Penny Hardaway puts Memphis basketball on blast after mediocre showing versus Austin Peay

You could tell the vibe was a little different from the moment he entered the press room.

Penny Hardaway and the Tigers usually take their time before fulfilling their media obligations after each game. Waiting on Hardaway and the players to speak at the podium is oftentimes a half-hour endeavor in and of itself. But that wasn’t the case after No. 19 Memphis’ 81-70 win over Austin Peay Saturday night.

Hardaway was already speaking to reporters less than 20 minutes after the final buzzer sounded. And he didn’t sound happy.

“My [opening] statement is I’m glad we won the game,” Hardaway said.

The sixth-year coach has every reason be thankful for victory after the way his team played against Austin Peay (7-8), a school that was ranked No. 229 in the NCAA NET rankings, No. 242 in KenPom, No. 293 in offensive efficiency and No. 185 in defensive efficiency before tip-off.

The Tigers (11-2) seemed destined for a blowout win—for just over a minute into the game. Malcolm Dandridge started things out with a resounding slam, and Nick Jourdain followed that up with a basket and a foul to make the score 5-0 with 19:13 left in the first half. Memphis quickly found itself in a dog fight after that, however.

Both the Tigers and Governors shot poorly from the field in the first half. Memphis made just 37% of its field goal attempts, while Austin Peay finished the half with a 41% clip. The U of M hit 13 free throws compared to none for APSU, but the Governors stayed in the game by shooting 6-of-18 from 3-point range. The Tigers hit just 2 long bombs in the game’s first 20 minutes.

Memphis picked up right where it left off after halftime—more poor basketball and sloppy offensive play.

The two teams continued to go back-and-forth throughout the first eight minutes of the second half. Memphis still clanked shots off the rim and had numerous empty possessions, while Austin Peay kept burning the Tigers from the perimeter. Corey Gipson’s group even took the advantage twice in the first 5:35 of the period, but Memphis led the Governors 54-49 with 11:59 left to play.

That’s when the Tigers had finally seen enough. Jahvon Quinerly got the party started with one of his signature driving layups. Nae’Qwan Tomlin converted a putback bucket. Jayhlon Young knocked down an open 3-pointer. Jourdain hammered in an alley-oop slam, and David Jones finished the 16-4 run with 5 straight points.

The Tigers led 69-53 with 7:30 remaining at that point, and never really lost control again afterwards. A late push from Austin Peay made things a bit more interesting in the final moments, but Gipson’s team didn’t even get close to pulling off a comeback.

All in all, Memphis shot 41% from the field and 22% from 3-point range against the Governors. The Tigers also finished the game with four double-digit scorers (Jones, Quinerly, Tomlin and Jourdain), won the rebounding battle 48-39 and forced 10 turnovers. They scored 14 points off said turnovers while nabbing 15 offensive rebounds, 6 blocks, 6 steals and 13 assists.

Austin Peay, meanwhile, shot 36% from the field and 31% from the perimeter. The Governors also forced 13 turnovers and grabbed 17 offensive rebounds despite starting just one player over 6-foot-4 (Daniel Loos). Additionally, they finished their eighth loss of the season with 18 assists, 12 steals and 7 blocks. Dezi Jones, a 5-foot-10 guard, led Austin Peay with 20 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists.

Memphis, which owns seven Quad 1 and 2 wins (tied for most in the country with No. 1 Purdue), has now underwhelmed against two straight inferior opponents. In their last outing, the Tigers narrowly beat a 4-7 Vanderbilt team that was ranked No. 234 in KenPom, No. 294 in the NET, No. 248 in offensive efficiency and No. 226 in defensive efficiency before tip-off. Memphis clearly hasn’t been playing with an adequate amount of focus or intensity in games where it’s perceived as a heavy favorite, which Hardaway attributes to a lack of interest from the players.

“We can’t get over the hump to be professional enough to come out and compete. Dezi Jones came out and competed more than anybody. That’s embarrassing to me as a coach for someone to be out-hustling us—out-scrapping us on our home floor in front of our fans who pay money to come watch us play,” he said. “We played nine really good games in a row, and guys had to defend or else we were gonna get blown out. Now, they’re looking down on teams and feeling like, ‘If I’m not scoring, we’re gonna win the game anyway and I’m not as interested.'”

The Tigers both completed and thrived in their daunting non-conference schedule. They stacked up quality wins, made a statement to the entire country and became ranked in the AP Top 25. But Memphis now has a unique challenge on the horizon as it gears up for American Athletic Conference play, which begins Thursday night at Tulsa (7 p.m., ESPN+).

Memphis will go from the hunters to the hunted for the rest of the regular season. It will transition from the team that aspires to the team to beat. The Tigers will get everyone’s best shot in the AAC, and Hardaway already thinks they have a problem with playing down to competition after their last two performances.

“It happened in the Vandy game. I’m not disrespecting Vandy, but they were 4-7. And even though Austin Peay can compete, we just didn’t have the fight,” he said. “All you want is the fight. It doesn’t matter if you miss every shot. You just want the fight. We’re not getting the fight every possession…I’m seeing a trend now.”

Jones, the Tigers’ top scorer, once again led the way with 19 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists on 5-of-14 shooting. The 6-foot-6 wing, who failed to score 20 points for the first time in six games against Austin Peay, reiterated Hardaway’s sentiment in the simplest way possible.

“We just gotta play hard every game, no matter who we play against,” Jones said postgame. “They’ll say we’re playing Virginia tomorrow, and we’re all hyped up because we’re gonna play Virginia and we wanna beat them. They’ll say we’re gonna play Austin Peay and it’s like, ‘Ha, we’re playing Austin Peay. We’re gonna beat them regardless.’ These days in college, anybody can beat anybody.”

Hardaway, a Memphis legend, was nominated for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player yesterday. He led the Tigers to the Elite Eight in 1992, and then became the city’s only home-grown NBA All-Star during his illustrious tenure with the Orlando Magic that got cut short due to injuries.

Once his NBA career was over, he returned to Memphis and became a revered figured in the high school and AAU coaching scene. He won three state championships at East High School, and developed multiple future Division I players. That led him to where he is now—coaching his alma mater to success it hasn’t seen in more than a decade this season.

Hardaway knows what it takes for Memphis basketball to be great every night. He knows what this team means to the city. But he needs his players to understand those things too.

“You just hope these guys understand how the city feels about the team. That success we’re having, don’t let it start to separate us because you see other guys getting headlines,” Hardaway said. “They start reading the clippings and if they don’t see their names, you can have a problem with that. And unfortunately, it seeps into every good team. I have to figure out a way to stop it.”