MEMPHIS — The Arkansas State men’s basketball team jumped out to a big first-half lead and held off several comeback attempts in the second half to stun 16th-ranked Memphis, 85-72, on the road in a nationally televised game Sunday afternoon at FedExForum.
Just three days removed from surviving a scare at home to winless Jackson State, the Red Wolves (7-3) provided a much more spirited effort as a 13 1/2-point underdog against the Tigers. At one point in the first half Arkansas State held an 18-point lead and the margin was 42-29 heading into halftime.
Memphis (7-2) is the highest-ranked opponent Arkansas State has ever beat. Sunday marked the Red Wolves’ first top 25 win since 1991, which was also the last year they had won in Memphis. It was the program’s first win over the Tigers since 1999, ending a seven-game losing streak. Arkansas State trailed for just 38 seconds.
“We knew how good they were coming in, but I thought my guys were locked in and we fought for 40 minutes,” Arkansas State Coach Bryan Hodgson said after the win. “Super proud of our effort. We just beat a very, very good basketball team that I’ll be honest with you, I thought was under-ranked after what they did in Maui.”
The Tigers played in the Maui Invitational from Nov. 25-27, picking up wins over then-No. 2 UConn 99-97 and Michigan State 71-63. Memphis fell to then-No. 4 ranked Auburn 90-76 in the championship game of the tournament.
“I understood they had a good team, but never in a million years did I think we were going to lose this game from my point of view, because I’m competitive,” Memphis Coach Penny Hardaway said. “It is the nature of the beast. I don’t know why we didn’t come out with energy and effort today. It’s not taking anything away from how they played, we just have to be better next game.”
University of Arkansas transfer Joseph Pinion entered the starting lineup for the Red Wolves with Derrian Ford unavailable due to an injury he suffered against Jackson State. Pinion went 3 of 3 from three-point range in the first half, leading Arkansas State to a 36-18 advantage with 4:40 remaining before halftime.
Pinion went 5 of 11 on three-pointers and finished with a career-high 22 points in nearly 26 minutes. Dyondre Dominguez provided a spark off the bench for the Red Wolves, scoring 19 points and pulling down six rebounds. Taryn Todd tallied 17 points, while Kobe Julien chipped in 12. The Red Wolves outscored the Tigers by 20 in his 32 minutes of action.
“I was really excited. We’ve been working hard since (the) summer, so I feel like we were due for one,” Pinion said. “We came up short against (then-No. 2 Alabama), so it was really special to be a part of the biggest win in program history.”
Memphis made several scoring runs in the second half to climb back into a contention. A 10-0 run by the Tigers, capped off by a dunk from Nicholas Jourdain with 14:30 remaining, trimmed the Red Wolves’ lead to 51-43.
PJ Haggerty scored a game-high 29 points on 8 of 15 shooting to lead the Tigers. Dain Dainja had 16 points and 12 rebounds off the bench. Colby Rogers added 11 points for Memphis.
Memphis cut the lead to 60-53 with a three-pointer from Rogers at the 11:01 mark of the second half, but Todd would answer with a three at the other end seconds later to put Arkansas State back up by double digits.
A 10-3 run by the Red Wolves that ended with a layup from Cody Head pushed the lead back up to 15 points with 6:29 left. A free throw from Julien with 2:34 remaining gave Arkansas State its largest advantage of the second half at 85-68.
“I told Penny before the game, I think this is the best team he’s had since he’s been here,” Hodgson said. “He’s got the best three-guard trio in the country. He’s got two bigs that are very complementary to one other. No one else would play (us), so we’re appreciative of the opportunity.
“This is a really good basketball team. Obviously, we played great tonight. I want to thank Penny and Memphis for scheduling this game. These games and the schedule he has put together are going to bode well for them down the stretch.”
