Memphis Tigers Basketball hammered by Hogs in Exhibition

Tigers Outscore No. 12 Arkansas in Second Half Despite Dropping Exhibition

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – In its last showing before the regular season, the Memphis men’s basketball program was topped 93-81 by No. 12 Arkansas in an exhibition game Wednesday at Bud Walton Arena.

Jason Smith & John Martin discussed the tough night on Thursday's 92.9 FM ESPN J&J Show:

Despite Arkansas building a 21-point lead early in the second half, the Tigers battled the whole way and outscored the Razorbacks 47-45 in the second. Memphis shot .533 from the field in the second half compared to a .387 mark in the first.

Senior Nemanja Popovic registered 16 points and pulled down a team-high six rebounds. He was 5-of-7 from the field and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line.

Matching Popovic in scoring was senior Luke Almodovar with 16 points and five rebounds. He was 5-of-9 from the floor and 5-of-5 from the charity stripe.

Senior Tylik Weeks, a Preseason All-Conference Second-Team selection, was the third Tiger in double-figures with 12 points. It included a team-high eight points in the second half.

The Tigers, who mixed and matched their lineups throughout the night, saw 12 different student-athletes score in the contest.
Arkansas, which finished 28-9 (13-5 SEC) last season, won the SEC Tournament and reached the Sweet 16, was led by Jordan Smith Jr. and Billy Richmond’s 17 points apiece. Miikka Muurinen ended with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Tigers led 7-5 early after an old-fashion three-point play by Almodovar. Though, the Razorbacks answered with an 11-0 spurt to go up 16-7 at the 14:39 mark and extended it to 34-21 with 6:22 left.

Memphis trimmed it to 39-32 after lay-ups by Popovic and Almodovar with 3:28 remaining. However, the Razorbacks scored the next nine points and carried a 48-34 lead into the break.

Arkansas led 69-48 in the second when the Tigers answered with a 7-0 run as the Razorbacks called timeout after a lay-in by junior Maxim Logue cut it 69-55 with 11:00 to go. A jumper by Weeks kept it at 75-62 at the 9:15 mark.

A three-point play inside by fifth year Corneilous Williams had Memphis trailing 87-73 with 3:01 remaining. The Tigers final bucket was a three by junior Brandin Cummings to make it a 12-point margin.

The season opener is Monday, Nov. 2 against No. 18 Iowa State at 6 p.m. in a neutral site game in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The home opener is Saturday, Nov. 7 at 2 p.m. against VCU at FedExForum.

NOTES- It was the second of two exhibition games for Memphis, both on the road against SEC opponents. The Tigers defeated Mississippi State 75-58 last Friday in Starkville in their first appearance.

- Popovic and Almodovar scored in double-figures in both exhibitions. Popovic netted 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting against the Bulldogs, while Almodovar submitted 11 points on 3-of-6 shooting.

- It was the second straight year Memphis and Arkansas met in an exhibition game. The last regular season meeting between the two programs was Nov. 23, 2023 when the Tigers won 84-79 in The Bahamas.

- Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway and Arkansas head coach John Calipari are two of the three winningest coaches in Memphis history. Hardaway sits third all-time in program history in wins with 175, while Calipari was 214-67 from 2000-09. Larry Finch was 220-130 in 11 seasons from 1986-97.

Next game: On FS1 Monday vs. #18 Iowa State in regular Season Opener