Memphis basketball—headed by Rick Stansbury with Penny Hardaway suspended for the first three games of the season—got a bit more of a fight than expected from Jackson State in its regular season opener.
The Tigers still won handily, though, 94-77.
Memphis had a very good offensive showing once again, shooting 51% from the field and 39% from 3-point range. The Tigers also shot 15-23 from the free throw line and compiled 21 assists.
It struggled defensively though, allowing four JSU players to score double-figure points—those being Ken Evans Jr. (18), Chase Adams (16), Keijaun Johnson (10) and Coltie Young (13). Mo Williams’ team also shot 46% from the field and 33% from 3-point range. But Memphis ultimately made up for its struggles on the defensive end by forcing 21 turnovers and blocking 5 shots.
Memphis will get a huge boost in competition this coming Friday when it travels to Colombia, Mo. for a road date with the Missouri Tigers. Mizzou is ranked No. 55 on KenPom, meaning it’ll be an early Quad 1 opportunity for Memphis.
Here are some takeaways from the Tigers’ win over Jackson State.
A new-look starting lineup
Memphis trotted out a new starting lineup tonight that featured Jahvon Quinerly, David Jones, Jaykwon Walton, Nick Jourdain and Malcolm Dandridge.
Caleb Mills and Jordan Brown came off the bench. The change didn’t affect either’s statline, however, as Brown compiled 11 point and 5 rebounds in 21 minutes and Mills recorded 10 points and 7 rebounds in 22 minutes of action. Brown and Mills started instead of Jourdain and Dandridge in the Tigers’ two exhibition games, so time will tell if this is a permanent change.
Turnovers were a problem…again
Memphis struggled with ball security for its second straight outing Monday night.
The Tigers finished the game with 16 turnovers, including 10 in the first half. Jones and Walton had 5 each. Quinerly totaled 3. Young and Brown each had 1.
The turnovers allowed Jackson State to stay afloat for the entire first half, and Memphis only got the game in hand once it cleaned things up in the second half.
It cannot afford to play like this against Missouri, or any Power conference opponent for that matter.
Walton started the party. Jones finished it.
If it weren’t for Walton’s performance—19 points and 5 rebounds while shooting 7-11 from the field and 3-4 from 3-point range—Memphis might’ve been in trouble. The Tigers started extremely sluggish in the opening minutes, and Walton scored their first 7. He finished the first half with 17 points, but cooled down in the second half.
Luckily, Jones and the rest of the Tigers picked up the slack and finished the game. The Dominican Republic native had another stellar performance—15 points on 5-12 shooting, including an 8-0 run. Brown (11), Dandridge (10) and Jayden Hardaway (12) also scored in the double-figures. Jourdain recorded 8 points and 4 rebounds in just 13 minutes.