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Tigers’ Top-10 Triumphs

CREDIT: U of M Athletics

When the Memphis Tigers travel to Houston this Sunday to face the 9th-ranked Cougars, they’ll have the chance to pick up the program’s first win over a Top-10 team in over seven years, the program’s longest drought for such victories in a half century. Curious about the Tigers’ biggest take-downs? Here’s a list of Memphis wins over Top-10 opposition dating back to Larry Finch’s playing days (1970-73).

U of M Athletics

As players, Elliot Perry and Larry Finch combined to win eight games over Top-10 teams.

February 2, 1972 — at #3 Louisville
March 2, 1972 — #2 Louisville
December 30, 1972 — at #10 Vanderbilt
March 17, 1973 — #9 Kansas State (NCAA tournament)
March 24, 1973 — #4 Providence (national semifinal)
February 19, 1977 — #8 Louisville
February 17, 1979 — #9 Louisville
March 17, 1984 — #10 Purdue (NCAA tournament)
March 23, 1985 — #4 Oklahoma (NCAA regional final)
January 4, 1986 — #5 Kansas
December 12, 1987 — #9 Missouri
February 1, 1988 — at #8 Florida State
February 18, 1988 — #7 Florida State
February 8, 1992 — #5 Arkansas
March 21, 1992 — #9 Arkansas (NCAA tournament)
February 6, 1993 — #4 Cincinnati
December 28, 1996 — #4 Michigan
January 23, 1997 — at #6 Louisville
March 1, 1997 — #9 Cincinnati (Larry Finch’s final regular-season game as head coach)
December 28, 2002 — #7 Illinois
February 19, 2003 — at #4 Louisville
February 4, 2004 — #6 Louisville
February 9, 2005 — at #9 Louisville
December 27, 2005 — #8 Gonzaga
March 22, 2007 — #9 Texas A & M (NCAA tournament)
December 22, 2007 — #5 Georgetown
March 30, 2008 — #6 Texas (NCAA tournament)
April 5, 2008 — #3 UCLA (national semifinal)
December 1, 2013 — #5 Oklahoma State
March 1, 2014 — #7 Louisville

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Tigers 73, USF 52

CREDIT: USF Athletics

The Tigers cruised to their sixth straight win Tuesday night at USF – and their ninth victory in ten games — to set up a huge clash this Sunday in Houston. Sophomore guard Boogie Ellis led the way with 18 points, hitting five of eight attempts from three-point range. The win was a dramatic improvement for the Tigers from the teams’ first meeting, a game won by a single point by Memphis at FedExForum on December 29th. The Tigers are now 15-6 overall and 11-3 in the American Athletic Conference while USF falls to 8-11 (4-9).

USF Athletics

Boogie Ellis

The Bulls missed 11 straight field-goal attempts in the first half and the Tigers enjoyed a 13-point lead (36-23) at the break. The Tigers extended the lead to 20 points eight minutes into the second half and continued to apply the clamps defensively, holding USF to 32 percent shooting. (The Bulls missed 15 of their 18 three-point attempts.)

DeAndre Williams scored 13 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for the Tigers, his second straight double-double. Lester Quinones added 12 points and seven rebounds. D.J. Jeffries came off the bench to put up nine points, four rebounds, and four assists. The Tigers played their second game without junior guard Alex Lomax, sidelined by an injury to his left ankle.

Memphis will now travel to Houston to face the 9th-ranked Cougars Sunday. And a win could clinch an NCAA tournament berth for the Tigers, currently considered on the “bubble” by most bracket prognosticators. It’s been more than seven years since the Tigers have beaten a Top-10 team, the program’s longest such drought in more than half a century. (Memphis beat 7th-ranked Louisville on March 1, 2014.) A win in Houston would also give the Tigers a dozen AAC regular-season wins, a total they’ve only reached once before (in the league’s inaugural 2013-14 season). Sunday’s game will tip-off at 11 a.m. and be televised nationally on CBS.

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Tigers 80, Cincinnati 74

The Tigers survived a frenetic, sloppy final minute of play Sunday afternoon to beat a longtime rival and secure their eighth win in nine games. The Cincinnati Bearcats reduced a 10-point Tiger lead to two points (73-71) with twenty seconds to play (thanks to consecutive Memphis turnovers on in-bounds plays), but the Tigers hit seven of eight free throws to escape with a win and improve to 14-6 for the season and 10-3 in the American Athletic Conference. Cincinnati drops to 9-9 (7-6).

The Tigers led start to finish and five players hit double figures in the scoring column. Boogie Ellis drained four three-pointers on his way to 17 points. Landers Nolley and Malcolm Dandridge each scored 14, Moussa Cisse had 11 (to go along with six rebounds), and DeAndre Williams came close to a triple-double with 10 points, 10 assists, and seven rebounds. As a team, Memphis shot 43 percent from the field and dominated the glass, pulling down 45 rebounds (15 offensive) to Cincinnati’s 32.

Mike Saunders Jr. and Keith Williams led Cincinnati with 19 points each.

The game will be the only meeting between the Tigers and Bearcats before the AAC tournament, the game in Memphis (scheduled for February 11th) having been cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions in the Tiger program. It’s only the Tigers’ third win this season on the floor of an AAC opponent. (They won at Tulane and East Carolina.)

Memphis played without junior guard Alex Lomax, sidelined with a left-ankle injury. Lomax is expected to miss the Tigers’ next game, Tuesday night at USF.

Should the Tigers beat the Bulls Tuesday, they could be playing for an NCAA tournament berth next Sunday in Houston. Their game with the 12th-ranked Cougars was originally scheduled for FedExForum, but has been moved to Texas by the AAC because Houston’s home game was among the postponements during the Covid shutdown.

For Penny Hardaway, the win gives him one more (two) as a coach against Cincinnati than he had in two years as a Tiger player.

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2021 Memphis Tigers Football Schedule

The Memphis Tigers will enter the 2021 season with a 15-game winning streak at the Liberty Bowl, the fifth-longest home winning streak in the country. Seven of their 12 games will be played on home turf. (The AAC Championship Game is scheduled for December 4th.)

September 4 — Nicholls State
September 11 — at Arkansas State
September 18 — Mississippi State
September 25 — UTSA
October 2 — at Temple
October 9 — at Tulsa
Oct. 14 (Thu) or Oct. 16 — Navy
October 22 (Fri) — at UCF
November 6 — SMU
November 13 — East Carolina
November 19 (Fri) — at Houston
Nov. 26 (Fri) or Nov. 27 — Tulane

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Tigers 66, Pirates 59

CREDIT: Memphis Athletics / Joe Murphy

It’s been some time since Memphis could claim a “big win” over the East Carolina Pirates, but the Tigers earned one Saturday afternoon at FedExForum. After coughing up a nine-point halftime lead, the Tigers responded with some clutch shooting over the game’s final five minutes to earn their second straight win and improve to 12-6 for the season. Sophomore guard Lester Quinones drained a three-pointer from the left corner with 26 seconds to play that gave the Tigers a five-point lead (64-59) and secured the victory.
Memphis Athletics / Joe Murphy

DeAndre Williams

The Pirates started slowly and found themselves down 11 (21-10) merely 12 minutes into the game. But three days after upsetting the 5th-ranked Houston Cougars, ECU found a groove and, thanks to a pair of 9-0 runs, led the game (54-53) with fewer than four minutes to play.

After Landers Nolley hit a free throw to tie the score, D.J. Jeffries connected on a runner from the left baseline to give Memphis a 56-54 lead. Jeffries also contributed a dunk and three free throws to the Tigers’ late-game surge. Alex Lomax dropped in a floater in traffic to make the score 58-54, Memphis, with 2:15 to play.

Jayden Gardner scored the Pirates’ final five points of the game and finished with a game-high 23. But the Tiger defense forced a pair of misfires from long range to seal the win. Memphis is now 8-3 in the American Athletic Conference while ECU falls to 8-7 overall and 2-7 in league play.

The Tigers hit seven of their first 11 three-point attempts, but only one of their next 11. Nolley and Jeffries led Memphis with 12 points each while Lomax stuffed the stat box with 10 points, nine assists, five rebounds, and five steals. The Tigers shot 38 percent from the field while the Pirates hit 43 percent of their shots. (ECU was one for 13 from three-point range.)

Next up for Memphis will be Cincinnati. The Bearcats (4-7) visit FedExForum Thursday night to complete a four-game home stand for the Tigers. The Tigers will then travel to Houston for a Valentine’s Day meeting with the AAC’s top team.

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Tigers 75, UCF 61

CREDIT: Memphis Athletics / Joe Murphy

The Tigers and UCF Knights played Wednesday night at FedExForum like they’d seen enough of each other. After combining for 165 points Monday night (in a game rescheduled from January), the teams put up merely 136 in what became the Tigers’ fifth win in six games. Memphis improves to 11-6 for the season (7-3 in the American Athletic Conference), while UCF leaves town with a 4-9 record (2-8).
Memphis Athletics / Joe Murphy

Penny Hardaway

With 18 points, Landers Nolley led the Tigers in scoring for the third straight game. The sophomore transfer from Virginia Tech hit six of his 12 field-goal attempts and pulled down 10 rebounds. D.J. Jeffries was the only other Tiger in double figures with 11 points off the bench. Alex Lomax scored eight points and handed out six assists off the Tiger bench.

After a stretch of accurate shooting from long distance, the Tigers hit only three of 13 three-point attempts against the Knights. But the outcome was never really in doubt, the Tigers leading by 14 (24-10) midway through the first half. When the Knights closed within four points (37-33) early in the second half, Tiger forward DeAndre Williams hit a three-pointer to spark a 13-2 run for the home team.

UCF missed 19 of its 23 three-point attempts and shot 42 percent overall. C.J. Walker led his team with 15 points and seven rebounds.

The Tigers next take the floor — again at FedExForum — Saturday afternoon, when East Carolina comes to town. Memphis beat the Pirates by 27 points on January 24th. ECU upset the 5th-ranked Houston Cougars Wednesday night.

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Tigers 96, UCF 69

CREDIT: Memphis Athletics / Joe Murphy

The Tigers returned to FedExForum Monday night with a roar. Playing the first of two games in three nights against UCF (the teams’ first meeting having been postponed for Covid-19 regulations in the UCF program), Memphis scored 17 of the game’s first 20 points and had all but secured its 10th win of the season by halftime. Landers Nolley led the Tigers with 20 points, DeAndre Williams scored 15, and junior guard Alex Lomax hit four three-pointers on his way to 14 points in the blowout. The Tigers hit 13 three-pointers, the fourth time in their last five games they’ve connected on at least 10 (all of those games victories).
Memphis Athletics / Joe Murphy

Boogie Ellis

The Tigers are now 10-6 for the season and 6-3 in the American Athletic Conference. (They trail only Houston and Wichita State in the loss column of the standings.) The Knights fall to 4-8 (2-7) with the loss.

Memphis guard Boogie Ellis started for the first time since December 4th, a span of 11 games. The sophomore scored 11 points, and picked up three assists and four steals in 17 minutes on the floor. Sophomore guard Lester Quinones had 13 points, six assists, and six rebounds.

Memphis shot a stellar 56 percent from the field, hitting almost half its three-point attempts (13 for 27). The Knights shot 40 percent from the field, slightly higher, actually, than the average for Tiger opponents this season. Brandon Mahan scored 15 points to lead the visitors. The Tigers forced 26 UCF turnovers, 19 of them before halftime.

The teams will take the floor for a rematch Wednesday night, again at FedExForum. It will be the second of a four-game homestand for Memphis. East Carolina pays a visit this Saturday.

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Tiger Truths

CREDIT: Memphis Athletics / Joe Murphy

You can learn a lot about a basketball team with four games in eight days. The Tigers finished January by winning three of those four games, and they displayed a few factors that will impact the remainder of the season.

Whither D.J. Jeffries? The sophomore forward from Olive Branch was a preseason second-team all-conference selection. It now seems he can’t crack the Tigers’ starting lineup. In the blowout wins over Wichita State and East Carolina, Jeffries scored a total of 13 points (and took 14 shots). He played well in the win over SMU at FedExForum (12 points off the bench; 5 of 7 from the field), but disappeared in the rematch at Dallas (a single point in 15 minutes on the floor), a game Memphis lost by two points. For now, Jeffries is this team’s enigma. He seems to have had some thunder stolen by transfers Landers Nolley and DeAndre Williams. For the Tigers to be their best in February, Jeffries must join the party.
Memphis Athletics / Joe Murphy

Penny Hardaway


Willpower is there, at least in bursts. Eight minutes into the first game against SMU, the Tigers were beaten. Down eight points, they looked to be facing a rarity: a more athletic group of basketball players. But a 17-2 run seized the lead at halftime and Memphis traded punches with the Mustangs over the final 20 minutes and earned the win. They utilized a run of precisely the same margin (17-2) to get back into the game at SMU two days later. They had a late lead. They had a chance to force overtime with free throws. It didn’t work out. But the fight was there. This is an important variable, especially with crowds still nonexistent for home games. The only way this team makes the NCAA tournament is by winning a few games in February that they shouldn’t. That will require teeth as much as talent.

The Tigers can shoot from distance. Memphis hit at least 10 three-pointers in the wins over Wichita State, East Carolina, and SMU. They hadn’t hit so many in any of their previous 11 games. Seven Tigers found the net from long range in the win over the Pirates. Not an especially strong opponent, but that kind of collective shooting is hard to beat. The beauty in this, of course, is that it’s hard for seven players to slump at the same time. Tiger coach Penny Hardaway needs to adjust his rotation to accommodate shooters who are on target, and this will surely change from one game to the next. The Tigers even hit nine treys in the loss to SMU. Add a 10th and that two-point loss is a fourth straight win. Follow this stat line the rest of the season.

This team’s “identity” is defense. It’s an overused descriptor for a group of athletes tasked with winning games and chasing championships: What’s their identity? Just as individual players have several layers to what they bring on game night, so does a team. Those layers are peeled back depending on the opponent, location, injuries, time of year. In other words, a team’s “identity” changes as a season unfolds. But these Memphis Tigers will go as far as their defense takes them. SMU guard Kendric Davis is a leading candidate for American Athletic Conference Player of the Year. In two games against the Tigers last week, Davis missed 21 of his 27 shots and committed nine turnovers. The Tigers rank 26th in the country in points allowed (62.9 through the second SMU game). They rank 13th in field-goal percentage defense (39 percent). They beat teams by stopping teams, an asset Hardaway has sought since taking the job.

Boogie is better than he’s been. It was hard seeing Boogie Ellis miss that second free throw in the final seconds of the loss at SMU. Because Ellis is the one Tiger most in need of finding his role for this team. Remember his 24 points in the season-opening win over St. Mary’s? He hasn’t put up as many as 15 in a game since. This is a scorer, one originally committed to, ahem, Duke. Ellis needs a confidence-booster, to be sure. Hardaway must find the right place and time to bring Boogie back.

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SMU 67, Tigers 65

Two days after a thrilling comeback win over SMU at FedExForum, the Tigers came up two free throws short at Moody Coliseum in Dallas. With his team down three points (67-64), Memphis guard Boogie Ellis drew a foul on a three-point attempt from the right wing as the clock stopped at 3.6 seconds. Ellis (a 66-percent free throw shooter) made the first free throw, but missed the second. The sophomore reserve forced a jump ball after SMU pulled down his intentional miss on the third, but Memphis — with the alternate possession — was unable to inbound the ball cleanly.

The Tigers seized the lead for the first time (59-58) on a DeAndre Williams dunk with under four minutes left in the game. A 17-2 run erased a deficit that hovered around double digits since late in the first half. Memphis had more turnovers (11) than field goals (9) prior to halftime.

Landers Nolley drained a three-pointer from the left corner with 1:30 to play to again give the Tigers the lead (64-63), but a critical offensive foul call against Alex Lomax negated a Tiger possession between four converted free throws by the Mustangs. The loss drops Memphis to 9-6 for the season (5-3 in the American Athletic Conference), while SMU improves to 9-3 (5-3).

For the second time in three nights, the Tigers made the AAC’s top scorer, Kendric Davis, look rather average. The junior guard (averaging 18.3 points per game) made only two of 13 field-goal attempts and scored but six points. But Feron Hunt scored 17 to lead SMU and Emmanuel Bandoumei added 15, including two of those crucial free throws in the game’s final minute.

Nolley led the Tigers with 19 points (hitting five three-pointers), Williams scored 17, and Lomax came off the bench for six points and eight assists. D.J. Jeffries was ineffective (one point) and freshman Moussa Cisse got in early foul trouble, finishing with three points and six rebounds.

The loss ends a three-game winning streak for Memphis.

The Tigers’ next four games will be at FedExForum, starting with a pair of meetings with UCF next Monday and Wednesday. (One of the games was rescheduled after a postponement at UCF on January 5th.)

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Tigers 76, SMU 72

CREDIT: Memphis Athletics / Joe Murphy

Backbone.

The Memphis Tigers displayed the most important anatomical part in sports Tuesday night at FedExForum in earning their third straight win. Down 12 points late in the second half, Memphis surged with a 17-2 run to lead at halftime, then traded jabs and uppercuts with one of its top American Athletic Conference rivals, ultimately prevailing thanks, in part, to replay review.
Memphis Athletics / Joe Murphy

With his Mustangs trailing 73-70 and less than two minutes to play, Kendric Davis hit what appeared to be a double-clutch three-pointer as the shot clock expired. But after an official review, the shot was disallowed, so instead of a tie game, Memphis took possession with that three-point lead intact. Alex Lomax and Lester Quinones combined to hit three of six free throws in the closing seconds to help Memphis improve to 9-5 while SMU drops to 8-3. The Tigers are now in sole possession of second place in the AAC with a league record of 5-2. (SMU is now 4-3.)

DeAndre Williams scored 10 points for the Tigers and hit a pair of three-pointers in the second half, the latter giving Memphis that 73-70 lead. Freshman center Moussa Cisse posted another double-double (10 points and 10 rebounds) and Alex Lomax led the home team with 14 points off the bench. Landers Nolley hit three of five three-point attempts and scored 12 points, a figure matched by D.J. Jeffries in a reserve role.

Davis entered the contest averaging 19.3 points for the Mustangs but was held to only eight. Tyson Jolly led SMU with 15 points but fouled out late in the game.

SMU was the first Tiger opponent in six games to reach 60 points, but Memphis hit 51 percent of its shots from the field and 10 of 21 three-point attempts. The game wouldn’t have been as close had the Tigers not missed 13 of 25 free throws.

The teams will face each other again Thursday night in an unusual midweek rematch. Tuesday’s game was rescheduled after a January 15th postponement due to positive Covid tests in the SMU program.