Penny Hardaway told us at Media Days he “Got back to who he was.” as he and the Tigers begin the regular season in 2024-25.
On Monday night, Memphis will host the Missouri Tigers for a 7 pm tip inside FedEx Forum. The opener, which will be streamed on ESPN+, will start the 103rd season and is the earliest the program has initiated its season in team history.
We will analyze the matchup beginning with the history, who the Missouri Tigers are, and the keys to success for Memphis.
Tiger Fight In Memphis
In this battle of Tigers, we will see the 14th meeting with Memphis leading 8-5 in a series that began on December 21, 1965, with Memphis victory 85-72 win in the ‘Memphis State Classic’ at the Mid South Coliseum. In 2023, the Bluff City Tigers would overcome a 14-point deficit to win the first meeting between these programs in 15 years, 70-55, in Columbia.
The last meeting before last season was the 2009 NCAA Sweet Sixteen where Missouri won 102-91 to advance to the Elite 8 and fell, 82-75, to #1 Uconn.
Memphis has been successful at home against Missouri as they hold a 5-1 advantage. The most recent matchup came in 2003. In addition, the lone win in Memphis for Missouri came on December 27, 1989, in a 71-65 victory. The 2024 meeting will be one to watch on Monday night.
Who Are The Tigers From Missouri?
The Tigers from Columbia are led by third-year head coach Dennis Gates. The 20th head coach of the Tigers had quite the impact, in 2022, his first season. The Tigers won 25 games making Gates and the Tigers the most by any first-year SEC coach since the Tigers joined the conference. In that season, Missouri, to the surprise of many, advanced to the conference semifinals for the first time and won its first NCAA Tournament game in 13 seasons.
While early was bright, the 2023 season was not as the Tigers finished 8-24. With this, the 2024 season is a new chance for redemption for the SEC brand. As the 119th season commences for the Tigers, Missouri owns a 97-21 record in season openers winning its last nine and both under Gates. In addition, Missouri is 12-10 in road season openers with its last win to, then-nonconference opponent, Arkansas in 1970.
In 2024, the Tigers welcome the nation’s #5 freshman class as well as the #13 transfer class in the spring. With this, Missouri is one of three teams nationally to own a top-15 freshman and transfer class as they join fellow conference mates Alabama and Arkansas. Missouri landed two- time
Transfers have been essential in this roster rebuild as forward Mark Mitchell, from Duke, and guard, Tony Perkins, from Iowa, are at the forefront of this class. Perkins spent time with Chris Paul in the summer learning as he was one of 12 players nationally invited to his camp. The former Big Ten player averaged 14 points and 4.6 assists for the Hawkeyes last season.
For Mitchell, the former Blue Devil averaged 11.6 points and 6 rebounds in 2023-24. He is also one of 20 players named to the Julius Erving Award Watch List which is presented to the nation’s top small forward.
Thus far in 2024, the Tigers have had one exhibition tune-up, a win, 90-45, over Lincoln on October 27th. That win, a 45-point win, is the largest exhibition victory since the 2011 season. Mitchell poured in 22 points while Caleb Grill added 20 as the dangerous duo combined for 42 points while making 14-of-17 field goals and 7-of-8 from beyond the arc.
Keys To Success For Memphis
With Memphis coming off perhaps the toughest exhibition slate, losses to #9 North Carolina and #2 Alabama respectively, fans are clamoring for the season to start. With the large hype surrounding this team, Memphis cannot allow this to overtake the opener versus Mizzou. If so, Memphis will lose their first season opener under Hardaway {4-0 at home, 6-0 overall in openers} and 31st in program history as the Tigers are 73-30 in opening games.
Memphis will need to rely on some keys to secure an opening win.
SEC Success
First, Memphis must use its success against the SEC to its advantage. In the six seasons under Penny, Memphis has faced 20 opponents from the Southeastern Conference. In these games, it has ‘Meant More’ for Memphis as they have a 12-8 record. In the last two seasons, Memphis is 8-2, with three-point losses to Alabama and Ole Miss.
This recent success will need to be a point of emphasis as Memphis looks to shine for the home fans on opening night. While the Missouri team is much different as we spoke about above, they still hold intangibles to beat Memphis. This game cannot be taken lightly by coaches, players, and fans.
Home Sweet Home
Speaking of the fans, we spoke of a certain hype around this team as we embark on a new season. This has some validity as we mentioned the words of Hardaway to us in the preseason about his method for his madness this season. With this, the fans of Memphis will need to continue to support the program through it all. With the repetitive, on-and-off issues that have plagued this program in the Penny era this season “Feels Different” as some fans have said.
Memphis has won 21 straight home openers and will need the fans to be loud inside the Forum. The home-court advantage will be key for not only this game but all season.
Penny Has His Team, Use Them
When we spoke to Penny at Media Days he told us he “Hand-picked” guys for this team and had “Sacrificed talent over defense” in years past. He would go on to tell us he had “Learned a lot” from these mistakes thus far in his rather young coaching career.
The “Talent” Hardaway is referring to is the entire roster essentially. With the only returning player being Nick Jordain, this solidifies a new look for the Tigers. With 11 new players for Memphis and eight from D1 programs, these additions will look to fill voids and instantly make an impact. The holes were aplenty as Memphis lost 14 players from last season.
Additions such as guard PJ Haggerty, Dain Dainja, Colby Rogers, and Tyrese Hunter combined with the return of former Memphis, Oklahoma State, and Ole Miss big man, Moussa Cisse, and this roster solidified quickly as potent at many levels.
If the Tigers can sure up some shot selection concerns and continue to gel as a unit this can be dangerous offensively. On the defensive end, we predict this team to be in the ELITE status as this is what Hardaway has made a point of emphasis this offseason. To further this point, Penny would tell us he wanted “Guys that were just tough and gritty and have a grind.” and this roster oozes this as you go from top to bottom.
We will be watching closely to see how not only the new roster but also a new staff, will do something not seen in the era of Hardaway. That is to stay together and have cohesiveness all season.
We will find out on Monday night when we see a battle of Tigers in the Bluff City.
