The Memphis Tigers men’s basketball team (6-5) defeated the Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans (5-7) in a game that was closer than it should have been, 99-89. The Tigers looked sloppy much of the game, finally coming together and playing complimentary basketball in the last minutes helped Memphis close out the win.
Antwann Jones makes starting debut:
Prior to tip-off, it was announced by the team’s twitter that the freshman guard had been inserted into the team’s starting lineup after his strong performance against Tennessee over the weekend. In his first career start, Jones did not disappoint. He finished with 13 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds.
Although he did not lead the team in scoring, Jones made his presence felt the entire night and displayed a passing vision that is rare for a player his age.
“Antwann was doing some really good things,” head coach Penny Hardaway said. “He had a lot of energy. He was more aware. Getting in the starting lineup really energized him and made him feel good about himself, and he really was focused when the game started and made some great plays on the defensive end and the offensive end.”
While it remains unknown whether Jones will be become a fixture in the starting group for the rest of the season, performances like the one he turned in against Little Rock will certainly go a long way in endearing himself to the coaches and city alike.
Rebounding:
The Tigers had one of their best games of the season securing boards against the Trojans, grabbing 49 boards to Little Rock’s 23 boards. Raynere Thornton and Kyvon Davenport led the way for Memphis, securing 11 and 15 boards respectively.
The Tigers more than doubled the amount of boards Little Rock had, but due to 21 turnovers and poor defensed, the Trojans were able to not only keep the game close, but threaten the Tigers by possibly pulling off a win in the FedEx Forum. Hardaway said the team did not do enough on the offensive side of the ball to put the Trojans away.
“Unbelievable,” Hardaway said. “We didn’t play good enough offensively. I think defensively and transition we didn’t get back, but other than that and half court, we did pretty well and we rebounded the ball really well. Its just the transition points and the free -throws and that’s what kept them in the game, the transition points and free-throws. We just have to get better.”
Davenport takes over the second half:
Davenport looked slow and not energized in the first half, connecting on 1-3 from the field for two points and grabbing two rebounds. Davenport showed up and balled out in the second, knocking down 4-5 from the field 1-1 from deep for 13 points, all while securing 13 boards. Hardaway said Davenport is more lively in the second half.
“I watched him a lot in the first half, he didn’t have the same energy,” Hardaway said. “He’s just got more energy in the second half. He knows that, I guess as it got closer to us looking like we were going to lose, you know, he turned it on or whatever. He’s just like I said, you have to push him during every game. He’s not going to come out with just that energy every game and we keep pushing, pushing, pushing. He didn’t have it in the first half and he got the energy that he needed in the second half, to do those things.”
Transition defense struggles continue:
After a tough loss to Tennessee that saw the Volunteers shoot 29 free throws in the second half alone, one of the key points of emphasis was whether the Tigers defense could put together a better performance on the less glamorous end of the floor. Although the Tigers did rebound the ball well, Little Rock scored 23 points off 21 Memphis turnovers and finished with 38 points in transition, which helped the Trojans stay competitive throughout.
Despite being one of the main points that they went over in practice this week leading up to this game, Memphis still struggled to defend the fast-breaks and Hardaway knows his team still has work to do. “No excuses coming into today, we tried to guard against having a let-down against Little Rock because we knew they were capable of beating us,” Hardaway said. “As the game started, you could just tell that our players were kind of laxed, even though we worked all week on not being laxed, punching first and not letting them have any breathing room.”
While it is still early in the season, having not even reached conference play yet, games like this show what teams are truly made of. Although his team still came away with the win, Hardaway will certainly want to get more out of his team on the defensive end moving forward if they hope to have a successful second half of the year.
Kyvon Davenport pulls up mid-range jump shot early in the first half against South Dakota State. Davenport ended the game with five points and five rebounds
