Memphis’ second half performance overcomes early lead for No. 10 Louisville

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A strong second half left Memphis looking like a Top 25 team.

Memphis, weathered a first half offensive surge by the 10th-ranked Louisville Cardinals fueled by good shooting, and turned what was once a 18-point deficit into a 98-78 win on Sunday.

“Oh, it was bad,” Louisville coach Pat Kelsey said. “You give Memphis credit. They were the aggressors. They were the better team. I thought they were the tougher team. The more resilient team.”

For Memphis, it was a nice recovery after losing 105-81 to No. 22 Vanderbilt last Tuesday, the Tigers first loss of the season after wins over No. 18 Iowa State and Virginia Commonwealth. Sunday was more in line with those first two wins than the Vandy performance.

Maybe even more so.

“It was tough in the first half, but the players — what they were saying on the sidelines — I haven’t heard in a while, Memphis coach Penny Hardaway said. “They just never gave in, never gave up. They kept probing until they found the right mix.”

Louisville started the game as the more dominant and playing up to its Top 10 ranking. The Cardinals built the lead starting 11 of 13 from the field, including making 5 of 7 3-pointers. Near the 12-minute mark of the first half, the Cardinals were up 28-10. But Memphis would chip into the lead, trailing 52-41 at halftime.

The second half saw Memphis erase the Louisville advantage and sprint away from the Cardinals. Jayden Reid and Tylik Weeks both finished with 24 points, Reid adding 10 assists. Both had 18 points after halftime, Weeks converting all seven of his shots, as Memphis shot 74% in the final 20 minutes.

Reid said he told his teammates at halftime to “just keep playing the right way.”

“Obviously shots are going to start falling,” he said, adding: “Keep defending. Keep rebounding. …We have good scorers. We have a good offense.”

As for Louisville, Kelsey said his team just wasn’t playing to its standards after halftime. The shots weren’t falling, turnovers crept in and Cardinal defenders didn’t seem to be able to do anything to stop the Tigers successful shooting. He said whatever criticism is directed at the Louisville performance is deserved. He said that Memphis players are ”wired scorers,” and when they start seeing the ball go in the basket “looks like the ocean.”

“Everybody has the ultimate accountability in this deal, and it stars with me,” Kelsey said. “…That is the absolute truth.”

Hardaway and the Tigers could be on the cusp of starting a good run. While they defeated Louisville, they were without Luke Almodovar, the team’s second-leading scorer, and are awaiting the debut of center Nemanja Popovic, who is in a six-game holding period after the NCAA granted him two years of eligibility.

“We have a really good group,” Hardaway said. “You can’t beat Louisville if you don’t have a good group, especially by 20 being down 18.

“What we are learning is we have something special.”

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