The Memphis Tigers men’s basketball team (2-4) beat the Southern Illinois Salukis (3-4) 74-58 on Wednesday night at the FedEx Forum. The Tigers were led by three double-digit scoring efforts from senior Dug McDaniel (15), sophomore Julius Thedford (15) and junior Aaron Bradshaw (14).
Memphis scored the first points from a Zach Davis layup. Davis was wearing a mask this game after suffering a hit to the face during the Tigers 69-68 loss to Wake Forest last Friday.
“Zach has been playing pretty tough; we have been putting him in a lot of situations where he is guarding the other team's best player,” said head coach Penny Hardaway. “We are trying to get him to play physical and sometimes that happens.”
The Tigers kept the offense flowing as senior guard Dug McDaniel hit the first three of game and helped Memphis get out to a 7-0 start, which led to a 10-3 lead at the first media timeout.
Memphis’ defense held strong in the first half, only allowing 4 points in the first 7 minutes of the game to give them a lead 15-4. The Tigers defense would continue to apply pressure the rest of the game, as they never allowed Southern Illinois to to get in the lead. Coach Hardaway credits that to players buying into the team.
“It’s a lot of watching film; guys wanting to, and the full buy in of understanding what we have to do to win ball games,” Hardaway said.
The Salukis went on their own 9-4 run to cut the Memphis lead to 22-17 with 9:03 remaining in the first half, after a foul from Memphis’ Sincere Parker.
But it was Dug McDaniel’s offense that helped keep the Tigers in the driver's seat of this game, as he scored 11 early points after a made and one jumper and free throw to take the Memphis lead to 32-23 with 3:41 left in the half.
The Salukis did not let up, as they fought back to make it a two-point game after a jumper from sophomore guard Quel’Ron House, but this was the closest SIU would ever get to taking the lead. House was averaging 18.4 PPG entering tonight, but the Tigers defense held him 7 points on 3-13 shooting.
The Tigers would put their foot on the gas and go on a 17-6 run for the rest of the half, led by a scoring explosion from Memphis’s junior guard Quante Berry, who, after checking in with 2:07 left in the first half, scored 8 quick points to end the half, and gave the Tigers their largest lead of the half 42-29.
Memphis' defense held the Salukis to 29.7% FG (11-37) and 20.0% 3FG (2-10) in the first half, while Memphis' offense connected on 45.7% FG (16-35) and 41.2% 3PT (7-17).
As the second half began, Memphis senior guard transfer from UTRGV Hasan Abdul Hakim (4 PTS 3 REB 2 AST) scored his first points of the season, after being sidelined with a quad injury to start this year.
“I actually saw greatness from him,” Hardaway said. “With all the rust that he has, he hasn’t practiced, he hasn’t played, and just to be thrown in the fire like that, I thought that was impressive."
Berry continued to find himself in foul trouble, as he picked up his third with 19:03 remaining, then his fourth with 17:32 left in the half (later fouling out with 5:07 left in the game), with Tigers up 46-32.
The Memphis offense garnered a 13-point lead, as Thedford hit his second three of the game. The Tigers needed every bit of Thedford’s energy, as he was everywhere on the court. He finished with six rebounds (4 OREB) and four stocks.
“Julius is just the grit and grind of the city. He exemplifies everything that we want in a player,” Hardaway said. “When it comes to toughness, fearless, grit; things work better for him when he plays that way.”
The Memphis native is a player that Hardaway describes as what he wants his players to be, tough and gritty, and that is no coincidence, because that is exactly how Thedford tries to play.
“You are pretty much gonna see that from me every game. If I’m not scoring, I’m defending. If I’m not defending, I’m doing something else to stay on the floor just to help my teammates win,” Thedford said. “I love playing for my city”
Memphis’ Aaron Bradshaw got his first points of the game with 14:48 remaining in the first half off a pair of made free throws. Bradshaw kept drawing contact and getting to the line this game and set a career high in free throws made and attempted (10-10 FT).
“Coach really emphasized on getting to the basket and attacking, attacking, attacking, so I just had to attack,” Bradshaw said.
This was a much-needed win for the Tigers going into Thanksgiving after losing their last four games.
“The team's mindset, I feel like I’m really proud of the team's mindset,” Bradshaw said. “Yeah, it was a good game, great game, but it’s right back to work, staying in the gym and staying consistent.”
The Tigers look to build off this win against the New Orleans Privateers (2-5) Wednesday December 3rd at 7:00 p.m. at the FedEx Forum. Streaming is available on ESPN+.
