SMU Basketball faces Memphis in a must-win game for NCAA Tournament hopes
SMU Basketball faces Memphis on Sunday in a critical matchup for the Mustangs’ NCAA Tournament hopes at 2 p.m. CT on ESPN in Moody Coliseum. The Mustangs are looking to bounce back from a road loss at Temple while the Tigers are coming off a win over Cincinnati.
The big question for SMU Basketball is will point guard Kendric Davis play? He was out for the team against Temple with an injury sustained against East Carolina and is still considered questionable. A source did say Davis practiced this week, which gives hope that he can suit up for the Mustangs.
In the win over the Bearcats, Memphis was led by Tyler Harris’ 15 points. Jalen Duren and Landers Nolley II had 13 points apiece, and Lester Quinones added 12. Josh Minott was also in double figures with 10 points and six rebounds in 15 minutes.
Memphis is riding a six-game winning streak entering the contest with SMU Basketball and did so without Emoni Bates, who hasn’t played in three weeks due to injury. Memphis coach Penny Hardaway said he’s progressing as his team has without him, as well.
“I can’t say that. I think it’s the growth of the team—just like there’s growth in Emoni, talking to him every day while he’s rehabbing his back—there’s growth in all of us,” Hardaway told Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde. “There’s growth in me. I’m the guy who was orchestrating everything in the beginning. The team has just come together. The guys are just buying in as a group, so it makes it easier to win ballgames now. … Whenever he comes back, we’re going to welcome him.”
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SMU Basketball coming off tough loss to Temple
SMU Basketball’s 64-57 loss to the Owls was a tough one as SMU couldn’t get enough offense down the stretch to hold off a Temple comeback. Without Davis, Michael Weathers scored a season-high 22 points and had seven rebounds while Marcus Weathers added 15 points and 10 rebounds.
“Tough loss. Tough, tough loss for us,” Jankovich said on the SMU postgame radio show. “When we were in the game against this team at our place, I knew this game was going to be unbelievably hard. They are a great defensive team, as good as anybody we’ve played. They are harder to play against than basically anyone we’ve played this year. We played hard, hard, hard. I have no fault with our effort.”
The Memphis coaching staff has two people with ties to SMU Basketball. Assistant coach Larry Brown went 94-39 as head coach at SMU for four seasons from 2012-16, including the Mustangs’ first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1993 in 2014-15. Additionally, Memphis assistant to the head coach Shawn Forrest was an assistant coach at SMU under Tim Jankovich for three seasons from 2016-19, which included SMU’s 30-5 2016-17 campaign.
