Memphis Tigers hold on to defeat Ole Miss Rebels, 87-86

The Memphis Tigers faced their toughest game of the season without James Wiseman.

Wearing throwback “Memphis State” jerseys, the Tigers faced the Ole Miss Rebels at the FedExForum, looking to pick up a signature win.

The atmosphere was electric, and the Tigers were able to hold off a late charge by the Rebels to win 87-86 in front of 17,875. The Tigers played their most complete game of the season. The Tigers had to overcome some great three-point shooting by the Rebels.

“I am proud of our team.  Going up against a veteran (Ole Miss) team,” said Tigers head coach Penny Hardaway. “They are growing up right in front of our eyes. We had our bumps and bruises.  The troops rallied and pulled the game out.”

Ole Miss connected on eight three-pointers in the first half. The Tigers were able to overcome the great shooting by the Rebels. The Tigers led at the half, 45-38. The Tigers used some good pressure defense to force 16 turnovers with 11 steals.

The Tigers lost a major weapon in the first half when Lester Quiñones Jr. left the game with a hand injury after playing just eight minutes. He would not return. The depth of the Tigers showed up and picked up the slack for the missing starter.

He extent of Quiñones’ injury was not known after the game. He will be evaluated to determine the seriousness of the injury.

D.J. Jeffries was once again a major factor off the bench. Jeffries had a career-high 15 points in the last two games and played even better in the win with a new career-high of 23 points to go with three rebounds.

“From the tip-off, I was a little nervous, but after I got my first basket, I just settled in,” Jeffries said. “It was a fun and loud game and I am glad we got the win.”

Precious Achiuwa powered his way to a new career-high of 25 points and 10 rebounds. It was also his second consecutive double-double.

“You can’t just let the team lay the ball up, you have to find the fine line between being aggressive and committing a foul,” Achiuwa said of the team defense. “On the other end, you have to put the team in a position where they can’t foul you.”

Alex Lomax played his best game as a Tiger, scoring a season-high 14 points, adding seven assists and seven rebounds. Lomax came in and ran the offense to perfection.

“On the college level, this is a big game.  The big games are the ones that matter the most.  It shows who you are,” Lomax said. “For me to come out and do a good job of finding my teammates and rebounding, that is what I care about.”

Sophomore guard Tyler Harris connected on three 3-point shots and finished with 15 points. The Tigers had to contend with multiple players in foul trouble. Four Tigers finished the game with four fouls. A total of 56 fouls were committed between both teams.

The Rebels were led by Breein Tyree with 24 points. Blake Hinson had 15 points off the bench. The Rebels finished the game with 12 made three-pointers in the game.  The Rebels dominated the offensive glass grabbing 16 rebounds to make second chance points.

The Tigers extended their halftime lead to as many as 16 points.  The Rebels did not show any quit and manager to nip away at the lead of the Tigers to make the game more competitive.

“It was a great atmosphere for basketball,” said Ole Miss head coach Kermit Davis. “I admire how young guys play with that type of physicalness and passion early on in their careers. That is a credit to Penny and his staff. We lost our way.”

Hardaway commended his Tigers on their decision-making.

“They are learning. They are getting better every day,” he said. “We are not going to be the best team right now, but by March we want to be very tough.”

Hardaway hopes the Ole Miss-Memphis series continues.

“I think it is so important, because of the competition,” Hardaway said. “Ole Miss, Arkansas and Tennessee . . . those games are big. We need to renew a lot of these rivalries and keep them going. I think that is great for the culture.”

The Tigers have a tough road trip on Thursday when they travel to New York City to face the North Carolina State Wolfpack in the final game of the Barclays Center Classic. Tipoff is at 2 p.m. central on ESPN2.