Memphis basketball goes on the road one last time in its non-conference schedule.
The No. 21 Tigers (8-2) take on Virginia (6-4) inside John Paul Jones Arena Wednesday night (6 p.m., ESPN2). The Cavaliers are No. 104 in the NCAA’s NET rankings, making this a Quad 2 opportunity for Penny Hardaway’s club.
Memphis, which already owns five Quad 1 victories, also plays two more Quad 1 games at home against Mississippi State on Saturday and No. 17 Ole Miss on Dec. 28. The Tigers then begin American Athletic Conference (AAC) play at Florida Atlantic on Jan. 2, 2025.
This is the third all-time meeting between Memphis and Virginia. Both teams have one win apiece. UVA soundly defeated Memphis 78-60 in the 2014 NCAA Tournament, while the Tigers blew out the Cavaliers 77-54 inside FedExForum last season.
”[Virginia is] a team that has a lot of pride. It’s a revenge game for the guys that were here last year,” Hardaway said Monday. “Every game is tough, especially at a storied program like Virginia.”
Here’s what to expect during Memphis’ first-ever trip to Charlottesville, Virginia.
Memphis’ backcourt duo—scratch that—trio is on fire.
PJ Haggerty and Tyrese Hunter started this season as Memphis’ dynamic duo, but Colby Rogers’ excellent play propels the backcourt to a troublesome trio.
Hunter, a 6-foot senior, led the way in the Tigers’ win at No. 25 Clemson last Saturday after a bad game against Arkansas State. The Texas transfer finished with 23 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, a block and a steal while shooting 57% from the field and 7-of-11 from 3-point range.
Hunter scored 8 points in overtime alone during the 87-82 victory, and was named AAC Player of the Week for the second time this year. Rogers, a 6-foot-3 senior, fell right behind him with a season-high 22 points on 9-for-14 shooting.
Haggerty—the nation’s ninth-best scorer—didn’t have his most productive or efficient day against Clemson, but he still impacted the game through various means. The 6-foot-3 redshirt sophomore finished with 12 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists.
All three guards played at least 40 minutes.
”That trio is really tough, and we’re blessed to have all three,” Hardaway said. “It helps that those guys are so close. That trio [is] like best friends. They’re at the gym all the time together. They eat together. They talk all the time.”
Haggerty is a great superhero, but he doesn’t always need his cape.
Memphis largely relied on Haggerty’s late game heroics in its first few games this year.
He scored 15 and 28 points respectively in the second halves of Memphis’ two preseason exhibitions against North Carolina and Alabama. His clutch nature extended into the regular season too.
He dropped 22 second-half points in the Tigers’ regular-season opener vs. Missouri, and followed that up with 16 in the final period at UNLV.
Haggerty (21.9 points, 6 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.2 steals per game) is still Memphis’ top overall weapon, but he doesn’t always need his superhero cape.
Hunter (16 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.6 steals) and Rogers (13.4 points) are more than willing to pick up the slack.
Big men Dain Dainja (10.9 points and 6.7 rebounds), Nick Jourdain (7.1 points and 5.3 rebounds and Moussa Cisse (5.5 rebounds and 1.4 blocks) are eager to do some dirty work too.
Haggerty, in simpler terms, isn’t in this alone.
”We don’t need PJ to be hero basketball. That’s not who we need him to be. We just need him to be PJ,” Hardaway said. “He doesn’t have to feel like he needs to take the team on his back every single game, because he has guys that can play. But what he does every single night is he fills that stat sheet up.”
What Virginia brings to the table
Virginia is reeling after legendary coach Tony Bennett abruptly retired on October 18.
The Cavaliers are 1-4 against Quads 1 and 2, and own just one top-100 NET win this season over Villanova. They’re currently No. 87 in Bart Torvik and No. 103 in KenPom, where they also check in at No. 189 in adjusted offensive efficiency and No. 41 in adjusted defensive efficiency.
UVA is on track to be the worst-paced team in college basketball for the third time in four seasons, as it ranks last in the country in possessions per game. Memphis is No. 84 in that category with 73.5 possessions per contest, compared to 62.1 for Ron Sanchez’s group.
Issac McKneely is the Cavaliers’ lead scorer. The 6-foot-4 guard averages 12.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3 assists while shooting 44.4% from the field and 46.9% from 3-point range. He dropped just 6 points at Memphis last season.
San Diego State transfer Elijah Saunders is UVA’s best frontcourt player. The 6-foot-8 forward puts up 10 points and 5.1 rebounds per game and shoots 41.6% overall and 34.6% on 3-pointers. He scored a season-high 19 points and 5 rebounds in an 87-69 loss to No. 7 Florida.
Other players to watch for are 6-foot-6 guard Andrew Rohde (9 points and 2.8 assists on 44% 3-point shooing), 6-foot-10 forward Jacob Cofie (8.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks) and 6-foot-11 forward Blake Buchanan (6.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks).
The Prediction
Memphis demolishes Virginia again.
The Cavaliers couldn’t handle the Tigers’ high-octane style last season, and there’s nothing to suggest a depleted roster with lesser coaching can do so this time around. Virginia likely needs a horrendous shooting night from Memphis to achieve victory, but it’s hard to envision the nation’s No. 2 perimeter shooting team missing too many looks.
Expect the Tigers’ resume to keep stacking.