Penny Hardaway is a lot of things. Brusque is not usually one of them.

But he was sure brusque after this one!

Hardaway always begins his media events with a statement.

This time, he had no statement.

His answers — to the questions posed by a collection of increasingly bewildered journalists — averaged maybe six words.

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Is this one where you’re just glad you got the win?

Yep.

Are you angry?

I’m happy we won the game. Because we’ve lost games like this.

What did you think of Josh Minott’s game?

Josh did great.

After the last game, you said the team had figured it out. Have they still figured it out?

We just need to stay healthy.

Walking off the floor, besides the win, what is top of mind?

That we got a win.

The man answered 17 questions in slightly more than three minutes. He never used two words when one would do.

So, yeah, in the long-running basketball drama that is the Hardaway era at Memphis, file this one under The Game When Penny Had Nothing To Say.

Box score: Memphis 67, Tulsa 64

Why?

There are all kinds of theories. The leading contender is that he was really ticked that his guys nearly lost.

“I feel like Coach is pretty unhappy with the way it ended,” said freshman Josh Minott, who is proving to be a quick study. “It’s not the statement he wanted to make. A game like that, you’re supposed to blow 'em out by 40.”

Instead, the Tigers defeated Tulsa, 67-64.

And, yeah, about the way it ended. It was not great. Nor was the way it began, for that matter, with Memphis turning the ball over four straight times and Tulsa jumping out to a 10-0 lead.

At that moment, it was hard not to think about last year, when Memphis lost twice to Tulsa. Or the year before, when Memphis lost to Tulsa, 80-40. Or the year before that, when Memphis lost to Tulsa, 95-79.

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“We kind of took this game personal going into it,” Lester Quinones said.

That sure took a while to show!

But happily, Tulsa is not very good this year. Like, really, really not very good. So Memphis went on a nifty 25-5 run to take control. And when Earl Timberlake dropped in a bucket five minutes into the second half, the Tigers led by 18.

As for the rest, it is probably best that we never speak of it again. Which was clearly Hardaway’s preferred approach. Suffice it to say the Tigers bungled the ending so egregiously that in order to escape with the win, they needed Landers Nolley II to hit two free throws with 2.9 seconds left and Tulsa to miss a last-second heave. 

So, sure, it’s understandable that Hardaway was irritated. But it was worrisome, too. Was he just put out about the late-game execution? Or was there more to it than that?

After the resounding win against Wichita State over the weekend, Hardaway said, “I see the waters settling now, I see the dust settling.” 

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The Tulsa game was supposed to be further evidence. It was another chance to build on the wins against Alabama and Wichita State, to prove that the juggernaut Tigers had finally arrived.

Instead?

Jalen Duren sat out the game with a hip injury.

DeAndre Williams left the game with a sore back.

Indeed, when Minott and Malcolm Dandridge fouled out, Hardaway was left with just three scholarship players (Nolley, Quinones and Timberlake) and two walk-ons (Tyler Harris and Jayden Hardaway).

That might be enough to hold on against a not-very-good Tulsa team. But it’s not good enough to put together the kind of overwhelming conference record the Tigers need to get an NCAA Tournament bid. So that might be why Hardaway was ticked. Because this game was, if not a step back, at least a step back into the uncertainty. 

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The Tigers can’t win enough if they play like they did Tuesday. They certainly can’t win enough if they don’t have Duren, Williams and the rest available.

But in the meantime, let me report that Hardaway was asked, explicitly, why his news conference was quicker than usual.

He stared straight ahead.

“I’m just happy, my man.”