Memphis’s 16-game home winning streak snapped by Tulane

After a loss to Tulane in the conference opener, Penny Hardaway and the Tigers were looking for revenge against the Green Wave.

1st Half

Without a doubt, it was a physical, high-scoring first half between Memphis and Tulane. The two teams went into the halftime break separated by only three points (46-43) with the Tigers leading.

Keonte Kennedy and Kendric Davis led the way for Memphis as both players had 11 points and were a combined 4-of-7 from three-point range. Although the Tigers haven’t been a great three-point shooting team this season, they shot 50 percent (5-of-10) in the first half.

Key's money from there. pic.twitter.com/mSgR84icnl

— Memphis Basketball (@Memphis_MBB) February 4, 2023

Deandre Williams and Elijah McCadden have been extremely important offensively this season, but neither one of them were very impressive in the first 20 minutes. Fortunately, Chandler Lawson and Damaria Franklin both stepped up and played very well. Lawson had five points and six rebounds and Franklin had six points and showed on multiple occasions how well he can finish around the basket.

For the Green Wave, Jalen Cook was nearly unstoppable. The star guard had 18 points in the first half and hit a buzzer beater to close the gap between the two teams heading into the locker rooms.

Tulane shot a ridiculous 57 percent from the floor in the first half, and the Tigers gave them multiple extra possessions with 11 turnovers. Memphis dominated the glass with a 26-10 advantage, but they were hurt by turnovers and the inability to cover Cook.

2nd Half/Overtime

Bad news: Turnovers and poor free throw shooting continued for the Tigers. Undoubtedly, those two things led to Memphis’s demise in this game.

Tulane outplayed Memphis consistently in the second half which ultimately led to overtime. The Green Wave were able to capitalize on the Tigers season-high 22 turnovers with 30 points.

Memphis also shot 16-of-26 from the free throw line, including multiple big misses in overtime by Kendric Davis and DeAndre Williams.

Overall, this wasn’t a good loss for the Tigers. This was a Quad 3 game against an inferior opponent, but they couldn’t get the job done at home.

With the loss, Memphis drops to 7-3 in American Athletic Conference play, and they also had their 16-game home winning streak snapped.