Memphis dominates first exhibition game versus Lane College

The Tigers looked about as impressive as one could’ve reasonably asked for Sunday afternoon.

Memphis defeated Lane College 106-49 in its first exhibition contest of the 2023-24 season, and did so in dominant fashion.

Its versatility and talent was on full display, as the Tigers totaled five double-digit scorers, shot 56% from the field and held Lane College to just 26% shooting. Memphis will play one more exhibition versus LeMoyne-Owen on Thursday before beginning the regular season next Monday against Jackson State.

Memphis’ veterans lead the way.

As expected, Memphis’ older players were the primary engineers in the Tigers’ dominant victory, even without Alabama transfer Jahvon Quinerly.

St. John’s transfer guard David Jones lead all scorers with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. The 6-foot-6 wing takes a lot of pride in his versatility, and didn’t even know about his point total until after the game.

“Every good player—it don’t matter if it’s in the NBA or anywhere [else] in the world—you gotta have another weapon you can help the team with,” Jones said. “If you’re not scoring one night, you gotta get rebounds, steals and play defense. Ever since I got [to Memphis], Penny [Hardaway] has been talking to me about being a great leader….I didn’t even know I had 17 points. I was just asking how many rebounds I got.”

Louisiana transfer center Jordan Brown—last season’s Lou Henson Award winner—had 14 points and 6 rebounds. Florida State transfer guard Caleb Mills finished with 11 points. And fifth-year center Malcolm Dandridge recorded 14 points and 6 rebounds.

Temple transfer Nick Jourdain also had a valuable 8 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists off the bench.

Tigers lit it up from deep.

Memphis had perhaps its most impressive three-point shooting performance in a very long time.

Though it finished the game at 50% from three-point range, Memphis shot a staggering 70% from beyond the arc in the first half. Jones was 2-2 from deep. Ashton Hardaway was 3-5. Mills, Jayden Hardaway, Jonathan Pierre and Jayhlon Young each hit a three-pointer.

Head coach Penny Hardaway says he expects the 3-ball to be a significant part of the Tigers’ offense moving forward.

“I’m very excited because we haven’t had a lot of great three-point shooting teams [during] my tenure here,” he said. “I like having that spacing because if [the Tigers’ opponents] go double-team, then we have guys that can make them pay.”

Memphis’ frontcourt shows out.

Memphis imposed its will in the paint throughout the entire afternoon.

The Tigers out-rebounded Lane 49-35 and blocked 6 shots. Memphis also scored 50 points in the paint, most of them coming from the 6-foot-11 Brown, 6-foot-9 Dandridge and 6-foot-9 Jourdain. Brown and Dandridge combined for 3 blocks.

Brown in particular was a matchup nightmare for Lane’s defense, as it had very few answers for him down low. The former 5-star recruit showed tons of versatility by employing a multitude of impressive post-moves and more or less scoring at will.

Dandridge, who’s had the kitchen sink thrown towards him multiple times throughout his first four seasons at Memphis, seems elated to be a part of the Tigers’ versatile and talented frontcourt.

“It’s definitely a blessing,” he said. “I feel like we the best frontcourt in not only the country, but definitely in the [AAC]. So, we’re just gonna have to show everyone what we’re made of…We’re gonna keep pushing each other in practice, and we’re gonna make each other better.”