Memphis got back to .500 with a 78-71 win over Baylor Saturday afternoon inside FedExForum. The Tigers needed to string together some big wins in non-conference play, and the win over the Bears was a much-needed resume win.
Baylor entered the weekend with a 6-1 record, and unless the season goes sideways, most people project Scott Drew’s team to play in the tournament in March. The Bears struggled to knock down shots, and they finished 34.4 percent from the field, 35.7 percent from three and only 68 percent from the charity stripe.
Memphis finished with four players in double figures, and they shot 41.2 percent from the field and only 18.6 percent from deep.
The Tigers led for the final 17 minutes of the first half, and they maintained that lead early in the second half. The Bears regained the lead with 15:17 left in the game, and they stretched it to an eight-point lead a few minutes later.
Penny Hardaway’s team went on a 10-2 run that took all the air out of Baylor, and they never looked back. Memphis possessed all the momentum, and the Bears went 2-for-7 from the field over the final two minutes of the game.
Zach Davis shines
Zach Davis returned to the starting lineup against Baylor, and he finished the game with 23 points, 13 rebounds and two steals in a season-high 33 minutes.
Davis scored 10 or more points in three of the four games entering Saturday, and he was starting to find his groove after struggling in the first few games of the season. The senior led the team in scoring, and he played great defense against some talented Baylor guards.
Davis has turned into one of the best perimeter defenders on the team, and that continued on Saturday. The South Carolina transfer was matched up against Cameron Carr most of the night and held him to 3-for-15 from the field.
Davis guarded preseason All-American Braden Smith in the Bahamas and held him to 2-for-8 from the field and only one assist. The wing uses his length to cause problems for smaller guards, and he could play a key role for the Memphis the rest of the season.
Aaron Bradshaw bounces back
Hardaway chose not to play Aaron Bradshaw last Wednesday against New Orleans, but he was back against Baylor and played his best game of the season. Bradshaw came off the bench and finished with 17 points and seven rebounds in 25 minutes.
Bradshaw averaged 4.4 points and 1.2 rebounds in 10.8 minutes per game through the first three games of the season, but he’s played better over his last two outings. The center had 14 points against Southern Illinois, but 10 of the points came from the free throw line.
Against Baylor, Bradshaw played with a lot more energy and showed a level of physicality that he lacked through the first six games of the year. Tiger fans got a glimpse of what a good Bradshaw looks like on Saturday, and it will be interesting to see if he can build off of this performance, especially with the level of competition over the next three games.
Memphis won a resume-building game
Over the last two seasons, Hardaway has put together a tough non-conference schedule in an attempt to build a solid resume before conference play. Memphis finished the non-conference slate 10-3 last year – which helped them land a five seed – but they haven’t fared as well this season.
After a season-opening win against San Francisco, the Tigers lost four straight games, and some analysts started leaving Memphis out of their mock brackets. Most consider Drew’s team an NCAA tournament team, so this was a big win for the Tigers to start putting themselves back into the at-large conversation.
There are plenty of games left this season, but Saturday’s win gave Hardaway’s team a lot more momentum than they had a week prior. The schedule gets tough, and they’ll have another opportunity this weekend to pick up another big-time win on the road against Louisville.