haggerty showed the nation why he is the AAC Player of the Year by dropping a career-high 42 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals to lead the Tigers. It was the first time this year that Haggerty has even scored 30 in a game, and he soared past his previous career high of 32 points that he set last season with Tulsa against South Florida.

"When you're the man and you're expected to go out and produce, you got to go out and produce," said Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway. "There's no excuses this time of year. Your team wins when you play well. You don't play well, your team loses. So at the end of the day, that's the pressure that you have to have on yourself as being the man, and he responded exceptionally well. Just watching it, it just took me back. Like, hey, this is what you have to do. You have to carry your team. You have to make plays for yourself and for your teammates."

His 42 points tied the AAC tournament record for points in a game, previously held by Louisville's Russ Smith, who scored 42 in the semifinals against Houston in 2014. It was only one point shy of the highest-scoring game in league history, 43 by Memphis' Jeremiah Martin against Tulane in February 2019.

Haggerty is also the first player in Division I to score 40-plus points and shoot 60% in a conference tournament game since Detroit Mercy's Antoine Davis in 2021. Davis is the son of Memphis assistant coach Mike Davis.

Senior forward Dain Dainja was the only other Tiger in double figures with 18 points, five boards and three blocks.

After a slow start from Memphis to start the game that saw Wichita State (19-14) take a 20-10 lead, the Tigers rattled off a 9-0 run, all from Haggerty and Dainja, after forcing three-straight Shocker turnover to cut the deficit to one.

Memphis went cold from the floor and only made one of its next 10 field goals, while Wichita State drained its fifth 3-pointer in the first eight minutes to extend the game back out to two possessions.

With the Shockers leads 37-30 with 2:57 to go in the first half, Haggerty scored 9-straight points for the Tigers to go into the locker room tied at 39-39. Memphis held Wichita State to no made field goals over the final 4:32 of the half.

Just over four minutes into the second half, Memphis reeled off a 12-0 run to turn a one-point deficit into a 56-45 advantage with 13:22 to play. Haggerty scored nine of the 12.

Backup guards PJ Carter and Baraka Okojie provided a spark for the Tigers off the bench after the Shockers cut the score back to six. With less than nine minutes on the clock, Carter drilled his second triple of the day and Okojie converted an up-and-under layup to put Memphis in front 69-59.

Wichita State continued to battle and got it back to a three-point game before Haggerty' buried a floater in the lane with 32 second remaining to give the Tigers some breathing room.

Tyrese Hunter and Haggerty drained a pair of free throws each in the final 20 seconds to hold off Wichita State.

Memphis finished the game 29-of-64 from the field after shooting 53.3 percent after halftime (16-30). The Tigers struggled from long range, only hitting 3-of-15 attempts, but they were able to convert 22-of-30 at the free throw line.

The Shockers were led by Bijan Cortes (19 points) and Xavier Bell (18 points).

POSTGAME NOTES

Memphis used the starting lineup of PJ Haggerty, Tyrese Hunter, Colby Rogers, Nicholas Jourdain and Dain Dainja for the 15th time this season.
- They are 14-1 on the year with that group.
The Tigers moved to 14-3 this season on courts away from home.
- Memphis is now 22-14 all-time against Wichita State.
Memphis scored a season-high 27 fastbreak points. It's previous high was 21.
When playing in the state of Texas in the month of March, the Tigers are now 13-5.
The Tigers moved to 85-11 when scoring 80-plus points in Hardaway's seven seasons.
PJ Haggerty dropped a career-high 42 points with nine rebounds, four assists and three steals in 38 minutes. It ties the fifth-most points ever scored by a Tiger in a single game.
- He shot 16-of-25 from the floor and 10-of-11 from the free throw line.
  - Haggerty recorded his third and fourth 20-point halves of the season, scoring 21 in each.
    - He is third in the country with 22 games of 20-plus points this season.
      - It's the first 40-point game for Memphis since Kendric Davis dropped 42 in overtime at UCF on Jan. 11, 2023.
Dain Dainja added 18 points, five rebounds and a team-high three blocks.
- He finished 7-of-12 from the floor and scored 10 of his points in the first half.
Tyrese Hunter totaled eight points, a game-high seven assists and six rebounds.
- He was only 2-of-9 from the floor, but hit a huge three late to put the Tigers up seven with two minutes to play.
PJ Carter drilled two of the team's three triples en route to seven points in 21 minutes off the bench.
- He posted a team-high 14 plus/minus in the win.
Baraka Okojie recorded four points, three rebounds, a career-high three steals and two dimes in 21 minutes.
Nicholas Jourdain pulled down seven rebounds and Moussa Cisse added four.
Memphis had 17 assists to 15 turnovers, while recording 11 steals and season-best 10 blocks.
- It's the ninth game of the season with 10 or more steals.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE TIGERS
For complete information on Memphis Tiger Men's Basketball, visit www.GoTigersGo.com and follow the team's social media channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.