RECAP: No. 10 Memphis falls at Tulane for second straight loss.

Memphis basketball took its worst loss of the season Thursday, and its problems were further exasperated Sunday afternoon.

The Tigers (15-4, 4-2 AAC) lost to Tulane 81-79 inside Fogelman Arena. No. 10 Memphis still hasn’t beaten the Green Wave on the road since 2020. It also hasn’t beaten Tulane in a regular season meeting since 2022. Sunday’s game featured 15 ties and 11 lead changes.

Memphis shot 47% from the field and 38% from 3-point range. Penny Hardaway’s team also outrebounded Tulane 39-33 while racking up 13 offensive rebounds, 12 assists and 32 points in the paint. Defensively, it had seven forced turnovers, three steals and 12 blocks.

Ron Hunter’s club (12-6, 3-3 AAC) shot 41% on its field goal attempts and 42% on its 3-point tries. The Green Wave also compiled 16 assists, 14 forced turnovers, nine offensive rebounds, seven steals and five blocks. Sion James and Kevin Cross led Tulane with 22 and 21 points respectively.

The Tigers now get a week off before visiting UAB, which joined the AAC in June, next Sunday. They haven’t faced the Blazers in a conference game since 2012-13.

Here are some takeaways from Memphis’ Quad 2 loss.

Malcolm Dandridge starts a block party.

Dandridge has comfortably been the Tigers’ starting center for some time now, even after Nae’Qwan Tomlin joined the program last month.

But he now faces some more competition after Jordan Brown’s return to the team on Saturday. This may or may not have lit a fire under the fifth-year senior. He certainly played like it against Tulane.

Dandridge got things started in the first half by rejecting a Cross layup. He did so again seven minutes later, and then blocked Tre’ Williams’ jumper 30 seconds after that. The 6-foot-9 center followed that up by chasing down Cross for another block at the 2:10 mark, and then rejecting two more layups by Jaylen Forbes and Collin Holloway respectively. He ultimately finished the half with 6 blocks and 5 points.

Dandridge blocked two more shots in the second before fouling out with 58 seconds left to play. He finished the game with 13 points, 8 rebounds and 8 blocks.

Tulane rules the free throw line in first half.

The Green Wave certainly got a much friendlier whistle than the Tigers in the game’s 20 minutes.

Tulane attempted 15 free throws during the first half. Memphis attempted just four. Hardaway’s team also racked up 11 team fouls compared to just eight for the Green Wave. Cross and James alone attempted a combined eight free throws. Forbes also had three attempts at the charity stripe. No Memphis player earned more than two tries in the opening period.

The first half also saw a few other officiating oddities, including an offensive foul being called on Dandridge at the 11:48 mark despite his left arm clearly being hooked by Williams. Dandridge and Forbes also got into an altercation that Hardaway and Hunter had to break up, which resulted in a double-technical foul.

Memphis actually took more free throws than Tulane in the second half—18 attempts compared to 14. The Green Wave, however, still ended up with 29 attempts in the game compared to 23 for the Tigers.

Tulane outshoots Memphis in the second half.

The two teams broke even in the first half with 34 points apiece, and they continued that trend to start the second half. Memphis and Tulane matched each other shot for shot—blow for blow.

A Green Wave 5-0 run? No problem.

James gave Tulane a 3-point lead with a step-back jumper? Jahvon Quinerly will tie things back up by sinking a shot from Jupiter.

By the time the second half reached the 12:24 mark, the game was tied at 57-57. The Tigers and Green Wave had both scored 23 points in the half. Memphis eventually built some separation with a 5-0 run, and controlled much of the second half. But a Flagrant foul by Quinerly allowed Tulane to move back in front, the score being 71-70 with 5:30 left.

The Tigers quickly worked their way back to a 75-74 lead with 3:46 on the clock, but David Jones’ inbound-pass gamble changed everything. He left James wide-open in the left corner, and the 6-foot-6 guard sunk the 3-point jumper to regain Tulane’s advantage.

Memphis trailed the Green Wave 81-79 with 14 seconds left, and had a chance to either win or tie the game. But it did neither. Jones, who finished the game with 32 points and 11 rebounds, missed what would’ve been a game-winning 3-pointer. Memphis didn’t make a single field goal in the final 4:19.

The Tigers, now having lost two in a row, are staring disaster in the face. Their AP Top 25 ranking is almost surely gone, and their resume has faltered with both them and their former marquee victories being on a downward trajectory.

With just over two months left until Selection Sunday, Memphis has to respond. And if it doesn’t, things could get ugly.