Memphis coach Penny Hardaway reached a milestone Thursday night — his 150th career victory.
“What a great 6 1/2 years for me, as far as all the talent that I’ve had and the coaches I’ve had, to be at 150,” Hardaway said following the 80-65 win at South Florida. “Thank God for the opportunity. I’ve grown so much of the game. Just happy to be here, being able to help the school and the city, you know, just try to advance.”
Hardaway will try to start on his next 150 wins Sunday when the 14th-ranked Tigers travel to Wichita, Kan., for an American Athletic Conference matchup with the Wichita State Shockers.
Memphis (21-4, 11-1) comes in riding an eight-game winning streak and holding a two-game conference lead over North Texas. The Tigers can improve on their performance at South Florida, where they made just 40.3 percent of their field-goal attempts and missed 13 of 30 foul shots.
However, the Tigers still produced an easy win thanks to dominant rebounding and solid defense. They earned a 51-34 advantage on the boards, grabbing 16 offensive rebounds that turned into 16 points, and limited the Bulls to 38.3 percent shooting from the field.
Despite its shooting woes, Memphis still put four players in double figures, including 15 from Tyrese Hunter in his first game since sitting out a 90-82 win over Temple on Feb. 9 with a knee injury. It was the first game he has missed in his four seasons, spanning 131 games.
“I got emotional just thinking about it when I first figured out the news,” Hunter said. “But it was for the best of the team.”
PJ Haggerty leads Memphis in scoring at 21.5 points per game while Hunter hits for 14.5 and Dain Dainja adds 12.8 on 60 percent shooting. Dainja is averaging just under 20 ppg over his last three games.
While the Tigers are rolling, Wichita State (14-10, 4-7) has won three straight, the latest a 69-64 home victory over Texas-San Antonio on Wednesday. The Shockers overcame 20 turnovers by controlling the boards 50-29 and getting a 17-point, 12-rebound double-double from Corey Washington.
A big reason for the team’s recent success is defense. Opponents have made just 16 of 69 3-point attempts (23.2 percent) in the last three games after knocking down a whopping 42.1 percent during the Shockers’ 1-7 start to AAC play.
“We’ve made a lot of adjustments but we’ve also grown a lot,” forward Harlond Beverly said. “We’re playing hard-nosed and being tough.”
Wichita State’s improved perimeter defense will get a true test from Memphis, which entered the weekend fourth in Division I in 3-point accuracy (40.1 percent). The Shockers must also improve in taking care of the ball. They coughed up 22 turnovers on Jan. 23 in a 61-53 road defeat to the Tigers.
Xavier Bell paces the Wichita State attack with 14.6 ppg, canning 86.7 percent of his free throws. Washington chips in 13.5 ppg and 7.7 rebounds, while Justin Hill scores 13.3 ppg.
Memphis owns a 21-13 lead in the all-time series, although the Shockers are 8-7 at home.
–Field Level Media
