As the Tigers got ready to take on the Wichita State Shockers on the road in a Quad 2 opportunity, crushing news came out just hours before the game that Keonte Kennedy is out for the remainder of the regular season with a broken hand. As big of a blow as that was to hear, news that star point guard Kendric Davis would return for action gave the Tigers and fans a much-needed boost. As Davis returned to the starting lineup, Jayden Hardaway replaced the injured Keonte Kennedy, and Elijah McCadden, DeAndre Williams and Chandler Lawson rounded out the starting five for the Memphis Tigers.
First Half
Kendric Davis kicked off the game with a three on the first possession to start a fast-paced beginning to the game with both teams trading baskets and shooting 50 percent each as the Tigers led 10-9 at the first media timeout.
Chandler Lawson scored five of the Tigers’ first 10 points which had already surpassed his season average of 4.9 points per game and included him making his second three-pointer of the season. The Tigers continued their hot start from three as DeAndre Williams, Alex Lomax and Damaria Franklin each hit a three to extend the Tigers’ lead to 19-16 at the second media timeout. By this point, the Tigers had made five of their first six threes.
The turnover bug started to creep back up for the Tigers as Elijah McCadden turned it over on back-to-back possessions and it continued to spiral from there as Wichita State took the lead 30-29 with four minutes remaining in the half. From there, both teams continued trading baskets to end the half with the score being tied at 40 at halftime.
The Tigers had no answer for James Rojas as he tied his career-high of 19 points at the half of this one on 7-of-7 shooting. He set his career-high against Memphis in the last matchup between these teams last month. Kendric Davis led the Tigers with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting. The Tigers shot 60 percent (6-of-10) from three at the half and turned the ball over nine times.
Second Half
The second half began with the same intensity as the first half as DeAndre Williams scored six of the Tigers’ first eight points of the half to help the Memphis lead 48-47 with 15:20 remaining.
However, just as it felt like the Tigers were starting to pull away the turnover bug came back around as Kendric Davis coughed it up a couple of times which led to easy transition points for the Shockers as the teams tied again at 59 with 8:47 remaining.
Solid defense and some timely shots made by Johnathan Lawson, Damaria Franklin and DeAndre Williams helped the Tigers retake and extend the lead to seven points at 69-62 with 5:52 remaining. Both went back to trading baskets from that point forward as the Tigers led 74-70 going into the final media timeout with 1:42 remaining.
After the timeout, Wichita State hit two free throws to cut the Tigers’ lead to 74-72 but on the next possession, Kendric Davis broke the defense down and kicked the ball out to a wide-open Johnathan Lawson for the back-breaking three to put the Tigers up 77-72 with 1:18 remaining.
As Memphis was a mixed bag with making their free throws down the stretch, Wichita State kept fighting back as they had throughout the game and cut the Tigers’ lead to three at 81-78 with nine seconds remaining. Then, Kendric Davis got fouled on a close call that could have went against him as he swung his elbow to create space. The refs called it a cylinder violation on Wichita State and Davis and made the game-sealing free throws as the Tigers beat the Shockers 83-78.
Kendric Davis led the Tigers in his return from injury with 19 points. DeAndre Williams almost had a double-double with 18 points and nine rebounds and Damaria Franklin had arguably his best game of the season with 12 points to help offset the loss of Keonte Kennedy.
Next up, Memphis returns home to take on the Cincinnati Bearcats on Sunday, February 26th at 1:00 pm CST.