The Memphis Tigers defeated the Michigan Wolverines 71 to 67 in a physical game. In coach Hardaway's return, the team improved to 4-0 and advanced to the semi-final in the Battle for Atlantis. While it wasn't always pretty, Memphis made plays when it mattered most, and came away with the win.
From the opening possessions, it was clear this game had a different energy. Coach Hardaway brings a presence and mentality that Memphis needed in this victory. Through the first 15 minutes of the first half, these teams were even. Every time Memphis scored, Michigan would answer, and vice-versa. Freshman Ashton Hardaway was doing a lot of answering. The forward had a break-out game, scoring 8 in the first half.
Jayden Hardaway hit a three-point shot with 3:04 remaining to put Memphis up 32-23. This carried the Tigers to a twelve point halftime lead. They played a seemingly perfect half of basketball. They shot 15/32 and 5/11 from three, and only turned it over 3 times, while forcing 13. The only negative was the rebounding, Michigan had 25 to Memphis' 13. They also had 10 offensive rebounds, only 3 for the Tigers.
Memphis continued this performance into the second half. The Tigers came out of halftime on a 9-2 run, stretching from 19:32 to 16:46. This put them up 46-30, their largest lead of the game. Unfortunately, Memphis would then go ice-cold, Michigan went on a 12-2 run of their own. They cut the lead to 6 with 10:28 to go.
Memphis had been caught on their heels, and the momentum suddenly favored the Wolverines. The stifling defense had gone flat, for the moment, and a basket was hard to come by. Then Ashton Hardaway scored the next 9 points for the Tigers. He provided a much needed spark and kept the Tigers in the lead. With 6:54 remaining, Memphis was up 57-51.
The following minutes belonged to Michigan. The Wolverines spent the second half clawing their way back into the game. Through forced turnovers and the play of Olivier Nkamhoua, they cut the lead to 58-59 with 4:12 to go. With 3:02 remaining, Caleb Mills found Jaykwon Walton, who had been quiet all game, wide open in the corner for three. He nailed it and extended the lead to 62-58.
Guard David Jones had also been having an off night; that all changed in the remaining minute and a half. Jones had 11 points on the night, and 9 came in the final 98 seconds. He hit a three to put the Tigers up 65-58, and then made 6 straight free throws. Two of which came when Memphis had allowed Michigan to bring the score to 69-67. To ice the game, with four seconds remaining, Jones hit back-to-back clutch free throws to secure the Tigers win.
Memphis showed up to play in their biggest game of the season thus far. They shot 43.9% from the field, and 41.7% from three. Ashton Hardaway made 5 of the 10 threes for the Tigers tonight, scoring a season high 17 points. The most impressive part tonight was the defense under coach Hardaway. The Tigers forced 18 turnovers and blocked 8 shots in the win. A concerning stat-line in the victory is the rebound margin, Michigan out-rebounded the Tigers 50-28.
It is evident this team is tougher and better with coach Hardaway on the bench. They showed a different gear on both offense and defense in his return, that we haven't seen before. In their biggest challenge of the year Memphis came away victorious, and beat a good Michigan team. They will play the winner of Arkansas vs Stanford tomorrow in the Battle for Atlantis semi-final.
