PJ Haggerty – in his first game since being named AAC Player of the Year – had the best game of his career, dropping a career-high 42 points to carry Memphis basketball to a 83-80 win over Wichita State on Friday.

Memphis basketball showed up at the AAC tournament wearing Nike-branded warmup shirts with two words: “Nothing Easy.” That pretty much summed up the top-seed Tigers’ afternoon. It was rarely pretty, but they scratched and clawed their way to an 83-80 win over Wichita State on Friday afternoon at Dickies Arena.

The postgame press conference had ended when Memphis basketball’s All-America guard PJ Haggerty leaned forward, speaking into the microphone.