MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Led by Kendric Davis' 25 points, the Memphis Tigers defeated the SMU Mustangs 99-84 on Thursday night for Penny Hardaway's 100th coaching victory. The Mustangs were led by Zhruic Phelps, who posted 20 points and three steals. The Tigers are now 16-5 on the season, while the Mustangs moved to 7-14.
Memphis Beats SMU, Penny Earns 100th Win
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Memphis Tigers took down the SMU Mustangs, 99-84, Thursday night at FedExForum in front of a rowdy "blackout" crowd, for the 100th win of head coach Penny Hardaway's career and the 16th-straight at home.
Hardaway is the seventh coach in Memphis history to reach the 100-win milestone. The Tigers improved to 16-5 overall and 6-2 in the American Athletic Conference (AAC).
Fifth-year point guard Kendric Davis led the charge against his former team, scoring 25 points to go with 11 assists and seven rebounds. Redshirt-senior guard Keonte Kennedy added 16 points, three assists and a pair of rebounds.
Fifth-year forward DeAndre Williams recorded 13 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals, while Jayden Hardaway and Chandler Lawson each added 12 points off the bench.
The Tigers were 22-for-30 from the charity stripe in the ballgame (.733) and made nine shots from long distance.
From the opening tip, it was clear Davis was on a mission. He buried a triple to get the night started, then went on to score (11) or assist (4) on all 20 points through the first seven minutes of action to help build a 20-15 lead. A few minutes later, he dished a ball around the defense to Chandler Lawson for a dunk that sparked a 13-1 run en route to Memphis taking a 50-32 lead into the half.
Davis went into the locker room with 16 points, nine assists and five rebounds in 19 minutes on the court. He orchestrated an offense that shot 54.3 percent (19-35) in the half with seven three-pointers and had six players with four or more points.
Memphis outscored SMU 19-0 off the bench and only turned the ball over four times in the first period.
Memphis grew its advantage to as many as 29 points down the stretch en route to the 15-point win. The majority of the second half was played with a 20-point margin until the final minutes of the action when Coach Hardaway called off the dogs.
Memphis won the battle in the paint 44-28 and finished the game shooting 54.0 percent from the field (34-63). The Mustangs shot 36.6 percent from the floor (26-71).
SMU (7-14, 2-6 AAC) was led by Zhuric Phelps’ 20 points in 22 minutes.
UP NEXT
The Tigers hit the road, once again, for a 4 p.m. battle Sunday at Tulsa on ESPN2. They will then get nearly a full week of rest before returning to FedExForum on Saturday, Feb. 4 to host Tulane at 1 p.m., where they will retire Lorenzen Wright’s jersey and handout bobbleheads of Larry Finch for his celebration game.