Memphis gets back to .500 with six-point win over Baylor

During the offseason, most people looked at the daunting four-game non-conference slate that featured Baylor, Louisville, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State as one of the most important stretches of the season. The Tigers checked off the first game of that stretch with a 78-71 win over the Bears. 

It was reported before the game that Julius Thedford wouldn’t play on Saturday, so Penny Hardaway was without Thedford and Curtis Givens III. With both guards missing the game, Hardaway went with the same lineup he used against New Orleans, but he replaced Thedford with Quante Berry.

Berry led the team against the Privateers, but he struggled against Baylor and finished the game with three points and  0-for-6 from the field. While he struggled to shoot the ball, he recorded three steals, including two in the final two minutes of the game.

It was a slow start for both sides, and the first basket didn’t fall until two minutes into the game. Baylor scored the first three points of the game, but Memphis responded with a 9-0 run and led the rest of the first half.

In the second half, the Bears started the half on a 19-8 run and took an eight-point lead.

The Tigers flipped the switch halfway through the half and played with a ton of energy. They used the home-court advantage to take all the momentum and closed the game on a 16-8 run.

Memphis shot 41.2 percent from the field, but they struggled knocking down shots from deep, finishing 3-for-16 from three. Hardaway’s team did a nice job protecting the ball, and they only turned the ball over nine times.

Zach Davis had his best game in a Tigers uniform, and he led the team in scoring and rebounding. Davis finished with 23 points – going 7-for-14 from the field – 13 rebounds and two steals, and he was tasked with guarding Baylor’s leading scorer Cameron Carr.

Carr struggled to get in a groove, finishing 3-for-15 from the field, but he did record a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

After six players finished in double figures against New Orleans, four players ended the game with 10 or more points. Dug McDaniel, Sincere Parker and Aaron Bradshaw joined Davis in double figures. 

Hardaway decided not to play Bradshaw earlier this week, calling it a coach’s decision, and it seems like Bradshaw got the point. The big man had his best game of the season with 17 points and seven rebounds.

He played with another level of intensity that the Tigers haven’t seen out of him this year, and he found a lot of success against the smaller Bears team.

Defensively, Memphis held Baylor to 34.4 percent from the field and 35.7 percent from three, and Scott Drew’s team only made 68 percent of their free throws.

The victory moves the Tigers to .500 on the season, and they’ll now have a week off before a road game against Louisville. The Cardinals are 8-1 on the season, and they currently rank No. 6 in Associated Press poll.