How Memphis basketball got back on track after its two-game skid

The Tigers have experienced quite a turnaround over the past week.

They started the season 5-0 with three wins over top 80 KenPom teams—a road triumph at Missouri on Nov. 10 and two neutral court victories in the Battle 4 Atlantis against Michigan and Arkansas. While Memphis was never ranked in that stretch, it did receive more votes than any other unranked team in the AP Top 25 poll for three straight weeks. But it then lost its next two games—a 79-63 stinker against Villanova in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship and an 80-77 heartbreaker at Ole Miss on Dec. 2.

Head coach Penny Hardaway knew it was time for a few changes after that. The first one, however, wasn’t actually something he called for. Florida State transfer guard Caleb Mills, Memphis’ third leading scorer this season at 9.8 points per game, asked Hardaway if he could start coming off the bench after starting in five of the Tigers’ first seven games. But the sixth-year coach initially said no.

“I asked him before [the Ole Miss game],” Mills said Thursday. “That was my last game starting. Since then, Ashton [Hardaway] and Nick [Jourdain] have been in the starting lineup. So far, we’re 2-0. I just wanna win. I didn’t feel like the guys who started the game at first complimented each other well enough. But now we got Nick in there and Ashton’s a shooter and a better rebounder, which is better for the team.”

Both Mills and Wichita State transfer Jaykwon Walton came off the bench in Memphis’ wins at VCU and Texas A&M, a move that’s proven to be beneficial for Mills. The 6-foot-5 guard is averaging 15 points and 3.5 rebounds in his last two games, during which he’s played 29 and 23 minutes respectively.

Mills has also shot 4-of-5 from 3-point range in this stretch, but this isn’t anything new this year. He’s shooting a career-high 40% from the perimeter so far in 2023-24 after making just 29.4% of his attempts last season at Florida State.

“I think it’s just having to do with confidence,” he said. “Confidence comes from work. I’ve been working my tail off every day, especially this summer.”

Memphis is playing with confidence as a whole. It shot 48% from the field against Texas A&M (ranked No. 21 in the AP Top 25 before Sunday’s game) while also shooting 41% from 3-point range. The Tigers won the rebounding battle 37-35 and forced 12 turnovers from the Aggies. Additionally, Hardaway’s team led for 35:15 of the 40-minute contest and compiled 2 blocks, 8 steals and 15 assists. The Tigers even held guard Wade Taylor IV, an All-American candidate, to 9 points on 3-of-14 shooting and 5 turnovers.

David Jones—after injuring his ankle at VCU—exploded in the first half of Sunday’s win at College Station. He put up 21 points and 5 rebounds while shooting 6-of-10 from the field and 3-of-5 from 3-point range. He also blocked 2 shots and got a steal in the game’s first 20 minutes, helping the Tigers to a 38-29 halftime lead. Jones made two more 3-pointers in the second half, finishing the contest with 29 points and 7 rebounds on a 47% shooting clip.

But the St. John’s transfer (20.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game) was already having a mesmerizing season before Memphis’ win at VCU. The difference is that he’s gotten a little bit more help in the last two games. That help has largely come in the form of Alabama transfer point guard Jahvon Quinerly, who put up an average of 22 points, 5.5 assists and 4 rebounds against VCU and Texas A&M.

The 6-foot-1 guard was the best player on the floor for either team in the second half of the latter affair. He scored 15 points while shooting 4-of-7 from the field and 1-of-2 from 3-point range in the game’s final 20 minutes, and finished the contest with 24 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds.

“It makes a huge difference,” Hardaway said Thursday. “We’d be undefeated if [Quinerly], Caleb and Jaykwon were playing at a high level. We wouldn’t have lost to ‘Nova. We wouldn’t have lost to Ole Miss. They struggled for about four games offensively…The main reason why we won the last two: they scored. You just need you guys to be your guys. They gotta show up.”

It wasn’t always easy. It wasn’t always pretty. But the Tigers are now 7-2 with four games left in non-conference play, a result almost anyone would’ve taken in the preseason. And things could get even better from here. Memphis is up to No. 33 in KenPom, No. 40 in the NCAA NET Rankings and No. 22 in the CBS Sports Top 25 and 1. The Tigers also received 56 votes in this week’s AP Top 25 poll.

Additionally, Memphis is not expecting 2023 Lou Henson Award winner Jordan Brown to return this season, per sources. He’s missed the last two games with an undisclosed illness. But the Tigers may have found a better replacement in 6-foot-10, mid-season transfer Nae’Qwan Tomlin, who comes from Kansas State after the Wildcats’ administration dismissed him last week. Tomlin, who averaged 12 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks in KSU’s run to the Elite Eight last season, will be immediately eligible to play upon enrolling at Memphis since he hasn’t suited up this year.

All four of Memphis’ remaining non-conference matchups—No. 13 Clemson (Saturday), No. 22 Virginia (Tuesday), Vanderbilt (Dec. 23) and Austin Peay (Dec. 30)—will be played inside FedExForum, a place the Tigers haven’t seen since Nov. 17. This weekend’s homecoming against Clemson (2 p.m., ESPN+), however, could be well worth the wait. Tickets for both the plaza and club levels are sold out, giving a Memphis a chance to have a full crowd on hand for Saturday’s game.

“We bonded more together being at the hotels—being on the road,” Hardaway said. “I never wanna play away from FedExForum that long ever again. But the bonding definitely worked for us being around each other…It’s gonna be hard for me to [be away from home for this long] again.”