PJ Haggerty scored 23 points, Dain Dainja had 21 and No. 24 Memphis never trailed in defeating visiting UAB 100-77 in a battle of first-place teams in the American Athletic Conference on Sunday afternoon.
PJ Carter added 14 points, Colby Rogers scored 12 points and Nicholas Jourdain had 11 for the Tigers (16-4, 6-1 AAC), who shot 62.3 percent from the floor and had a 32-16 advantage in points off turnovers.
Efrem Johnson had 21 points, Bradley Ezewiro scored 19 and Yaxel Lendeborg added 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Blazers (12-8, 5-2), who saw their five-game winning streak end. These teams will meet again March 2 in Birmingham, Ala.
Rogers made a 3-pointer to start and Jourdain made a 3-pointer to complete a 12-6 run at the start of the second half, which expanded Memphis’ lead to 64-45.
The Blazers scored the next four points, but Moussa Cisse responded with five points and Jourdain made two layups to help the Tigers build a 76-52 lead.
UAB got within 82-69, but the Memphis scored the next five to regain command with an 18-point lead with 4:28 remaining.
All five starters scored as Memphis raced to an 18-8 lead after seven minutes. Dainja had six points, Tyrese Hunter and Haggerty had four each and Rogers had the only 3-pointer during the run.
UAB settled in and Johnson and Alejandro Vasquez each had a 3-pointer to help trim the lead to 20-18. But the Blazers went nearly three minutes without a field goal and Carter had two field goals and two free throws that helped the Tigers extend the lead to 29-19.
Johnson made three 3-pointers that enabled UAB to get within five points before Memphis pulled away again. Dainja made a layup, a dunk and another layup in succession, Haggerty added two free throws and a layup and the lead grew to 46-32.
The Blazers crept within 10 points twice before Haggerty’s jumper sent the Tigers into halftime with a 52-39 lead.