When Dain Dainja poses a danger to opponents on the interior, no. 18 Memphis can be as dangerous as any other team.
Dainja was really on her best Sunday during the Tigers ’84 -65 victory over Florida Atlantic, binds his career high with 22 points and ended just a rebound from his season high with 11.
The effort was far from its four points and a recovery during Memphis 84-79 overtime loss in Wichita State on February 16 in Tiger’s previous games.
Dainja and Tigers will strive for another big game on Wednesday night as they try to stay on top of the American athletic conference with a matchup against visiting rice.
An average of 12.8 points and a team high 6.6 returns per match, Dainja-one Illinois transfer-haft has the best season in his college career. But his powerful performance in the loss of shockers ate on him while Memphis (22-5, 12-2) sat in hibernation for a week.
“I want to win,” he said. “I just leave it out on the floor every game. I just want to make it my mentality.”
Tiger’s coach Penny Hardaway appreciated Dainja’s performance. He liked his response to his game against Wichita State even more. Instead of soothing about the lack of production, Dainja rose its work level in the movie room and during training.
“It just shows me that he cares,” Hardaway said about 6-foot-9 Dainja. “That’s the only thing about this team I understand, that the guys care. They want to come back and do better. I don’t think there are many people who can protect him one-on-one.”
PJ Haggerty also falls into that category. The player who contributes 21.3 ppg received his average against Florida Atlantic and ranked sixth in Division I in points. Tyrese Hunter adds 14.7 ppg.
While the tigers look to secure a possible top-four seed for the NCAA tournament next month, OWLS (13-15, 4-11) looks to stay outside the AAC cellar. They took a step in that direction on Saturday and thumped Tulsa 71-50 to finish a four-game losing line.
Trae Broadnax led the road with 16 points on 7-off-13 shooting from the field, while Kellen Amos and Jimmy Oladokun came from the bench in 13 and 10, respectively. Amos added eight returns when Rice received a 41-28 advantage on the glass.
What was pleased with coach Rob Lanier most was that the owls were so stingy on defense.
“What stands out for me directly is the defensive field target percentage. They (Tulsa) shot 37 percent, reminiscent of how we started the road,” Lanier said. “This group gets tougher mentally, and the bands become stronger through these experiences.”
Rice’s record can easily be a few wins better. In a February 2-5, the owls have losses with a total of 16 points, including 86-83 on February 2 in their first collision with Memphis. Rice also took UAB, which is bound for second place in the league, to the thread before losing 90-89 last Wednesday.
Tigers own a 10-2 lead all the time, including 4-1 in Memphis.
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