When Dain Dainja poses a danger to opponents on the interior, No. 18 Memphis might be as dangerous as any other team.
Dainja certainly was at his best Sunday during the Tigers’ 84-65 victory over Florida Atlantic, tying his career high with 22 points and finishing just one rebound off his season high with 11.
The effort was a far cry from his four points and one rebound during Memphis’ 84-79 overtime loss at Wichita State on Feb. 16 in the Tigers’ previous game.
Dainja and the Tigers will aim for another big game on Wednesday night when they try to stay atop the American Athletic Conference with a matchup against visiting Rice.
Averaging 12.8 points and a team-high 6.6 rebounds per game, Dainja — an Illinois transfer — has enjoyed the best season of his college career. But his measly performance in the loss at the Shockers ate at him while Memphis (22-5, 12-2) sat idle for a week.
“I want to win,” he said. “I’m just leaving it out on the floor every game. I just want to make that my mentality.”
Tigers coach Penny Hardaway appreciated Dainja’s performance. He liked his response to his game against Wichita State even more. Instead of sulking about the lack of production, Dainja stepped up his level of work in the film room and during practice.
“It just shows me that he cares,” Hardaway said of the 6-foot-9 Dainja. “That’s the one thing about this team that I do understand, that the guys care. They want to come back and do better. I don’t really think it’s a lot of people that can guard him one-on-one.”
PJ Haggerty falls into that category, too. The player who contributes 21.3 ppg got his average against Florida Atlantic and ranks sixth in Division I in scoring. Tyrese Hunter adds 14.7 ppg.
While the Tigers look to secure a possible top-four seed for next month’s NCAA Tournament, the Owls (13-15, 4-11) are looking to stay out of the AAC basement. They took a step in that direction on Saturday, thumping Tulsa 71-50 to end a four-game losing streak.
Trae Broadnax led the way with 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field, while Kellen Amos and Jimmy Oladokun came off the bench for 13 and 10, respectively. Amos added eight rebounds as Rice earned a 41-28 advantage on the glass.
What pleased coach Rob Lanier the most was that the Owls were so stingy on defense.
“The thing that stands out to me right away is the defensive field-goal percentage. They (Tulsa) shot 37 percent, reminiscent of the way we started the way,” Lanier said. “This group is getting tougher mentally, and the bond is getting stronger through these experiences.”
Rice’s record could easily be a few wins better. In a 2-5 February, the Owls’ losses have come by a total of 16 points, including 86-83 on Feb. 2 in its first clash with Memphis. Rice also took UAB, which is tied for second in the league, to the wire before losing 90-89 last Wednesday.
The Tigers own a 10-2 lead in the all-time series, including 4-1 in Memphis.
