FORT WORTH, Texas — Memphis basketball fans’ hearts dropped when Tyrese Hunter inexplicably hobbled to the locker room midway through Saturday’s 78-77 victory over Tulane in the American Athletic Conference (AAC) Tournament semifinals.
Hunter is no stranger to injury, having dealt with a nagging right knee that sidelined him for the first time in his four-year college career on Feb. 9 against Temple. Many feared the 6-foot guard’s long-standing ailment had flared up again inside Dickies Arena, but that evidently wasn’t the case.
Hunter (13.7 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.5 steals per game) exited the game after he “dinged his [left] foot,” a Memphis spokesperson told Bluff City Media. He was originally declared questionable to return to the contest, but never did after later reappearing on the bench with crutches and a walking boot.
“We don’t know what’s going on with Tyrese, so hopefully it’s not for the worst,” Memphis coach Penny Hardaway told reporters postgame.
The Tigers held to eliminate a feisty Green Wave team despite missing Hunter, drilling just five of their 23 attempts from 3-point range and shooting 60% at the free-throw line. Without PJ Haggerty’s 14 makes at the charity stripe, the latter figure drops to 37% (9-of-24).
A few Tigers donned their superhero capes in Hunter’s absence. Dain Dainja notched his seventh double-double this season with 23 points (10-for-15 shooting), 11 rebounds, 2 steals and a block. Moussa Cisse secured his third with 10 points, 11 boards, 2 blocks and 2 steals. Haggerty, even if he shot 2-for-13 from the field, still totaled 18 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and a steal. The AAC Player of the Year sank eight foul shots in the last 40 seconds.
Memphis’ role players stepped up too. PJ Carter scored 9 points off three crucial 3-pointers, including a near buzzer-beater that gave Memphis a 39-32 lead at halftime. Nick Jourdain grabbed 7 rebounds, including 5 on the offensive glass. Baraka Okojie racked up 2 steals.
“You lose one of your best defenders and your vocal leader, but I knew that we had guys on the bench that could step up and step in,” Hardaway said. “We got [a] next-man-up mentality…Our team is built 1 through 13—to be ready to play and be ready for war. So, when one guy goes down, the next guy is gonna step up…At the end of the day, we have to keep playing.”
Hunter isn’t the only Memphis point guard that’s recently gone down. Midseason transfer Dante Harris hasn’t played since suffering a high-ankle sprain at UTSA on March 4. If both are sidelined moving forward, that seemingly leaves the Tigers’ dwindling backcourt rotation to Haggerty (21.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.8 steals), Colby Rogers (10.3 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists), Okojie (1.4 points and 1.0 assists) and Jared Harris (0.5 points).
Hardaway is frustrated, but not overly concerned with the NCAA Tournament fast approaching. In his mind, Memphis has more options than what meets the eye.
A certain star big man often praised for his exceptional ball-handling specifically catches Hardaway’s attention. After all, he’s recorded at least 3 assists on seven different occasions this year.
“Obviously, the concern is foul trouble. If you get into foul trouble, who do you go to? But at the end of the day, we have other guys that can substitute in and play the point guard. We’re well-equipped,” Hardaway said. “Dain can bring the ball up the floor and run the offense through the 5-out. So, we’ll make the adjustments and the guys that are on the bench are gonna be ready to play.”
No. 16 Memphis (28-5, 16-2 AAC) faces UAB in the AAC Tournament championship Sunday (2:15 p.m., ESPN).