PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — Memphis basketball, with coach Penny Hardaway back from suspension, held on and defeated Michigan 71-67 in Battle 4 Atlantis on Wednesday.
The Tigers (4-0) will look to rekindle a true old rivalry when they take on No. 20 Arkansas on Thursday (4 p.m., ESPN). The two programs will meet for the first time in more than 20 years, and the Razorbacks have a slight edge in the series with his 11-10 record.
No. 23 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, Memphis led by 16 points in the second half, but Michigan (3-2) stormed back to cut the deficit to two points with 9.1 seconds left. David Jones scored the final nine points for Memphis, including six free throws with 67 seconds left and two with less than five seconds left.
Ashton Hardaway saw significant playing time for the first time this season, and it paid off. The freshman led the Tigers with 17 points on five 3-pointers on seven attempts.
The Wolverines won the rebound battle 50-28. However, they committed nearly twice as many turnovers (18-11) as the Tigers, who turned Michigan’s mistakes into 21 points. University of Michigan head coach Juwan Howard was benched for the first time this season as he is recovering from heart surgery in September, while assistant Phil Martelli assumed head coaching duties.
Here are five takeaways from Wednesday’s game.
lots of hardaway
Penny Hardaway wasn’t the only Hardaway to make headlines Wednesday.
His sons, Ashton and Jayden, have made great progress. Ashton scored eight straight points in 71 seconds, giving the Tigers a scoring shock. He made the second of two 3-pointers in that span to extend the lead to 18-14.
Next it was Jaden’s turn. The super senior made back-to-back field goals (a 2-pointer and a 3-pointer) with less than four minutes left in the first half. It was part of a 13-2 run for Memphis, which helped push the lead to 37-23.
In the second half, Ashton hit another triple to end Michigan’s 12-2 run.
Tough game for some beginners
The Tigers’ usual scoring punch had little effect.
Jones (despite stepping up late), Ja’Quon Walton and Jordan Brown were limited to a combined 20 points on 5-of-20 shooting (8 from the free-throw line).
Point guard Javon Kunary had a season-best eight assists and scored nine points on 3-of-8 shooting.
new intensity
Hardaway is in his sixth year as the Tigers’ coach and has established a brand of defense. Unforgiving. Something that suffocates the opponent from start to finish.
But through the first three games of this season, the Tigers never displayed the intensity that some are accustomed to seeing.
That changed on Wednesday.
The Tigers cornered the Wolverines’ backcourt duo of Doug McDaniel and Nimari Barnett. They put pressure on the frontcourt with a full game’s worth of physicality and toughness.
Michigan shot 39.3% from the field and 33.3% from the field.
Memphis Biggs steadies the ship
The Tigers had to scrap at least part of their game plan very early on. That’s because Brown, the starting center, found himself having a rough time with the umpires.
The former Louisiana star and last season’s Sun Belt Player of the Year picked up two fouls less than three minutes into the game and was dragged from the floor. He didn’t get back on the floor until the second half.
Ashton Hardaway:Why the Tigers’ freshman told a national TV audience, “I really am that type of person.”
So Memphis opted for a steady diet of Malcolm Dandridge and Nick Jourdain. Dandridge had two points, two rebounds, two steals and two turnovers in the first half alone, while Jourdain had three points, one rebound and one block.
Caleb Mills powers the internet
Mills’ step-back jumper late in the first half may have seemed innocent enough on the surface.
But it was much more than that, thanks to what had happened before.
Late in the first half, Mills sized up defender Olivier Nkamua. Then he went into attack mode. Mills’ crossover move near the 3-point line caused Kamhua to start backpedaling. All I can say is that Mills stopped. Nkamua could not do that. Instead, his momentum sent him sliding down the right side of the lane on his butt.
Memphis fans at Imperial Arena roared. Play continued and Mills made a field goal with 1:53 left in the first half.
The play sent the Tigers into halftime up 37-25. Mills scored 10 points in the game.
“What Caleb Mills did at 3pm is illegal in the United States,” Field of 68 posted on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Caleb Mills ruined that guy’s entire Thanksgiving!!” popular social media personality Cuffs The Legend posted on X.
Slum University’s X account reads “OMG CALEB MILLS MADE HIM TOUCH EARTH.”
Contact sportswriter Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.
