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Memphis starts season with statement win over No. 18 Iowa State
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- Memphis starts season with statement win over No. 18 Iowa State
(USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect)
After a 13-19 season last year and a busy offseason replacing coaches and players, Penny Hardaway and the Tigers made a statement on the opening night of the college basketball season with an 80-76 win over No. 18 Iowa State.
Earlier in the day, Memphis Athletics announced it lost its appeal for Nemanja Popović's "withholding period," and he will miss the first six games. With him out of the lineup, Maxim Logue moved into the starting lineup with Tylik Weeks, Rihards Vavers, Luke Almodovar and Jayden Reid.
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The Tigers hit the ground running, and they jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead. Iowa State responded, and it became a back-and-forth first half.
Neither team shot the ball well in the first half, and Memphis shot 37 percent from the field and 20 percent from deep through the first 20 minutes of the half. Hardaway's team created more opportunities, though, grabbing 10 offensive rebounds and forcing eight turnovers.
SEMO transfer Luke Almodovar led the team with 12 points, eight rebounds and two assists in the first half, and he brought the energy early and throughout the game. With just seconds remaining in the first half, he caught the inbound pass, found a driving lane and dunked on Cyclones' forward Blake Buchanan.
The dunk gave the Tigers a ton of momentum and the lead going into halftime.
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The two teams traded leads in the second half, and Hardaway's team led by as many as seven points. Almodovar continued to play well in the second half, and he finished the game with 18 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals.
While he played well, he picked up his fifth foul with 3:36 left in the second half.
Almodovar wasn't the only player who impressed in the first game, and Rihards Vavers and Jayden Reid came alive in the second half. After going 0-3 from deep in the first half, Vavers made three triples in the second half, and he added five rebounds and two assists to his 15 points.
Jayden Reid went 2-for-4 in the second half, and probably made the biggest difference in the second half, especially in the closing minutes. He scored the team's final 11 points, and he hit some clutch free throws down the stretch.
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With 1:10 left in the game, the point guard extended the lead to four with a layup, and he extended the lead to five with a massive three-pointer 30 seconds later. On the next possession, he stepped up to the free throw line, knocked down both.
He led the team with 26 points and added a rebound, an assist, a turnover and two steals.
Almodovar finished with 18 points, while Vavers added 15.
The Tigers shot 42 percent from the field, 45 percent from deep and 76 percent from the free-throw line. Memphis won the rebounding battle 38-36, and it grabbed 12 boards off the offensive glass.
Four of the Tigers' five starters played 28 or more minutes, but Logue, who started in place of Popović logged only 13 minutes. North Alabama transfer Corneilous Williams got a bulk of the run down low, and he finished with six points, eight rebounds, including six offensive rebounds, a block and a turnover in 21 minutes.
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Williams and Josh Holloway were the only two players to record more than seven minutes off the bench.
Defensively, the Tigers held the Cyclones to 43 percent from the field and 20 percent from deep, and they forced 11 turnovers. Ryan Prather Jr. led the team with 19 points off the bench, and Memphis held the starters to only 38 points.
With the win, Hardaway moves to 9-0 in season openers, and the Tigers will return to FedExForum on Saturday for a home game against VCU.
