In a Friday night that saw Memphis (3-0) shoot 13-of-18 from the three-point line and force 16 Ohio (1-3) turnovers, Ohio fell to a final score of 90-74.
The Bobcats entered their second game of a three-week road trip, coming off a loss to Illinois State which had many of the same symptoms. In the loss, Ohio conceded 20 points off turnovers while its opponent shot 10-of-19 from the 3-point line. Those numbers all saw upticks against Memphis.
What Ohio did best on the other end was make its own 3-point shots. The team shot 12-of-31 from behind the arc, led by a career-high 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting on 3-pointers from junior Ajay Sheldon off the bench.
For Memphis, the team’s electric pairing of transfer guards, redshirt sophomore PJ Haggerty and senior Tyrese Hunter, led the way. The duo combined for 44 points on 8-of-10 shooting from 3-point range.
Haggerty, one of the nation’s leading scorers, scored 9 of the Tigers’ first 12 points, draining two quick 3s followed by a fastbreak and one off his own steal.
Memphis’ lead would balloon to 18-4 before Ohio finally stopped a 9-0 run with Sheldon’s first of six 3-pointers. Sheldon would cut the lead to single digits after draining a second 3-pointer less than a minute later.
The first half quickly turned into a shootout from behind the arc, as Sheldon’s first 3-pointer would start a streak where nine of the two team’s next eleven made field goals were from 3-point range. Ohio outshot its opponent in this stretch, controlling the ball and hitting its shots to cut the Memphis lead to as few as 5 points.
Ohio would continue to fight, cutting the lead to 3 points on a post-up attempt from graduate student Vic Searls with 3:17 to go in the first half. As the halftime buzzer sounded, it was Memphis up just 5 points.
The opening five minutes of the second half would essentially be enough to put away the Bobcats, however, as the Tigers surged to a 15-point lead on the back of a 12-2 run. The only Ohio points would be from redshirt sophomore AJ Brown, who finished with 19 on the night.
The run would see the Bobcats start to play frantic, at one point turning the ball over on four consecutive possessions. Ohio would earn its fair share of Memphis turnovers as well, but would ultimately be outscored off turnovers 29-to-21.
A corner 3-pointer from junior Aidan Hadaway, a tip-in from Searls and an impossible layup from junior Jackson Paveletzke would make up a 7-0 run from Ohio to bring the game back within single digits, but that was the best the team had to offer in the final 20 minutes.
Memphis would take the double-digit lead back and watch it grow into the 20s by the end of the game.
Ohio will take a trip to South Carolina for the Myrtle Beach Invitational, where it will take on Middle Tennessee State Thursday at noon. The rest of Ohio’s games for the invitational will be determined by its wins and losses.
