The unranked Memphis Tigers vs. the No 4. Alabama Crimson Tide. Both teams entered this game on a high after massive wins over the weekend. Memphis upset the No. 11 ranked Auburn Tigers in what was basically an away game in Atlanta, GA. Alabama upset the No. 1 ranked Houston Cougars in an away game in Houston, TX. Both teams looked to continue their momentum Tuesday night.
1st Half
Kendric Davis was incredible Saturday against Auburn. If Memphis were to pull off another upset tonight, it would take a similar performance from Davis. After the first few minutes of the game, it looked like Memphis would get another great showing. Kendric scored or assisted on Memphis’s first six points as the Tigers jumped to an early 6-3 lead with 15:56 left.
Though the lead was only three, Memphis looked in control and should’ve been up by more if Alex Lomax and Chandler Lawson hit a couple lay-ups. For all of the praise Kendric gets as a scorer, he’s just as good a passer and showed off his skills with a fastbreak find to Malcolm Dandridge for the alley-oop to put Memphis up 9-6.
On the defensive side, the Tigers tried to throw off Alabama’s rhythm by switching up their defense. On one possession, Memphis would show straight man-to-man. Then on the next one, Memphis would play a 2-3 zone. This really bothered Alabama offensively who was 4-of-13 after eight minutes of game time. But Memphis’s lead was only one with 11:50 to go in the half because the Tide’s stifling defense.
The Tigers stuck with the game plan offensively though and continued to move the ball well. A couple baskets from Kendric Davis and DeAndre Williams extended the Memphis lead. Then newcomer Damaria Franklin got his first two points as a Tiger from the free throw line to extend the Tigers lead 17-12.
Thus far, Memphis has proven they belong on the same floor as the No. 4 Crimson Tide.
But Alabama woke up. The Tide went on a 9-0 run to take the lead 17-21 with 8:30 left in the half. A Jayden Hardaway lay-up off of another KD assist halted Alabama’s run. Memphis has really struggled to finish at the rim up to this point. Alex Lomax, Chandler Lawson, Malcolm Dandridge, Deandre Williams and Kendric Davis have all missed close ones that would’ve either extended the Tigers’ lead or stopped Bama’s momentum.
It just felt like a lid was on the rim. Memphis couldn’t buy a bucket if they had Jay-Z money. They kept getting good looks. But none of them were falling, whether they were lay-ups or open jumpers. Memphis’s defense was keeping them in the game though. They trailed Alabama 23-27 with 3:49 to go in the first half.
Then, Memphis came back to life. Elijah McCadden finally broke the seal off the rim and scored four big points. DeAndre Williams also hit a couple shots at the rim. But the Tigers trailed Alabama 33-36 at the half. Though Memphis didn’t have the halftime advantage, Coach Penny Hardaway must have been encouraged knowing how close the game was without the Tigers playing their best basketball.
2nd Half
The second half started the same way the first half ended, with a Memphis miss. Frustration started to boil over, and DeAndre Williams got called for a technical foul after no foul was called on him. Alabama was then able to push the lead to 39-33. But DeAndre would get the last laugh.
After a Jonathan Lawson steal, DeAndre Williams streaked down the floor. Jonathan found him on the run, and D-Will did the rest with a thunderous posterization of Alabama freshman phenom Brandon Miller. DeAndre converted the and-one cutting the Alabama lead to one. Brandon answered back with an and-1 over DeAndre pushing the lead back to four with 15:57 left.
Elijah McCadden was having the best game of his young Tiger career and continued it with an alley-oop slam. Kendric Davis finally got back on the scoresheet with a lay-up and a pull up jumper. But the Tigers still trailed Alabama 46-49. After a Kendric Davis lay-up and a couple Alabama threes, the Tide led 48-55 at the 12:23 mark.
Things went from bad to worse for Memphis as Malcolm Dandridge was forced out of the game with an injury. Malco’s been having a career season and was an integral part of the team on both sides of the ball. But after contesting an Alabama lay-up, Malcolm came down awkwardly on his left ankle leaving the Tigers without their starting big man.
The difference in the game so far has been the three ball. Alabama was 7-of-20 up to this point, while Memphis was 0-of-6. The Tigers would have to hit shots if they wanted to make a comeback.
Thanks to a couple coaching adjustments, Memphis found its way back. The Tide were man-guarding KD like they had Darelle Revis on him. So what did Coach Hardaway dial up? Coach used KD as a screener and freed up DeAndre Williams for a couple big buckets. Memphis tied the game up at 57 after Davis found his way to rim and converted an and-one.
The Tide, however, answered back with a 7-0 run quelled by another massive Kendric Davis and-one. Alabama led Memphis 64-60 with 7:54 to go. Win or lose, the Tigers have proven they can hang with any team in the country.
Unfortunately for Memphis, this game started to look more and more like a loss. DeAndre Williams fouled out with around six minutes left. Then Alabama extended the lead to 71-62 with 5:54 left.
KD assisted or scored on Memphis’s next three buckets, including a touch mid-range bucket that cut the Alabama lead to 3. After an Alex Lomax and-one, the Tigers were right back in the game trailing by only 5 with 3:03 to go.
But as I said before, the three-ball was the difference. Another Brandon Miller three pushed the Bama lead to seven. The talented Freshman had 19 in the second half and was a big reason why the Tide were just too much for the Tigers. Kendric even tweaked his ankle with around one minute left.
Though Memphis gave No. 4 Alabama all they had, the Memphis Tigers fell to the Alabama Crimson Tide 88-91.
Quick Takeaways:
- This was a Heavyweight Battle.
Pound for pound, the No. 4 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide had the upper-hand over the unranked Tigers. But Memphis showed more than enough to prove they belonged on the same court. Memphis really bothered the Tide on defense and had chances to land haymakers offensively. When it mattered most though, the Tigers didn’t connect going 1-of-11 from three and missing too many lay-ups. Memphis even lost the war of attrition with injuries to Malcolm Dandridge and Kendric Davis.
2. Kendric took over when needed.
Speaking of Mr. Davis, he dazzled again when it mattered most. Kendric finished with 30 points (11-of-22 FGs), five assists and four steals. Those five assists should’ve been much more if other players made shots. Though Kendric was passive at times, he took over when the Tigers needed a bucket to get back into the game.
3. Alabama’s Freshman Brandon Miller is the real deal.
Coach Hardaway has a reputation for creating a solid game plan to shut down the opposition’s best player. Just ask Kendric Davis. Tonight, Alabama’s super-freshman Brandon Miller was stymied after one half. But the former Antioch, TN product didn’t force things and continued to play within himself finishing with 24 points (7-of-13 FGs, 4-of-8 from 3), eight rebounds, and five assists. He’ll be on an NBA roster in the near future. But tonight, he was the main reason why Memphis couldn’t tame the Tide.
Memphis looks to bounce back at home against the Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday at 6 p.m. CST.