Memphis Flyer sportswriter Frank Murtaugh talks with Chris McCoy about the Memphis Tigers’ long-awaited return to the NCAA basketball tournament. Murtaugh knows everything, McCoy knows nothing. Plus, the single worst bracket in March Madness history! Can you do better?
The Memphis Tigers are back in the NCAA tournament. This is progress. Even better would be a pair of wins and the program’s first trip to the Sweet 16 in well over a decade. But let’s think ambitiously. With six wins needed to cut down the nets as national champion, here are six factors that could make this March memorable for Memphis.
Forget history, especially the previous six seasons. With the exception of forward Nicholas Jourdain, Penny Hardaway’s first six years as Tiger coach mean absolutely nothing to the current roster. The Wiseman Affair. The Lost Postseason of 2020. The Missed Timeout against FAU in the 2023 NCAA tournament. And (blech) the Nosedive of 2024. Sure, this is Tiger basketball history, but it cannot so much as enter the brainwaves of the last man on the Memphis bench.
Following the Tigers’ season-opening win over Missouri way back in November, PJ Haggerty (new to the program from Tulsa) emphasized the good chemistry he felt with his new teammates, actually emphasizing “no beef,” no tension between players just establishing their roles. Guard Tyrese Hunter (new to the program from Texas and this season a first-team All-AAC selection) said this Memphis team has “no ego,” that he and his teammates have “blinders on” for a shared mission.
Read between those lines and you recognize the after-effects of a 2023-24 season where egos were indeed a variable, where a beef or two seemed to compromise any mission, let alone that of a deep NCAA tournament run. Three weeks after that opening win, the Tigers beat both Connecticut (the two-time defending national champions) and Michigan State in Maui to more than clean the slate for a new team, a new campaign. The slogan for the 2024-25 Memphis Tigers should be … This is now. What can today bring?
When asked about his current team and a strength that can help it succeed in tournament play, the 2025 AAC Coach of the Year doesn’t hesitate: “Our unity. We all have the same goal. It hasn’t been that way around here in past years. It’s been kind of selfish. Some people have been so good, they felt they could do it on their own. With this group, our biggest attribute is our unity. We’re together as one.”
Stars must star. While the players must keep those blinders on, we can turn to history for some guidance in what to expect when the Madness tips off. And every Final Four run the Memphis Tigers have made has featured a Leading Man: Larry Finch in 1973, Keith Lee in 1985, and Chris Douglas-Roberts or Derrick Rose (take your pick) in 2008. A sophomore sensation by the name of Hardaway took the Tigers to the Elite Eight in 1992. You get the idea.
PJ Haggerty is this team’s alpha, and he will need to seize that role — maybe even inflate it — for the Tigers to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time in 16 years. The AAC Player of the Year is already just the seventh Memphis player to score 700 points in a season. (He needs 22 to break Dajuan Wagner’s program record of 762.) Haggerty scored 13 points in six minutes to fuel a second-half comeback at UAB on March 2nd that essentially clinched the AAC title for the Tigers. He poured in 42 in the AAC tournament quarterfinals, a win over Wichita State in which his teammates combined to score 41.
“He’s a dreamer,” says Hardaway. “He sat home and watched the NCAA tournament when he was young, like we all have. To have this situation now — ranked the number-one shooting guard in the country, conference player of the year — he’s still dreaming. He may have hoped for all this to happen, but now that it’s actually here, he’s excited.”
Dainja! Dainja!! FedExForum announcer Geoff Mack found his muse with the arrival of Dain Dainja. The Tigers’ big man with soft hands (a transfer from Illinois) has often raised the arena’s energy level with a gentle hook shot or follow-up slam. And when that energy peaks, Mack will bellow into his microphone, “DAINJA! … DAINJA!!” It’s the happiest reaction to something, yes, dangerous we’ll witness near a basketball court.
Hardaway inserted Dainja into the Tigers’ starting lineup for their showdown with UAB on January 26th, a game that would determine first place in the American Athletic Conference. Dainja hit 10 of 12 shots and pulled down eight rebounds in only 25 minutes of what proved to be an easy (100-77) Memphis victory. Memphis has only lost one game since.
How critical is Dainja to a deep run for the Tigers? He and Moussa Cisse are the only “bigs” Hardaway has in his rotation, the closest players — in body and style — to an old-fashioned center. They will be needed to protect the rim on the defensive side and provide interior threats (particularly Dainja) when the Tigers have the ball. Pay attention to fouls for either of these players. And expect Hardaway to leave them on the floor even if they accumulate four. “Going small” might be a strategy, but not when it’s forced.
Dainja vanished in a game at Wichita State on February 16th (four points and a single rebound in 20 minutes of playing time), and the Tigers lost in overtime to a very beatable Shockers team. A week later at FedExForum, Dainja (Dainja!) scored 22 points, pulled down 11 rebounds, and blocked four shots in a 19-point victory over FAU. “It shows me that he cares,” said Hardaway after Dainja’s resurrection against the Owls. “These guys care. They want to come back and do better [after an off game]. He knew he let himself down [against Wichita State]. He has so much pride and he came back hungrier.”
As for the now of it all, Dainja — yet another first-team All-AAC honoree — actually mentioned “getting old” after the Tigers beat Temple last month. (He’s 22.) His basketball life is about winning. The busier Dainja finds himself this postseason, the more danger Memphis opponents will experience.
Clean the glass. There’s one unifying thread when you examine the Tigers’ five losses this season: more rebounds by their opponent. If you consider every rebound an extra chance to score, Temple had 24 more opportunities (49-25) in the Owls’ seven-point win in January. That ugly loss at Wichita State? The Shockers pulled down 54 rebounds to the Tigers’ 45.
Memphis is not a big team. Dainja, Cisse, and Jourdain will be trusted with much of the rebounding responsibility, but smaller players — Haggerty and Colby Rogers, to name two starters — must earn a few extra possessions for the Tigers to win the close games to come. And beware foul trouble for the 6’9” Dainja or the 6’11” Cisse. Losing either for an extended stretch would force Hardaway to play “small ball,” and against the wrong opponent, that can go sideways fast.
“Once Dain gets going,” notes Hardaway, “you have to double-team him. And we can tee up threes; we love that advantage. He’s bought into the role we have for him. He knew Moussa was coming and didn’t know how much time he would get. We need him to score, so we make him comfortable.” If the Tigers are to advance this month, they need Dainja to rebound, too.
Unheralded hero. Or two. The margin between victory and defeat in the NCAA tournament is miniscule. Three years ago, in the second round, the Tigers led the top-ranked team in the country (Gonzaga) at halftime, only to stumble in the second half. Two years ago, had an official granted the Tigers the late-game timeout players requested during a scramble, it may have been Memphis (and not FAU) that advanced to the Final Four.
Remember that win over Connecticut last November? The Tigers found themselves going to overtime against the second-ranked team in the country, but with Haggerty having fouled out. Into the spotlight strides another PJ, last name Carter. The UTSA transfer proceeded to make six consecutive free throws and drain a three-pointer to all but personally deliver a season-changing upset to his new team.
Haggerty and Dainja must have a productive supporting cast for Memphis to advance in the Big Dance. Will Carter be the one to grab some national attention off the bench? Maybe it will be Rogers, at times a long-distance threat (and others virtually invisible). If the current Tigers have a “glue guy,” it’s Jourdain, the lone veteran, now wrapping up his second season under Hardaway. The senior has started every game this season after starting 25 upon his arrival from Temple for the 2023-24 campaign. Jourdain had a pair of late put-backs at UAB that helped seal the Tigers’ biggest win in conference play. His averages of 6.4 points per game and 5.6 rebounds are mere whispers of his value. Depth is an overrated factor for a 40-minute basketball game, but a surprise performance is always welcome. One or two can shift that precious margin for victory in the right direction.
Embrace the unlikely. Hardaway is associated with the number 1, and for obvious reasons. But the retired jersey number below his name that has hung from the rafters above the Tigers’ court for 30 years now is … 25. Could such a celebrated-but-forgotten pair of digits be an omen for a 2025 tournament run under Coach Hardaway’s watch?
Consider that these Tigers won the first AAC regular-season crown in program history. This was not predicted back in November. (UAB was picked to win.) These Tigers climbed to a ranking of 14th in the AP poll, the highest Memphis has been ranked after Valentine’s Day since 2009 (John Calipari’s last season as head coach). This was not predicted back in November, as the Tigers began the season outside the Top 25. These Tigers have nabbed a 5 seed in the NCAA tournament. Also not predicted, and how significant, you ask? Memphis has reached the Sweet 16 ten times since seeding began in 1979, but never seeded lower than sixth.
As for the crucible of NCAA tournament play, consider the Tigers’ record this season away from FedExForum: 16-3. Not only have they won an ocean away from home (Maui), but they’ve won at Clemson, at Virginia, at Tulane, and at UAB, smaller arenas packed with crowds loudly rooting against their success. This Memphis team may encounter an opponent with more talent, maybe more luck. But it’s hard to imagine the Tigers being intimidated by what’s to come with all the madness.
“They want to be champions,” emphasizes Hardaway. “They’ve come together and bonded. They’ve set out on a mission, and they’re not letting anything distract them. We’ve had a couple of bad games in conference, but these guys are locked in. They’re together. That’s why we’re so resilient.”
Seeded 5th in the West Region, Memphis (29-5) opens play on Friday in Seattle against Colorado State (25-9).
Thursday night, two of the top Western Conference teams, the two-seed Houston Rockets and three-seed Memphis Grizzlies faced off in their final meeting of the season. Thanks to a fourth-quarter burst from newly named all-star Jaren Jackson Jr., the Grizzlies eked out a 120-119 victory over the Rockets.
Houston has been a problem for Memphis this season; that much is clear. Rivals in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference, they meet four times a season, and until last night’s matchup, the Rockets appeared poised to sweep the season series. This win has pulled Memphis within a half-game of Houston for the second seed.
These two teams met three times in the month of January, with the Rockets winning the first two games and now the Grizzlies snatching a victory from the jaws of defeat in the third.
This game came down to the final possession, with Memphis ultimately securing the win thanks to a pair of clutch free throws from Jaren Jackson Jr. in the final seconds of the game.
Giving credit where it’s due, the Rockets dominated most of the game, leading by as many as 11 points. All five starters for Houston finished the game in double figures.
Former Grizzly Dillon Brooks had his highest scoring game of the series with 22 points, and shooting guard Jalen Green led all scorers with 25 points.
After struggling offensively in the first half and trailing by ten at halftime, the Grizzlies outscored the Rockets 64-53 in the final two quarters.
Point guard Ja Morant was sidelined with shoulder soreness, and Luke Kennard took his place in the starting lineup. Kennard has seen more minutes in the backup point guard role lately, in part due to the ongoing struggles of Scotty Pippen Jr., who finished the game with just four points.
Four of the Grizzlies’ starting five notched double figures — led by Desmond Bane’s 24 points, 12 rebounds, and 6 assists. Bane played a season-high 40 minutes.
Luke Kennard added 22 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, and 2 steals on 9 of 17 overall shooting and 3 of 6 from beyond the arc. Kennard leads the NBA in three-point shooting, averaging 49.1% from three.
Jaren Jackson Jr. added 21 points, four rebounds, four assists, and one steal. Nine of his 21 points came during the final quarter, including making a pair of free throws that gave Memphis the lead.
Shortly before tip-off, Jackson Jr. was announced as one of the Western Conference All-Star reserves, his second all-star appearance.
Jaylen Wells finished the night with 11 points, three rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block.
From the second unit:
Santi Aldama led the bench with 15 points, five rebounds, one assist, and two blocks on six of 13 overall shooting and three of 8 from beyond the arc.
Brandon Clarke put up 13 points, five rebounds, three steals, and two blocks on six of seven overall shooting.
Who Got Next?
The Grizzlies are hitting the road for one game to take on the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday, February 2nd. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m. CST.
If Santa didn’t bring you what you wanted for Christmas, the Memphis Grizzlies have got you covered with an epic win in their last home game of 2024.
After a disappointing loss to the Los Angeles Clippers the day before Christmas Eve, the Grizzlies returned to their home court for a Boxing Day beatdown of the Toronto Raptors of astronomic proportions.
With a final score of 155-126, the Grizzlies set a franchise-record and the highest-scoring game of any NBA team this season.
The Grizzlies took the floor like a raging bull in the first period, countering every Raptors attempt at an offensive run while exploiting Toronto’s defensive weakness, forcing their defenders into shooting fouls that sent them to the free throw line five times.
Ja Morant earned all four of his first-quarter points from the charity stripe.
Memphis was outshot 60.9 percent to 55.6 percent from the field and 45.5 percent to 30 percent from beyond the arc in that first quarter, but the Raptors’ foul trouble led to a 10 to three free throw disparity that the Grizzlies used to close out the first quarter with a 43-35 lead.
Their perfect 10 of 10 free throw shooting made the difference in the score, but Desmond Bane, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Zach Edey were the stars of the show, combining for 24 points in the first quarter.
Despite Toronto overcoming a 19-point deficit to tie the game at 66 with less than three minutes remaining in the second quarter, the Grizzlies never allowed the Raptors to take the lead. Memphis pushed back in the final minutes of the period and took an eight-point lead into the second half.
A 43-point third quarter propelled the Grizzlies to a franchise-record 121 points through three quarters. Unlike in the first quarter, Memphis had only one free throw attempt, scoring the remaining 42 points the old-fashioned way — by stomping the Raptors hard into the ground on every possession, destroying them on the boards (21-13), limiting their shot attempts (37-29), and outscoring them 18-6 from beyond the arc.
The fourth quarter went off the rails quickly for the Raptors after Toronto head coach (and former Memphis assistant coach) Darko Rajaković was ejected for a heated outburst at a referee.
There was 10:29 left on the game clock when Rajaković exploded over the lack of a foul call, charged onto the court, and had to be restrained by members of his staff. There will no doubt be a fine coming for Rajaković from the league, and he certainly got his money’s worth, as seen in the video below:
The remainder of the game was mostly the Grizzlies bench playing with their food.
Three of the five starters (Jaylen Wells, Desmond Bane, and Ja Morant) sat for the fourth quarter.
Luke Kennard scored 12 of his 15 points in the final frame, shooting three of four from the field, two of three from beyond the arc, and four of four from the free-throw line. John Konchar scored six of his nine points in the fourth, finishing the night with a perfect three-of-three shooting from three-point range.
Memphis had eight players finish the night in double-digits, including all five starters.
Zach Edey scored a career-high 21 points, 16 rebounds, two assists, and two blocks.
Jaren Jackson Jr. got 21 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, and three blocks.
Desmond Bane put up 19 points, five rebounds, and two assists while shooting three of six from beyond the arc.
Jaylen Wells finished the night with 17 points, one rebound, one assist, and one steal while shooting a game-high five of 10 from three-point range. Wells has been shooting 40 percent from beyond the arc and has made more three-pointers (58) than any other rookie this season.
Ja Morant added 15 points, two rebounds, and nine assists.
From the second unit:
Luke Kennard scored 15 points, eight assists, and one steal.
Scotty Pippen Jr. added 15 points, two rebounds, three assists, and four steals.
Brandon Clarke finished with 11 points, nine rebounds, and one block.
Who Got Next?
The Grizzlies are back at it tonight, facing off against the New Orleans Pelicans in the first game of a five-game road trip. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. CST.
It has been a trying basketball season in the Bluff City. The Memphis Tigers suffered a midseason collapse unlike any in memory and missed out on the NCAA tournament for the first time in three years. As for our NBA favorites, the Grizzlies have made a mockery of the “MASH unit” cliche with injured stars — Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, Marcus Smart — shaping the team’s lousy record more than their healthy, lesser-known replacements. The Griz have lost 50 games for only the second time in 15 seasons, an unwanted marker fans knew the team would hit as early as December.
But then came last Saturday night at FedExForum. In town to see his jersey number (33) retired was “Big Spain” himself, Marc Gasol. The younger brother of Hall of Famer Pau, Marc received the banner treatment from the franchise before the man he was traded for in a franchise-shifting (and Gasol-family-shifting) deal way back in 2008. Whether or not Pau ever receives this salute from the Grizzlies, the honor was a no-doubter for Marc, the first Memphis player to earn first-team All-NBA honors (2015), the 2013 Defensive Player of the Year, the franchise’s career leader in rebounds, blocks, and minutes played. He may have won an NBA title with the Toronto Raptors (in 2019), but Gasol had “Grit” and “Grind” engraved on his championship ring. When or if the Grizzlies consider unveiling a statue in front of FedExForum, the case could be made it should look a lot like Marc Gasol.
We attend sporting events for the possibility of what might happen next, but we tend to go back because of what we’ve seen, the history a franchise and its players make over the course of several years. This makes the retiring of Marc Gasol’s jersey — and Zach Randolph’s in 2021 — so essential to the bond still being formed between an NBA team and the city it’s called home now for 23 years. Why cheer a club that won’t sniff the playoffs this spring? You might look back at Marc Gasol’s first winter in Memphis, when the Grizzlies went 24-58, for your answer. Memphis went 40-42 in 2009-10, then reached the playoffs the next seven years, including the Western Conference finals in 2013. Darkest before the dawn, as they say.
On the subject of reflective salutes, it might be time for the Grizzlies to consider a banner that mentions the team’s Southwest Division titles in 2022 and ’23. If you’re the Boston Celtics or Los Angeles Lakers, the rafters have no room for “championships” that don’t come with a parade. But if your franchise has yet to reach the NBA Finals? Let’s acknowledge teams that stand out for posterity, even without a parade (yet) down Beale Street.
• How severely has the injury bug infected the 2023-24 Memphis Grizzlies? Through Sunday, no fewer than 22 players have started a game for Memphis, but only two — Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane — have started as many as 41 (half the regular season), and only Jackson will finish the season with more than 50 starts. Ten years from now, how will Trey Jemison, Jordan Goodwin, and Jaylen Nowell be remembered in these parts? Each started at least one game for this Grizzlies club. They won’t be getting a banner from the franchise, but if you, a devoted fan, recall their names in 2034, you should.
• With Vince Carter’s election to the Basketball Hall of Fame, it marks consecutive years that a former Grizzly has received the sport’s highest honor. (Pau Gasol was inducted in 2023.) Carter was part of three playoff teams (2015-17) with Memphis over the course of his 22-year career.
On Saturday night at KIA Center, the Orlando Magic thrashed the Memphis Grizzlies 118-88.
The first quarter came to a close with Memphis already down 20 points. Orlando put up 33 points, while the Grizzlies managed just 13, shooting a dismal 21.7 percent from the field.
The victory snapped the Magic’s three-game losing streak. Earlier in the week, they lost close games against the Sacramento Kings, the Golden State Warriors, and the Los Angeles Clippers.
Orlando ended a five-game losing streak against the Grizzlies. The previous meeting ended in a nail-biter at FedExForum, 107-106, with a Grizzlies win on January 26th.
Memphis dropped to 24-50 for the season, with eight games remaining, a mark they’ll want to forget. It appeared early on in Saturday night’s contest that Memphis’ players were focused on something other than basketball, and it showed.
Reserve Jordan Goodwin led the Grizzlies with 16 points and 11 rebounds for his first career double-double.
In his second game back from injury, Brandon Clarke had a solid showing, with 13 points and four rebounds off the bench.
“It was already out of hand — they won every single quarter,” said Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins after the game. “You have to give the Magic tons of credit. They played with a lot of physicality; their defense was phenomenal tonight. Couldn’t get in the paint — couldn’t knock down an open shot. They played beautiful basketball, shared the rock.”
Jenkins added, “So you know we just kept trying to fight. I thought we had a chance to win that second quarter — have some momentum, but the Magic had an answer for everything; so many different guys stepped up and played well.”
“I thought BC [Clarke] did a really good job; liked seeing Jordan [Goodwin] have kind of a bounce-back game. I thought he did some good things. Well, obviously Luke [Kennard]’s been out for a couple of weeks now, just seeing him have some pop with his conditioning and stuff. And we’re just trying to find every way possible to have some positives and move forward. And obviously we’ve got to respond on Monday against Detroit.”
“Keep fighting, keep making something out of each every day,” Jenkins said about his message to his players as the season is winding down. “That’s what we’ve done all season long. Every year that I’ve been here we got different guys that are gonna hear that message for the very first time. Over and over again. Obviously we haven’t been in this situation since I’ve been here, but you gotta make the most of every day. That’s what we stand for.”
Memphis travels to Detroit to take on the Pistons, Monday, April 1st, at Little Caesars Arena at 6 p.m. CT.
When the University of Memphis hired Penny Hardaway to coach its basketball program in 2018, his task was to make Tiger hoops meaningful again, to make Tiger seasons memorable. (What stands out in your memory from the four seasons prior to Hardaway taking over? See how this works?) Hardaway’s first five seasons went well by some measures and fell short of expectations by others. But each, in its own way, was memorable. Which begs the question as March nears: How will the Tigers’ 2023-24 season stand out for local hoop historians? For context, a brief review of the Coach Penny era, seasons 1 through 5.
2018-19: The Year of Jeremiah
Before this season, no Tiger had ever scored 40 points in two different games. Jeremiah Martin did so in the same month (February). A player who averaged 2.7 points per game as a freshman under coach Josh Pastner became the fifth to score 700 in a single season (19.7 average). The pride of Mitchell High School made a mediocre (22-14) season unforgettable.
2019-20: The Year of Our Precious
Many in these parts remember this season as The Year Without Wiseman. The mighty NCAA decided Hardaway had violated rules in his recruiting of James Wiseman, leading to a suspension of the player and eventually his departure from the program. But let’s accentuate the positive. The team’s “other” five-star recruit, Precious Achiuwa, averaged 15.8 points and 10.8 rebounds and became the first Tiger to earn Player of the Year honors in the American Athletic Conference. The season ended prematurely with the Covid shutdown, so we’ll never know if that team (21-10) may have rallied in the AAC tourney for a bid to the Big Dance. But again, one player made the season rather remarkable.
2020-21: A National Title (Sorta)
Empty arenas and a team that couldn’t seem to decide its star. Landers Nolley? Boogie Ellis? Lester Quinones? A six-game winning streak late in the season wasn’t enough to get the Tigers into the NCAA tournament, so they headed to a slimmed-down NIT in north Texas. And they won the darn thing, beating Mississippi State in the final for the program’s second NIT crown. Did it fill a void? Meet Hardaway’s expectations? No and no. Did it make for a memorable ending to a pandemic-heavy winter of Tiger basketball? Emphatically yes.
2021-22: Dancing Days Return
This team beat a pair of Top-10 squads (Alabama and Houston) on its way to the program’s first NCAA tournament since 2014. Freshman Jalen Duren (12.0 points, 8.0 rebounds) played his way into the first round of the NBA draft and the Tigers gave top-ranked Gonzaga all it could handle in the second round of the NCAAs. A season that felt like Hardaway and the Tigers were on the right path.
2022-23: The Year of KD
After transferring from SMU, point guard Kendric Davis led the AAC in both scoring (21.9) and assists (5.4), somehow falling short in the league’s Player of the Year voting. Better yet, Davis helped the Tigers knock off top-ranked Houston — the first such upset in program history — and win their first AAC tournament. An overlooked timeout near the end of their clash with FAU in the opening round of the NCAA tournament ended the season prematurely. Davis became the second player to put up 700 points in a season under Hardaway.
How will we remember the current season when all is said and done? As of now, it’s The Midseason Massacre, a four-game losing streak that, in rasslin’ terms, knocked a Top-10 team entirely out of the ring. David Jones leads the AAC in scoring and is the kind of player who could help Memphis make a run in the conference tournament next month. It’s a good time for Tiger fans to remember basketball memories aren’t born but made.
Are the Memphis Tigers a legitimate Top-10 team, Final Four contenders? Or are they the biggest teasers east of the Dallas Cowboys? Nineteen games into the 2023-24 season, it seems the answer to one of these questions will ultimately be in the affirmative.
Sunday’s loss at Tulane — the Green Wave’s first upset of a Top-25 team since the Clinton presidency — changed the Tigers’ season, and compounded last Thursday’s loss at home to USF. A team that started the week undefeated in a less-than-respected American Athletic Conference now has a two-game losing streak and, worse, merely 12 regular-season games left to improve its resume for those who hand out seeds for the NCAA tournament. Memphis, you might note, has never reached the Sweet 16 seeded lower than sixth.
Last Thursday night at FedExForum could have been an anomalous nadir. With the arena virtually empty — the university publicly urged fans to stay home and off the icy roads — Memphis looked all of its number-10 ranking in taking a 20-point lead into the second half. Then they seemed to hit black ice as a unit and allowed USF to storm back, tie the game with less than a minute to play, and win the contest on a Kasean Pryor free throw with five seconds to play. (There’s brutal irony in a team from South Florida knocking off the Tigers while fans were home dripping their faucets.) The Tigers’ late-game hero Jahvon Quinerly committed a turnover in the game’s closing seconds and missed a desperation three-point attempt at the buzzer. If empty seats could boo, they would have.
The loss was especially bizarre, as it came four days after Memphis looked like their predecessors from 2008 or 1985, both Final Four years. The Tigers scored 112 points in beating Wichita State, the most on the road for this program in 69 years. Against USF, they couldn’t crack 80. The Tigers drained 19 three-pointers in overwhelming the Shockers, a program record. Against the Bulls, they missed 22 of their 28 shots from long range. Memphis lost despite outscoring USF 42-18 in the paint and 21-2(!) on fast breaks. The numbers don’t make sense, but the loss is permanent and will cost Memphis its spot in that hallowed Top 10.
As long as Quinerly and David Jones remain healthy, the Tigers will enter March with an arsenal most teams — “power conference” or otherwise — would envy. Jones (21.7 points per game) is the leading candidate for AAC Player of the Year. Right behind him may well be Quinerly (14.0 points, 4.7 assists). Were it not for Quinerly’s game-winning treys against Tulsa and SMU, the Tigers might have a losing record in league play. Jones took a three-point shot that could have won Sunday’s game at Tulane. He missed, as stars sometimes do. How will the Tigers process two straight gut punches as they wait a week before returning to play (Sunday at UAB)?
Following the Tigers’ narrow escape against SMU on January 7th, Hardaway emphasized the joy he took in seeing his team improve while winning. Beats the “learn from our losses” track every day of the week. And the Tigers are certainly better for their recent 10-game winning streak. But Hardaway also suggested this group of veteran transfers may actually be too confident, that they feel like any obstacle or deficit can be overcome, and this can sometimes compromise group effort. A home loss to a team with a NET rating of 146, you gotta believe, might help reduce that overconfidence intangible.
Another intangible to track with these Tigers: team chemistry. Following the USF loss, Hardaway suggested internal strife was impacting who he could put on the floor and when. If this is the case (more than two months into the season), the likelihood of a full recovery — let alone a Final Four run — seems remote. The sixth-year coach may have the greatest challenge of his career on his hands: Getting the most out of a talented team before the players on that team sabotage the mission. That would be a cruel tease, indeed.
With a final score of 118-103, the Memphis Grizzlies were defeated by the Minnesota Timberwolves Thursday night, in the first game of a four-game road trip, with a little help from an old friend.
Let’s get into it.
This is one game where the final score doesn’t tell the whole story, as much as a 15-point loss can. Memphis played three excellent quarters of basketball. Unfortunately, it was still a four-quarter game, and a 20-point deficit in the 4th was too much for the Grizzlies to overcome.
The first quarter was going well for Memphis until Naz Reid checked in for Minnesota and ruined it by scoring 13 points on 5 of 5 field goal shooting (3 of 3 from three-point range), as the Timberwolves ended the quarter on a 13-3 run and overshadowed a 15-point quarter from Jaren Jackson Jr.
The teams were tied at 30 points apiece going into the second quarter, and the Grizzlies took a 5-point lead into halftime. In the second half, Luke Kennard put up 15 of his 18 points in the third quarter, shooting 5 of 6 overall and 4 of 4 from beyond the arc. Anthony Edwards scored 14 of his 28 points in the third quarter, keeping the Timberwolves in the game.
The fourth quarter is where the wheels fell off for Memphis, starting with Jaren Jackson Jr picking up his 5th foul with 10 minutes remaining. Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins not challenging any of Jackson’s fouls was an ill-advised decision.
Mike Conley added insult to injury in the final frame, shooting a perfect 3 of 3 overall and 2 of 2 from three. Conley’s 17 points for the game matched the Grizzlies’ 17 points for the fourth quarter.
By The Numbers:
Jaren Jackson Jr finished the night with a game-high 36 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block.
Please enjoy this clip of Jackson Jr knocking down a three in the face of Rudy Gobert:
Kennard took advantage of his appearance in the starting lineup, closing out the night with 18 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal while shooting 5 of 7 from beyond the arc.
Vince Williams Jr added 10 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block, Xavier Tillman Sr closed out with 10 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block.
From the second unit:
Santi Aldama put up 13 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 block. David Roddy added 8 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 assist.
Who Got Next?
The Grizzlies are heading to the Windy City Saturday night to face off against the Chicago Bulls. Tip-off is at 7 PM CST.
The final score was 120-103, a respectable win in a game that most expected the Grizzlies to lose. A short-handed Memphis team put the clamps on a healthy Dallas squad, on their home floor no less, and snapped the Mavericks’ three-game winning streak.
It was the first game Memphis played since the news about Ja Morant’s season-ending torn labrum, and while this Grizzlies team was certainly feeling down, they didn’t show it on the court. Jaren Jackson Jr and Santi Aldama were also sidelined for Tuesday night’s game, both with knee soreness.
Let’s get into it.
Try as they might have, not even 30-point games from Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic could lift the Mavericks to a victory, nor could Dallas’s 21 points off of 17 Memphis turnovers.
In the absence of Morant and Jackson Jr, Desmond Bane and Marcus Smart stepped up. Bane scored a team-high 32 points and Smart shot a team-high 4 of 8 from beyond the arc.
The outcome of the rebounding battle has been a fairly accurate predictor of success for the Grizzlies this season and this game was no exception– the Grizzlies outrebounded the Mavericks 54-33.
For reference, Memphis is 0-21 when they have fewer rebounds than their opponent, and 13-1 when they have more.
In addition to winning the battle of the boards, the Grizzlies beat the Mavericks in three-point shooting (37.8% vs 33.3%), overall shooting (48.4% vs 43.9%), and assists (27 to 20).
Bane led the way with a team-high 32 points, plus 9 rebounds and 4 assists.
Marcus Smart closed out the night with 23 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 steals while shooting 4 of 8 from three-point range.
Luke Kennard put up 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists while shooting 3 of 4 from long range.
From the second unit:
Vince Williams Jr added 14 points and 4 rebounds.
Xavier Tillman Sr added 14 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 blocks.
David Roddy contributed 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists.
-manned, outnumbered, out-planned. That has been the story of the Memphis Grizzlies this season, and while a deep postseason run is likely not in the cards, neither is this team just lying down and admitting defeat.
Who Got Next?
After going 3-0 on their three-game road trip, the Grizzlies will return home for a three-game homestand starting with the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday, January 12th. Tip-off is at 7 PM CST.