Memphis started an important three-game road trip on Thursday in Denton, Texas, for a conference matchup against North Texas. Despite back-to-back wins over UAB and Charlotte and momentum moving in the right direction, the Tigers couldn’t keep the Mean Green off the free-throw line and suffered another road loss in a 76-69 defeat.
After several games with multiple players listed on the conference’s availability report, Quante Berry was the only player listed ahead of the game, and he was listed as out. With everyone else available, Hardaway stuck with the same starting five he used against Charlotte, and they got out to another quick start Thursday night.
The Tigers made back-to-back threes to start the game and were quickly up 8-0 before North Texas knocked down its first shot with nearly three minutes into the game. While Memphis jumped out to a quick lead, the first half became a period of runs, and the Mean Green took their first lead of the game with 12:37 remaining in the first half. Hardaway’s team responded with a quick 9-1 run to regain a seven-point lead before North Texas answered again with a 15-2 run.
The Tigers had a 9-0 run right before the break, but the Mean Green responded in the final minute of the half to take a one-point lead into the break.
Hardaway’s team shot 41.9 percent from the field in the first half, but they shot only 27.3 percent from deep and turned the ball over eight times through the first 20 minutes of the game. Fouls also became an issue, and four players went into the locker room with two fouls.
Julius Thedford led the team with eight points and three rebounds, while both Curtis Givens III and Zach Davis both recorded seven points in the first half.
Hardaway decided not to play Davis over the last two games, but the head coach went to him early in the first half. Davis went 3-for-5 from the field with two rebounds and a steal in nine minutes, but he also recorded a pair of fouls.
While they entered the locker room trailing, the Tigers held the Mean Green to only 38.5 percent from the field and 3-for-11 from three, but they made 10 free throws and scored 13 points in the paint.
North Texas opened the second half with a quick 6-0 run to extend its lead to seven points, and they kept the lead until Memphis regained the lead with 9:56 left in the game. While they led for the first part of the second half, Daniyal Robinson’s team went nearly nine minutes without a made field goal, but they made 10 free throws in that span.
The Tigers extended their lead to five points with 5:12 remaining, but they didn’t make a field goal over the remainder of the game and allowed North Texas to go on a 14-2 run to secure a seven-point victory.
As a team, Hardaway’s team shot 43.1 percent from the field, 31.6 percent from three-point range and 86.7 percent from the free-throw line, and three players finished in double-digits. After having a slow first half, Sincere Parker went 5-for-10 from the field in the second half and led the team with 20 points for the game.
Fouls continued to plague Memphis in the second half. Both Aaron Bradshaw and Thierno Sylla fouled out, leaving a massive hole in the frontcourt, and two more players finished with four fouls.
Bradshaw has played well in conference play, but he struggled in Denton and finished with only eight points, four rebounds and three turnovers before fouling out.
The Tigers also lost the rebounding battle 36-to-30, but they scored 16 second-chance points on 12 offensive rebounds. Davis led the team with five rebounds, and he added 10 points, an assist and two steals but had four fouls.
On the other side, the Mean Green shot 44.7 percent from the field and went 3-for-15 from three-point range, but Robinson’s team shot 75.6 percent from the free-throw line on 41 attempts. Three starters finished in double-figures, and Je’Shawn Stevenson led the team with 16 points, three rebounds and two steals.
Outside of the free throws, North Texas scored a lot of its points off hustle plays. The Mean Green scored 28 points off turnovers, 16 fast break points and 15 second-chance points on 13 offensive rebounds.
With the loss, Memphis drops to 12-12 on the season, including 2-7 on the road, and it will have a quick turnaround for its next game on Saturday. The Tigers will travel to Logan, Utah, for their final non-conference game of the season against Utah State.
The Aggies enter the weekend with a 21-3 record, including six wins in a row, and they received 15 votes in the most recent Associated Press top 25 poll.