Memphis basketball drops out of AP Top 25 after blowout loss to Mississippi State

Memphis basketball is out of the Associated Press (AP) Top 25 once again after their second home loss in a row.

Voters dropped the Tigers (9-3) from the rankings for the second time in three weeks after No. 19 Mississippi State demolished Memphis 79-66 inside FedExForum last Saturday—in which the latter school trailed by up to 24 points in the second half. The Tigers still received 65 points in Monday’s poll, essentially making them the No. 30 team in the country this week.

The Bulldogs outdid the Tigers in basically all areas. They outrebounded Memphis 46-32, won the turnover battle 16-18 and scored more bench points (41-15) and points in the paint (38-18).

Memphis guards PJ Haggerty and Tyrese Hunter scored 24 and 19 points respectively, but no other Tiger recorded more than 7 points. Haggerty and Hunter shot a combined 46% overall, while the rest of the team was 6-of-25 from the field. Mississippi State shot 44% on field goals and 37% from 3-point range.

“We really ain’t got no excuse, honestly. I feel like they came out wanting it more than us,” Hunter said postgame. “Nobody’s gonna feel sorry for us.”

Memphis arguably has a case for some sympathy, however, given the fact it owns six wins in Quads 1 and 2 this season. That’s the most of any Division I program this season. The Tigers have also beaten two AP Top 25 opponents (No. 11 UConn and No. 18 Michigan State) and three preseason conference champions (Ohio, UConn and Louisiana Tech).

AP voters aren’t the only ones concurring with Hunter’s sentiment. CBS Sports personality and Grind City Media host Gary Parrish removed Memphis from his Top 25 and 1. The Tigers are also down to No. 42 in KenPom, No. 43 in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings and No. 56 in Bart Torvik.

But Memphis coach Penny Hardaway isn’t embracing the doom and gloom just yet, especially since his club hosts No. 16 Ole Miss on Saturday (1 p.m., ESPN2). The Tigers would move up to four Quad 1 wins this year with a victory.

”This one loss is not gonna define who we are, because it’s about the entire season. I’m smart enough to know now [to not] go crazy over one loss,” Hardaway said. “Next Saturday, we’re gonna be better.”