Haggerty, Dainja lead 2nd-half rally in No. 16 Memphis' 84-68 victory over South Florida

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — PJ Haggerty and Dain Dainja scored 20 points apiece and No. 16 Memphis won the outright American Athletic Conference regular-season title, taking over in the second half to beat South Florida 84-68 on Friday night.

Haggerty added eight rebounds and five assists, Tyrese Hunter had 16 points for the Tigers (26-5, 16-2). Dainja was 10 of 13 from the field as Memphis shot 53%.

Jayden Reid led the Bulls (13-18, 6-12) with 20 points, and CJ Brown had 11. South Florida has lost three straight and six of seven.

The teams went into half time tied at 35 as Reid was the only one from either team to reach double figure, scoring 11 points missing only one of his first five shots. Memphis opened the second half with defensive pressure, that would put the game under control.

South Florida: While the Bulls didn't have much success down the stretch going 2-6, only one of those previous eight games — the 80-65 loss to Memphis on Feb. 13 — was by double digits.

Memphis: The win gave Memphis the outright regular-season championship, its first since 2012-13 when it was a member of Conference USA.

Memphis opened the second half with a 9-1 run that eventually would result in the Tigers making their first six shots. The lead that would reach double digits before the halfway point of the second half.

Memphis finished with 11 offensive rebounds, extending its streak of at least 10 offensive boards to 10 straight games. That led to 19 second-chance points.

Both teams move on the American Athletic Conference tournament that begins Wednesday in Fort Worth, Texas. Memphis, as the top seed, does not play until Friday.

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