The Memphis Tigers defeated the Charlotte 49ers 76-52 in FedExForum. Memphis has to win out and they handled business tonight. They now sit at 19-8. After a disappointing road trip in Texas, this was exactly what coach Penny Hardaway needed to see from his team.

Coach Hardaway started his post game statement with, "Im proud of the bounce-back that we gave today. We followed the game plan to the tee. We brought physicality and toughness today, for the first time in a very long time."

Memphis played with an energy tonight that was lacking from Sunday's loss. When asked about the performance, Penny said, " It's not optional anymore. If you're going to play hard you're going to be on the floor, if not you're going to be on the bench."

He is confident that his group feels the urgency of the moment and will continue to play this hard. They are all bought in.

Memphis struggled to rebound in the SMU game and it cost them. Hardaway said, " I put the orange bubbles, the stoppers, in the rims and we went 45 minutes on box outs and transition defense. That's about toughness. We want all the toughness stats."

The Tigers grabbed 38 rebounds tonight to Charlottes 20, and picked up 14 offensive rebounds. They also played noticeably better transition defense, not allowing wide open threes. The 49ers shot 6-21 from beyond the arc and 5 came in the first half.

Memphis only allowed 17 points in the second half.

The communication on defense played a big role in the improvement. Especially from junior Joe Cooper. In just the 9 minutes he played he gave the team so much energy.

Cooper finished with 3 points and 3 rebounds, but his impact was greater than the stat sheet shows.

The first half of the game was a battle.

A pass from Jahvon Quinerly to Nick Jourdain on a pick and roll gave the Tigers a 12-11 lead at 13:17.

The Tigers found themselves down 2 just minutes later until Quinerly and David Jones started to find a rhythm. The duo created a quick 6-point run that gave the Tigers the lead.

Jaykwon Walton, who was involved in a double technical as soon as he stepped onto the court, scored 4 straight points to give the Tigers a 31-26 lead with 4 minutes remaining. Walton finished with 9 points.

Memphis finished off the first half with a lead after 4 straight free throws put the Tigers up 40-35.

David Jones finished the half with 10 points. He exited the game in the 2nd half with a scratched eye, and did not return. Memphis was able to generate offense without their leading scorer. Jones was present on the bench.

Memphis started the second half with a 8-0 run that took just 40 seconds to create. The big men, Nae'Qwan Tomlin and Malcolm Dandridge, asserted their dominance in the paint and gave generate this and give Memphis momentum.

Tomlin went on to drain a three to put the Tigers up 51-39.

In the last 8:30 of the game Memphis only allowed 4 points.

Joe Cooper hit his three at the 7:11 mark to bring the lead to 15 points. The Memphis native received loud cheers from the crowd for his play in the remaining minutes.

After a Jaykwon Walton 3 to put them up 66-50, the Tigers went on an 8-0 run to close the game at 76-52.

Memphis played team basketball vs Charlotte. While they finished with only 13 assists, the Tigers moved the ball well and found favorable matchups for their players. They committed 15 turnovers, but stole the ball 8 times and forced 12 turnovers.

Jahvon Quinerly and Nae'Qwan Tomlin were tonight's MVPs. Tomlin finished with 16 points and 7 rebounds. The Kansas State transfer had more minutes playing forward, rather than big, and he executed.

Jahvon Quinerly scored 17 points and had 6 assists. The guard was orchestrating the offense and putting his teammates in positions to succeed. The team is at its best when Quinerly is not only having a good shooting night, but controlling the offense with his passes.

Memphis finished shooting 50% from the field and 34.8% from the perimeter.

The Tigers will host the FAU Owls on Sunday, February 25. This will be the first matchup between the two since the Owls eliminated Memphis in last year's March Madness. Nae'Qwan Tomlin, who was also eliminated by FAU last year, is "taking the game personal." The Owls are 20-6 and tip off is set for 1.p.m.