Freshman Duren stars in Memphis’ win over WKU
Double-double among highlights of solid outing
Western Kentucky pushed the Memphis basketball team Friday.
And pushed. Then, pushed the Tigers some more. But Penny Hardaway’s team, which struggled with lengthy bouts of turnover problems and 3-point shooting droughts, pushed back more. Memphis outlasted the Hilltoppers, 74-62, to improve to 4-0. WKU drops to 1-3.
Jalen Duren’s second career doubledouble (22 points, 19 rebounds), along with five blocks from the freshman big man, helped get the Tigers there. Deandre Williams (13) and Earl Timberlake (10) also got into double-digits in scoring.
Memphis weathered a 26-turnover performance and the first off-night of Emoni Bates’ career. The freshman scored five points on 2-of-10 shooting.
Here are five takeaways from the Tigers’ come-from-behind win.
Dynamite Jalen Duren
The 6-foot-11 five-star center, playing the most minutes of his young career (31), faced his stiffest test yet in a Tigers uniform.
WKU, ranking 30th in the country in average height, is by far the biggest team Memphis has seen this season. And it showed up in the amount of blocked shots the Hilltoppers collected and how many shots they altered.
But Duren was up for the challenge, also registering career bests in points and rebounds. He was particularly productive late in the game, flashing on the receiving end of a couple of alley-oops from Alex Lomax in the final five minutes.
It’s the second time a Tiger has put together a game of 15 or more points, 15 or more rebounds and at least five blocks since 2010-11. The other was Precious Achiuwa (22, 22 and 5 at Tulane on Feb. 29, 2020).
Duren’s big game highlighted the Tigers’ overall success inside, as they outscored WKU 48-24 in the paint.
Sloppy starts
There are sloppy starts. And the Tigers know them all too well. Last time out, they committed four turnovers through the first four minutes. Last week, against North Carolina Central, Memphis coughed it up three times in the opening seven minutes.
Then, there’s what happened Friday. The Tigers held a clinic on how not to take care of the ball, giving up possession 13 times in as many minutes.
How they stopped the mistakes
Despite the poor start, the rockiest part of the first half hit when the Hilltoppers started clicking on a 12-0 run and a 10-point lead.
What happened during the next 104 seconds contributed as much to the eventual outcome as anything else. It began with 7:06 to play before halftime when Williams converted a three-point play. The senior forward scored three more points while Duren put up five of his own during a 10-1 run that got Memphis back in the game.
The Tigers used that spark to go into halftime tied with WKU, 38-38.
Adjusting the rotation
Hardaway was adamant in the offseason that his penchant for going deep into his bench wasn’t going to continue. But through the first three games, he hadn’t slowed down much.
Even in the first half against Western Kentucky, 11 Tigers got at least four minutes. Things were much different in the second half.
Hardaway played nine Tigers over the final 20 minutes, but only five logged more than eight minutes. While the added cohesion didn’t necessarily help with turnovers (14 in the first half, 12 in the second), Memphis found a rhythm and rode it to victory.
Other stat-sheet highlights
Williams missed his first double-double of the season by two rebounds.
Lomax finished the game with teamhighs in assists and steals (four each), but also committed six turnovers.
The Tigers had their best game at the free throw line of the season, hitting 16 out of 22 (73%)
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com.