Memphis basketball has taken the challenge to save its season. Is the Tigers’ blowout of Charlotte a sign of things to come?

Memphis basketball can no longer earn an Associated Press (AP) Top 25 ranking. It can no longer win the American Athletic Conference (AAC or The American) regular season title. Heck, it likely can’t even receive an at-large bid to this year’s NCAA Tournament anymore.

But the Tigers can still save their season. They can still earn the AAC Tournament crown to advance to the Big Dance. Most importantly, they can still fight, scratch and crawl to win each game. And they did just that in their 76-52 win over Charlotte Wednesday, even if they haven’t been doing much fighting lately.

“It’s not optional anymore. If you’re gonna play hard, you’re gonna be on the floor. If you’re not, you’re gonna be on the bench,” head coach Penny Hardaway said postgame. “We won all the toughness stats tonight. I don’t know why it’s been optional…When they’re not playing hard and they’re just not interested at all, it makes us look like we are a really bad team.”

One of those toughness stats Hardaway refers to is the Tigers’ prowess on the glass. Memphis outrebounded the 49ers 38-20, and collected 14 offensive boards compared to just 4 for Charlotte. Hardaway’s club also outscored Aaron Fearne’s team 36-17 in the second half, and held it to 32% shooting in that span.

Memphis (19-8, 8-6 AAC) finished the game with a 13-2 run in the final 6:07 and a 10-0 run in the final 3:52. The best part is it did all this while mainly using just six players: Nick Jourdain (21 minutes), David Jones (23 minutes), Jahvon Quinerly (30 minutes), Nae’Qwan Tomlin (33 minutes), Malcolm Dandridge (24 minutes) and Jaykwon Walton (30 minutes). Walk-on guard Joe Cooper also put up 3 points and 3 rebounds in nine second-half minutes.

“If we play at this level, we can win out. That’s conference tournament included. That’s just who we are if we play this way,” Hardaway said.

It took some doing for Memphis—once 15-2 and No. 10 in the AP Top 25—to get back to this level of play, however. The Tigers first had to lose four consecutive games to close out January, including a Quad 3 loss to South Florida and a Quad 4 loss to Rice—both at home.

They then watched bracketologists slowly drop them further and further down the seed line until they were out of the projected field entirely. Finally, they blew their chance to save their at-large hopes by completely embarrassing themselves in their two-game Texas road trip last week. They first allowed 16 3-pointers in a 10-point loss at North Texas last Thursday, and then got blown out by 26 points Sunday at SMU in a game where the team looked utterly defeated from the start.

The latter performance of the two was particularly alarming. It was rock bottom. You could see it both in-game and postgame, especially after Hardaway dropped another signature f-bomb and accused some players of quitting on him in the middle of the season. But that breaking point—just like the one Memphis reached two years ago—may have been exactly what the Tigers needed.

“They took it as a challenge this time…Nobody’s gonna feel sorry for us. You look at Last Four In, First Four Out and all that and our name isn’t anywhere after where we were a month ago, that should fuel you enough,” Hardaway said. “I hate that it took this much adversity and this much losing for them to finally get to the point of, ‘Man, we’re in danger.’ The danger sign’s been going off to me since we lost to South Florida…I asked one question: ‘Have we let go of the rope?’ And they said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘Well this is what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna do it this way every single time.’ They accepted the challenge.”

Cooper, however, didn’t even have to accept Hardaway’s challenge. In fact, it isn’t even a challenge for the native Memphian. It’s simply an expectation of playing for Memphis basketball, something he understands to a tee.

He saw his first action of the season Sunday at SMU, and recorded 2 assists and 2 steals in 10 second-half minutes. Cooper continued his impressive play tonight, and seemingly solidified his place in the Tigers’ rotation moving forward.

“What I see the most [from Cooper] is care factor. He’s a Memphis guy—Memphis kid, homegrown. This is a dream situation for him to be playing in a Memphis Tigers uniform, and he’s gonna savor it every moment,” Hardaway said. “He’s pulling some people along with him.”

It’s a newfound opportunity for the former junior college star, who hasn’t played despite being eligible since January. A stepson of former Tiger Rodney Newsome, Cooper is taking his chance in stride and is already leading by example.

“It’s been surreal—this whole journey. Even the first day I put the practice jersey on, seeing my name on the locker. That’s a big deal for me…I don’t take anything for granted. Every time I step into the [Laurie-Walton Family Basketball Center] or [FedExForum}, I soak it all in. It’s been amazing for me personally,” Cooper said. “A few of us rallied together [after the SMU game] and it was basically like, ‘Get with us or get away.’ And everybody just kinda got with us. Everybody bought in…I don’t look at myself as a walk-on, to be honest…I know I’m talented and I came here to just try to win whatever way I could.”

Hardaway, Cooper and the Tigers host Florida Atlantic in a rematch from last year’s NCAA Tournament game on Sunday (1 p.m., ESPN).