Memphis couldn’t find much consistency offensively and gave up too many big runs against Utah State, leading to a 99-75 loss.
During the pregame show, Penny Hardaway told play-by-play broadcaster Dave Woloshin that Zach Davis and Hasan Abdul Hakim weren’t with the team in Logan and had been suspended indefinitely.
Abdul Hakim missed three games due to an illness, but he has been on the bench for the last two games but hasn’t seen any action. Hardaway chose not to play Davis in back-to-back games against UAB and Charlotte, but he played against North Texas and finished with 10 points, five rebounds and two steals.
In addition to the two suspensions, Quante Berry missed the road trip with a concussion.
Hardaway stuck with the same starting lineup he has used in the previous two games, and they got out to a good start against the Aggies. The Tigers jumped out to a 5-2 lead nearly three minutes into the game, and the two teams traded leads for most of the first half.
The largest lead through the first 15 minutes of the game was five points, and Memphis led by three points with five minutes left after Sincere Parker went on an individual 4-0 run. While they played well for most of the half, Utah State turned up the intensity and went on a 24-7 run to take a 14-point lead into halftime.
The Aggies continued to find offensive success early in the second half and extended their lead to 19 points nearly two minutes into the second half. Memphis continued to fight and quickly responded with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 12 points.
Hardaway’s team went on another run, 12-6, a few minutes later, and cut the lead to eight points with less than 15 minutes remaining in the game. Utah State didn’t stay quiet for long and responded with a 13-0 run to give Jerrod Calhoun’s team a 21-point lead with 10 minutes left.
The Aggies put the game in cruise control after that run and never led by less than 13 points for the remainder of the game.
With the game in hand, Hardaway went to his bench, but Calhoun kept most of his starters on the court, and they closed the game on a 13-2 run. Utah State scored six points in the final 30 seconds when they had an opportunity to dribble out the clock, and Hardaway wasn’t a fan of the late-game baskets, including a windmill dunk from MJ Collins to put an exclamation mark in the closing seconds.
“You can’t do what they did, though,” Hardaway said after the game. “You can’t keep scoring the ball. We came out here to play this game. You have to have more class than that.”
The Tigers struggled to slow the Aggies down most of the night, and Utah State shot 52.5 percent from the field and 35.7 percent from three-point range. Calhoun’s team scored 22 fast-break points and ended the night with 22 assists.
Three players finished with 20 or more points, and Collins led the team with 24 points. Mason Falsely and Karson Templin both ended the game with 20 points, while freshman point guard Elijah Perryman recorded 10 points and nine assists off the bench.
It was also another game where Memphis struggled with fouls, and it sent the Aggies to the line 36 times. The Tigers finished with 23 fouls, including three players with four fouls, but nobody fouled out in Saturday’s game.
Hardaway’s team couldn’t get in a rhythm offensively, and they shot 36.7 percent from the field and 22.2 percent from deep on 18 attempts. Three players finished with 10 or more points, and Parker led the team with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
The Tigers won the rebounding battle 39-to-35, and they scored 21 second-chance points on 18 offensive rebounds. Memphis only turned the ball over 12 times, but they only recorded seven assists.
With the loss, Hardaway’s team falls to 12-13 on the season, and they’ll head to Tampa for their next game against South Florida. The Bulls sit atop the conference standings with a 17-8 record, and they will play on the road against FAU before hosting Memphis.