Hardaway
(John Calipari) will speak, for sure.”
Hardaway emphasized the program’s efforts to put together the strongest schedule possible. The 201920 non-conference schedule ranks 262nd among DI teams, according to Kenpom.
“We’re trying our hardest just to get good games,” Hardaway said. “That’s all we want. We’re playing some really good teams, whether we get credit for it or not. Early on in the season, teams are different than they are later in the season.
“We’re just trying to play the schools that want to play us, that have a storied program that everybody knows the name. Whether it’s Georgetown. Whether it’s UCLA. Whoever it is, we want to play them because we want to get the boys ready for this time of year.”
Hardaway added the most realistic expectation on an annual basis for home-and-home series against programs in that category is “two or three.”
Same starting lineup?
The Tigers will use the same starting lineup as Wednesday: Precious Achiuwa, Boogie Ellis, D.J. Jeffries, Lester Quinones and Lance Thomas.
Ellis appears to have turned a corner. Following a prolonged slump, he scored 14 points against SMU and 13 versus the Knights, marking just the second time he has finished in doublefigures in back-to-back games.
Thomas piled up a career-high 20 points Wednesday in his first start since before Thanksgiving (Nov. 20).
“I think a lot of times that a lot of coaches give up on kids,” Hardaway said. “But with Lance, I just understood he was our hardest worker last year. Still works really hard this year. I just saw in practice that he just kept working and kept working and I said, ‘You know what, we’re going to put Lance in the lineup.’ Play alongside Precious, it’s a perfect combination with him because he’s a shooter and Precious is a guy that slashes. And it worked out.”
Thomas admitted his struggles before Wednesday hurt his confidence to a degree.
“I don’t really care what people say," Thomas said. "The same people that love me right now are probably the same people saying I was trash. So that’s cool. They’re not in here every day with us working.”
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.