Takeaways from Memphis’ 24-point loss to Vanderbilt

Takeaways from Memphis’ 24-point loss to Vanderbilt

Memphis suffered its first loss of the season on Tuesday in a 105-81 loss to Vanderbilt. The Tigers kept the game close in the first half, but they were outscored 58-39 over the final 20 minutes.

The game boiled down to three-point shooting, and Penny Hardaway’s team couldn’t get much to fall from deep. Memphis shot 21.1 percent from behind the arc, making only four threes, and nobody on the roster made more than one.

On the other side, it felt like Vanderbilt couldn’t miss at times, and it finished with 15-made threes. 

Jayden Reid struggled to get much going, and he left the game for a few minutes early in the first half with an injury. He returned to the game shortly after, but he finished with 11 points on 4-for-11 from the field.

Here are three takeaways from the Tigers’ first loss of the season.

Three-point defense struggles:

The biggest issue for the Tigers on Tuesday was the three-point defense. Vanderbilt shot 46.9 percent from deep, making 15 three-pointers. 

Five players made two or more threes, and Ace Glass III led the way with five triples. Glass went 0-for-2 from the field in the first half, but he recorded 23 points on 8-for-12 from the field and 5-for-9 from deep. 

The Tigers had no answer, and they seemed a step too slow on rotations and close outs. The team had similar issues on Saturday against VCU, and it’s something that will need to improve throughout the season. 

Memphis is allowing opposing teams to shoot 42.1 percent from deep, which ranks No. 328 in three-point defense.

Luke Almodovar’s big game & big fall:

Luke Almodovar was the best option for the Tigers for most of the night, but in the second half, he took a hard fall after a dunk. The guard went up for the two-hand slam, but after swinging on the rim, he came down and landed on his head/neck area. 

Almodovar was down for a few minutes and said after the game that he blacked out for nearly a minute after the fall. He was able to get up and be helped back to the locker room before returning to the bench towards the end of the game.

When he was in the game, he played extremely well. The guard finished with 21 points, four rebounds, a block and a steal, and he went on a solo 8-0 run in the second half. His availability will certainly be up in the air for Sunday, and it would be hard to believe that he will be able to be out there in the game against Louisville.

Tigers dominated on the boards:

The next biggest discrepancy in the game was the rebounding. The Commodores out-rebounded the Tigers 44-to-29, and Vanderbilt grabbed 12 offensive rebounds. 

Mark Byington’s team turned those 12 offensive boards into 18 second-chance points, which is a huge swing for the game.

While the Tigers were dominated on the boards, they still grabbed 12 offensive rebounds, but they only turned those into eight second-chance points. Almodovar and Julius Thedford both grabbed three offensive rebounds each, while Josh Holloway led the team with five rebounds. 

The bigs struggled in the rebounding category, and Maxim Logue and Corneilous Williams combined for six rebounds.