PJ Haggerty, right on cue, steps up in 2nd half to lift Memphis over UNLV
Memphis guard PJ Haggerty (4) drives against UNLV guard Brooklyn Hicks (13) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
LAS VEGAS — Even PJ Haggerty himself struggles to explain it.
As Memphis’ 6-foot-3 combo guard sat outside the visitor’s locker room at Las Vegas’ Thomas & Mack Center on Saturday night, a reporter asked him about how he’d done it again — how he’d carried his team in the second half of its come-from-behind 80-74 win against UNLV.
Haggerty finished with a game-high 29 points to go with three assists and three rebounds, with 16 of those points coming after halftime. After the Tigers (2-0) found themselves in a 12-point hole. After the Runnin’ Rebels’ home crowd had gotten a little too into it.
But to Haggerty, his second-half outburst — his second only two games into the season, too — was inevitable.
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Memphis Tigers Memphis Tigers Basketball UNLV Runnin' Rebels PJ Haggerty nicholas jourdain Penny Hardaway Subscriber OnlyThank you for supporting local journalism.
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Parth Upadhyaya
Parth Upadhyaya covers the Memphis Tigers men’s basketball team. A Raleigh, N.C., native and a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Media and Journalism, Upadhyaya is a longtime college hoops junkie. Prior to joining The Daily Memphian in 2022, he covered high school sports in western Pennsylvania for the Beaver County Times and Penn State football for the Centre Daily Times.
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