HOUSTON (AP) — PJ Haggerty had 26 points and eight rebounds, Tyrese Hunter added 19 points and No. 19 Memphis held on to beat Rice 86-83 on Sunday.
Haggerty scored 14 points in the first half as the Tigers (18-4, 8-1 American Athletic Conference) took a 44-39 lead into halftime and won a fifth straight game.
PJ Carter scored 19 points for Memphis, which shot 55% and were 11 of 21 on 3-pointers.
Trae Broadnax had 19 points and six assists, Jacob Dar added 17 points and eight rebounds and Alem Huseinovic had 13 points for Rice (11-11, 2-7), which lost its seventh straight.
The Owls shot 45% and were 10 of 25 on 3-pointers.
Rice used a 10-0 run in the final minute to close within 82-81 on a 3-pointer by Dar with 10 seconds left. Carter concluded the scoring on two free throws with four seconds left.
Takeaways
Memphis: The Tigers had issues hitting free throws, finishing 9 of 15, and the issue was amplified in the final minute as Memphis missed the front end of a one-and-one twice as Rice came back, but the Tigers made the final four for the win.
Rice: The Owls fell to 9-105 all-time against ranked opponents and 7-40 at home. Rice last beat a ranked opponent on Jan. 30, 1999, when it beat then-No. 24 TCU 76-69, a span of 28 games.
Key moment
After Carter’s free throws with four seconds left, Rice was called for five seconds. Broadnax stole Memphis’ inbound, but before he could shoot a last-second shot, Colby Rogers stole it to ice the win.
Key stat
Memphis outscored Rice in points in the paint, 38-28.
Up next
Memphis hosts Tulsa and Rice travels to East Carolina on Wednesday night.
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