RECAP: Villanova routs Memphis in Battle 4 Atlantis title game.

The Tigers just didn’t have it Friday afternoon.

Memphis (5-1) was crushed by Villanova (6-1) in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game 79-63. The Tigers will finish second place in the tournament, leaving The Bahamas with two wins in three days. Penny Hardaway’s team did manage to defeat two Top 40 KenPom teams in just as many days with victories over Michigan (No. 40 in KenPom) and Arkansas (No. 38 in KenPom), but Friday against Villanova (No. 19 in KenPom) was a massive reality check for the Tigers.

Memphis now gets a much-needed, eight-day break between games as it prepares to visit Ole Miss on Dec. 2. The Tigers, despite their blowout loss to Kyle Neptune’s club, are up for a possible AP Top 25 ranking come Monday after receiving more votes than any other unranked team in each of the past two weeks.

Here are some takeaways from Memphis’ first loss of the season.

Offensive ineptitude in first half.

The Tigers couldn’t get anything done offensively in the first half.

Memphis shot 4-of-27 from the field and 1-of-12 from 3-point range in the game’s first 20 minutes. It also committed 8 turnovers compared to just 2 for the Wildcats and scored 7 of its 16 first half points from the free throw line.

Jaykwon Walton was the Tigers’ leading scorer in the first half with 8 points, but 6 of those points came from free throws. Walton still shot 1-of-6 from the field before halftime.

Villanova scores at will.

Memphis couldn’t seem to buy a basket for most of Friday afternoon. Villanova got as many as it wanted for free, especially in the first half.

The Wildcats shot 44.1% from the field and 42% from 3-point range in the first half. Thirteen of their 44 first half points came from the bench, and they also scored 12 points in the paint. Villanova also had two 10-0 runs and one 12-0 in the first half. The Wildcats’ balance was evident in the game’s first 20 minutes, as TJ Bamba scored 8 points, Tyler Burton scored 9, Hakim Hart scored 7, Eric Dixon scored 6 and leading scorer Justin Moore had 3. Neptune’s team led the Tigers 44-16 at halftime.

The Wildcats made 5 more 3-pointers in the second half and shot 9-of-23 from the field. Moore scored 8 points and shot perfectly from the field in the game’s final 20 minutes. He, Burton, Dixon and Bamba each finished with 11 points.

Memphis’ late push isn’t enough.

Memphis trailed Villanova 67-32 with 9:12 left in the game, but weren’t done just yet.

Ashton Hardaway made a 3-pointer to decrease Nova’s lead to 22. Jahvon Quinerly then made a few baskets. So did David Jones. After scoring nothing in the first half, Quinerly (He started his college career at Villanova) finished the game with 12 points, and Jones (He turned 22 Friday) finished with 13. All of a sudden, the Tigers—who shot 53% from the field and 46% from 3-point range in the second half—had gone on a 21-0 run in just under 4 minutes to cut Villanova’s lead to 67-53.

That’s as close as Memphis got, however. The Wildcats scored five straight points to get the lead back up to 18, and then traded baskets with the Tigers until the clock ran out.

Memphis’ run—inspiring as it looked—was ultimately too little, too late.