It was as if Penny Hardaway saw a glimpse of the past and the future at the same time.

When Memphis’ Kao Akobundu-Ehiogu caught an alley-oop from DeAndre Williams and threw down a one-handed dunk over the top of a defender, the home crowd at FedExForum was brought to its feet. The play not only was perfect for a poster — or nowadays, more likely an NFT — but it also took the life out of Lane College late in the second half on Sunday, Oct. 30, in the Tigers’ 96-62 exhibition game win over the Division II Dragons.

Larry Brown taking leave of absence from Tigers basketball

For Hardaway, in his fifth year as head coach, it was a sight he’d grown accustomed to seeing. Not the dunk by the 6-foot-10 transfer forward, per se. But the stout defense and strong rebound that led to the scoring opportunity? Absolutely.

“This is the energy I was looking for,” Hardaway said after the game. “It just looked better. … We got back to some familiar things.”

Even without star transfer guard Kendric Davis, who was sidelined due to an ankle injury he suffered earlier in the week in practice, Memphis had enough offensive firepower to take care of business. It was an effort spearheaded by its returning players.

Williams, a fifth-year forward, led the way with 22 points and 12 rebounds, while senior forward Malcolm Dandridge added 18 points and six boards.

“We came out and we played to our potential like we know how to play,” Williams said. “We knew Lane was gonna come out and play hard and push us, so it gave us that edge to come out and have a great game.”

Penny Hardaway wants Tigers to be ‘tougher’ against Lane

It wasn’t all pretty, though.

The Tigers let the Dragons hang around for much of the first half and clung onto a 12-point lead at the break. They also had another horrendous 3-point-shooting display, connecting on just four of their 20 attempts (20%) from deep on the afternoon.

Still, it didn’t matter.

Lane College got within 11 points at the 18:54 mark of the second half before Memphis outscored its opponent 50-27 the rest of the way. The Tigers also held the Dragons to 20-72 (27.8%) shooting and won the points-in-the-paint battle 56-20 for the game — further displaying shades of some of the better teams throughout Hardaway’s coaching tenure.

After combining for 40 of their team’s 96 points and 18 of its 60 rebounds, Williams said he believes the frontcourt of him and Dandridge is “the best frontcourt in college basketball.”

Though Dandridge’s play has been up and down for much of his collegiate career, he feels “nothing” is holding him back from performing the way he did Sunday on a regular basis. Hardaway said that sort of consistency from the 6-foot-9 big man would give his team a much-needed extra weapon.

“When we have the inside presence that he can bring, it makes us much tougher,” he said. “I think if we just get his touches down there … he can get the points that we want from the inside.”

Transfer guard Keonté Kennedy and senior forward Chandler Lawson — who both got starting nods alongside Williams and guards Alex Lomax and Elijah McCadden — also had solid outings. Kennedy scored all 16 of his points in the second half and hit two of the Tigers’ four 3s, and Lawson finished with 10 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.

It was an encouraging sign for Hardaway to see the Tigers at least somewhat resemble the team he’s seen during his first four years with the program and even this offseason in practice.

Oh, and this was without Davis and UIC transfer guard Damaria Franklin, who still awaits a ruling from the NCAA regarding his eligibility. The addition of Franklin, in particular, would make Memphis “a totally different team,” Hardaway said.

“He’s pretty special,” he added.

But, for now, Hardaway is confident in the squad he has available.

And after what the Tigers showed him Sunday and what he believes is to come, he can’t help but be optimistic about the future, too, as the group gears up for its Nov. 7 season-opener against Vanderbilt in Nashville.

“Once we get everybody back healthy and see another week of practice,” Hardaway said, “we’ll have what we need.” 

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OTHER NOTES:

• Davis sat out as more of a precautionary measure than anything else after tweaking his right ankle a few days ago in practice. He “should be ready for practice next week and be ready for Vandy,” Hardaway said.
• Franklin was out as he continues to wait for a decision from the NCAA regarding his eligibility. Penny Hardaway said Friday he’d heard nothing new on the matter.
• This is the second consecutive year in which Memphis has defeated Lane College in an exhibition, following the Tigers’ 88-49 rout of the Dragons last season at FedExForum.
• Lane College is coached by legendary Memphis point guard Andre Turner, who led the Tigers to the 1985 Final Four and is the program’s all-time assists leader with 763