Takeaways from Memphis’ first exhibition against Mississippi State

Memphis started its exhibition schedule on Friday on the road against Mississippi State. The Tigers made a strong first impression and won the exhibition 75-58.

With 13 new players on the roster, there are a lot of questions about what this team would look like, but one of the biggest questions was who would start. Penny Hardaway went with Jayden Reid, Tylik Weeks, Luke Almodovar, Rihards Vavers and Nemanja Popović to start the game.

Four of the five finished in double figures, and Tylik Weeks was the only starter to finish with less than 10 points. Weeks, who transferred from Southern Miss, went 1-for-9 and finished with five points, nine rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal.

The Tigers started the game fast, going 7-for-8 from the field, and led by double digits 11 minutes into the game. Mississippi State settled down and cut the lead to four at the half.

Memphis had another strong start in the second half and opened the final 20 minutes on an 11-0 run. The hot start led to a big second half, and the Tigers ended their first exhibition with a 17-point win. 

Memphis shot 50.9 percent from the field, 45 percent from deep and 53.3 percent from the free-throw line. Hardaway’s team scored 32 points in the paint and led for 38:40 of the game.

Here are four takeaways from Memphis’ exhibition against Mississippi State.

Three-point shooting:

Memphis added more three-point shooters this offseason, and it looks like Hardaway’s team will have more success from deep this season. The Tigers shot 45 percent from deep, making nine three-pointers against the Bulldogs.

Four players made two triples, and Almodovar finished 2-for-3 from deep.

Memphis got good looks all night, even on shots that didn’t drop, and it will be interesting to see if the shots can continue to drop for the Tigers during the regular season.

Turnovers:

Hardaway’s team only turned the ball over nine times against Mississippi State, which is a great sign for a team with 13 new players. When they did turn the ball over, they did a nice job defensively and held the Bulldogs to only seven points off turnovers.

While they kept the turnovers under double digits, there were a few ugly giveaways, but it’s likely that the tigers will limit that with more games under their belts as a group. 

Nobody had more than two turnovers, and point guard Jayden Reid didn’t record a turnover in 34 minutes of action. 

Defensively, Memphis forced 15 turnovers and turned them into 17 points off turnovers. Reid and Popović both finished with three steals.

Popović played in the exhibition game and finished wth 12 points, four rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block in 31 minutes. While he played in the exhibition game, he has yet to be cleared by the NCAA, and it’s unclear if the clearance will come before the season starts on November 2.

Jayden Reid shows he can lead the Tigers:

Reid was named to the All-Conference preseason first team, and it appeared he would be one of the Tigers leaders after accompanying Hardaway at the American Tipoff. On Friday, he showed that he is more than capable to lead Memphis this season.

Reid finished the game with 26 points, four assists, three rebounds, three steals and no turnovers. The point guard made tough shot after tough shot throughout the game, and he went 2-for-4 from deep.

Reid played the most minutes for Hardaway’s team, and it leads like that will be a common occurrence throughout the season.

Defense:

The Tigers were extremely active on the defensive end of the court, and they finished the game with nine steals and two blocks. They also held the Bulldogs to 41.4 percent from the field and 18.2 percent from deep.

For a team that has so many new faces, it appeared they were well connected defensively and did a great job communicating on defense. There were multiple plays that didn’t lead to turnovers where a Tiger got a hand on the ball and impacted a possession.

The Tigers also forced a ton of rushed shots at the end of the shot clock.

Hardaway has talked about how defense will be an identity for this team, and it showed in the first exhibition.