How many more times does this need to happen?
How many more times does No. 13 Memphis need to get into close calls with inferior competition before realizing it’s not invincible? How many more times will the Tigers go down to the wire with the likes of Vanderbilt, Austin Peay and even UTSA before suffering a humiliating defeat?
The clock seems to be ticking for Penny Hardaway’s team after it escaped perennial embarrassment for the fourth time in five games by beating the Roadrunners 107-101 in overtime Wednesday night. Memphis (14-2, 3-0 AAC) faced some lesser teams in its non-conference slate, but UTSA (7-9, 1-2 AAC) may be on another level of ineptitude based off its resume and computer numbers. Steve Henson’s club was ranked No. 285 in both KenPom and the NCAA NET rankings, No. 201 in adjusted offensive efficiency and No. 331 in adjusted defensive efficiency heading into its meeting with the Tigers. But it still nearly handed Memphis what would’ve arguably been the worst loss for any Division I program this season.
“The team definitely has to take ownership. It’s on them,” Hardaway said postgame. “They’re well coached. They’re prepared. They know what’s going on.”
UTSA scorched the Tigers from 3-point range for the whole night, finishing the game with a 38% clip. The Roadrunners, who made 17 total 3-pointers, shot 50% from deep in the second half, and got oh-so close to knocking off Memphis on numerous occasions.
Jordan Ivy-Curry might as well have been another guy with the last name Curry, as he led all scorers with 28 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists while shooting 9-of-21 from the field and 6-of-14 from the 3-point line. Chandler Cuthrell, PJ Carter, Carlton Linguard Jr. and Dre Fuller Jr. each made at least two perimeter shots. The Roadrunners continuously broke the Tigers’ zone and press defenses, and simply took advantage of Memphis’ lackadaisical effort to nearly score the upset win.
“We talked about this earlier when we first got this roster together. From one through 15, it pretty much is all offensive players—offensive mindset,” Hardaway said. “Now we gotta figure out ways for these guys who got the ball on their team last year to do something else outside of scoring. If you’re not scoring, what else are you gonna bring to the table? Everyone has to guard their yard, and we’re not doing that. We’re not guarding the ball well at all…That’s just not a Memphis team, man. We don’t play like that, so I’m telling these guys ‘we have to get better.'”
The game reached its climax at the 2:01 mark in the second half once Fuller hit a 3-pointer that gave UTSA an 89-86 lead. Ivy-Curry then extended that to a 92-88 advantage with his own deep bomb with 1:37 left in regulation. But Memphis tied things back up with two made free throws by Jahvon Quinerly and an inbound steal that turned into a Nick Jourdain slam.
Memphis and UTSA each made two more free throws after that, leaving the game even at 94 points apiece with 23 seconds left. The Roadrunners had a chance at the final possession, but Massal Diouf committed an offensive foul.
The Tigers were now in an all-familiar place. Three seconds left. A chance to beat the buzzer, just like Quinerly had done against SMU and Tulsa. The ball didn’t go to Quinerly, though. It went to Jourdain, who missed a prayer as regulation expired.
But the Alabama transfer wasn’t denied the ball in overtime, which ultimately paid dividends for Memphis. Quinerly started the extra period with a bang—a 4-point play after making a 3-pointer through contact. He then made a crucial turnaround jumper with 1:54 left, upping the Tigers’ lead to 104-99. All in all, the 6-foot-1 guard scored 9 of Memphis’ 13 overtime points and again came through when his team needed him most.
Quinerly finished the game with 25 points, 4 assists and 4 rebounds while shooting 7-of-15 overall. David Jones also had a productive outing with 26 points and 11 rebounds on an 8-for-18 clip. Jourdain had 18 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks. Jaykwon Walton scored 13 points, and Malcolm Dandridge finished with 10 points and 4 rebounds on his 23rd birthday.
Granted, it could be worse for Memphis. The Tigers could’ve been the sixth top-15 team to fall to an unranked opponent in the last two days. They could be like AAC foe No. 24 Florida Atlantic, which owns two Quad 4 losses and another embarrassing tilt at Charlotte. But it’s undeniable Hardaway’s team isn’t playing to its standard right now, which surprises the sixth-year coach.
“If we could film our practices—just really have a live video going in the practices—people would go, ‘Well how did they go from that to do this,'” Hardaway said. “Our practices are high-level energy, physical, understanding where we’re having our faults and we’re focused on coming in and doing those things better. And then when the game starts, it goes the other way.”
But it’s not just Hardaway who recognizes something’s not right with the Tigers at the moment. His players see it too.
A reporter asked Jourdain how he interprets Memphis’ last five games. The Temple transfer’s response was quite blunt.
“It’s a blessing that we’re getting these wins through these struggles,” he said. “Obviously we have a new team—whole bunch of new guys—and we gotta figure out each other. But I think it’s also important that, like I said before, we take accountability of our mistakes. We know what this team has to be all about, especially if we wanna go as far as we say we wanna go, and that’s defense. Today was one of those days we completely lacked on the defensive end. We’ve shown against some of the top teams that we can lock up defensively, especially for short periods of time…I think if we could just figure out a way to all lock in, treat defense like it’s life or death, have some sense of urgency, we’d be able to put 40 minutes together and really showcase that type of defense.”
It’s urgent that, as Jourdain says, Memphis is able to ‘lock in’ with its AAC schedule sooner rather than later. The quality of opponents the Tigers are tasked with facing may not be as high as it was in non-conference play, but the league is full of teams determined to put Memphis’ aspirations to a screeching halt. Tulsa, SMU and UTSA may have all failed, but each got really close.
Next up is a road test at Wichita State Sunday (12 p.m., ESPN2). The Shockers aren’t a vibrant group right now after losing their last four games, providing them all the more reason to give the Tigers everything they have. Hardaway, who’s 3-1 at Charles Koch Arena in his tenure with Memphis, knows just how challenging that environment can be. So does Walton, who was the Shockers’ leading scorer last season.
“We gotta be motivated play in these games knowing that we’re being hunted now,” Walton said. “If we have a slow start in Wichita and we let their crowd get involved, it’s gonna be tough. It ain’t gonna be no Tulsa crowd. It ain’t gonna be no small crowd. They feed off the energy of the crowd…We can’t start like that against them or it’ll be rough.”