Memphis left Nashville with a bruising reminder that early-season momentum can disappear fast against a bigger, deeper opponent.
After back-to-back wins over Iowa State and VCU, the Tigers ran into Vanderbilt on Tuesday night and hung around for much of the first half. Memphis was still within five midway through that opening stretch, but the final 20 minutes turned into a rough slide, and the Tigers were beaten 105-81 to fall to 2-1.
There’s no real shame in losing to a top-25 team on the road. But the second half exposed more concerns than comfort for Memphis, and the night came with a few clear takeaways.
The biggest one was the absence of Nemanja Popovic. Memphis had already banked two impressive wins without its suspended international center, but Vanderbilt’s size made the gap harder to ignore.
The Tigers didn’t get much from Maxim Louge or Cornelious Williams, and the frontcourt mismatch showed up in a way it hadn’t in the earlier victories. The encouraging part for Memphis is simple: Popovic will be back after next week, and that gives the roster a piece it clearly missed in this one.
The scariest moment of the night belonged to Luke Almodovar. He finished as Memphis’ leading scorer with 21 points on 7-for-14 shooting, but his night included a frightening fall when he landed on his head after a dunk.
He reportedly was unconscious for a bit before recovering, and he later returned to the bench. The good news is that he was able to sit up on his own and head back after the incident, which made the whole sequence feel like a fortunate outcome.
There was at least one bright spot off the bench in Brandin Cummings. After scoring zero points across Memphis’ first two games and logging just nine total minutes, the former Pittsburgh double-digit scorer got a much larger opportunity against Vanderbilt.
He played 23 minutes and finished with nine points, giving the Tigers a needed lift in reserve production. Whether that turns into a bigger role remains to be seen, but it was a step in the right direction for a player Memphis expected to matter this season.
In Other News...
Former Memphis Fan Favorite Just Tapped Into A Tigers Debate
Nathaniel Roots return to campus brought a familiar face back into the conversation around Memphis basketball, and he had plenty to say beyond memories of his playing days from 2000 to 2003. The former Tigers guard talked through his career, the lessons he carried from it and how much the college game has changed since he wore the jersey, offering a perspective that still resonates with fans who remember him as part of an earlier era of the program.
Root also weighed in on one of the sports biggest ongoing debates, pointing to NIL and the transfer landscape as factors that have altered player loyalty in ways that would have been hard to imagine when he played. He touched on the influence John Calipari and Penny Hardaway have had on Memphis, and while he made clear he sees progress in the program, his comments left plenty of room for the larger question of where college basketball is headed next. [Read more 🡒]
Memphis Just Exposed A Defensive Problem Penny Hardaway Must Fix
Memphis first loss of the season came with a reminder that the Tigers still have some real work to do on the defensive end. No. 19 Vanderbilt controlled the night in a 105-81 win, beating Memphis on the glass 44-29 and piling up 15 three-pointers in a game that exposed how quickly things can unravel when the Tigers are chasing from behind.
The result was one thing, but the injury scares involving Luke Almodovar and Jayden Reid added another layer of concern. Almodovar briefly lost consciousness before later saying he was all right, and Reid also had to be checked during the game, leaving Penny Hardaway with more than just a lopsided loss to sort through as Memphis moves on from its first setback. [Read more 🡒]
Memphis Has A Response Problem Fans Can't Ignore After Latest Loss
Memphis left Nashville with a loss that was hard to spin, and the margin told the story as much as the final score did. Vanderbilt pulled away for a 105-81 win, getting a big second-half burst from Ace Glass, who scored 23 of his points after the break, while Berke Buyuktuncel added 16 points and eight rebounds and freshman Ant Brown Jr. chipped in off the bench.
For the Tigers, the concern is less about one bad night than the way the game got away from them once the pace tilted. Vanderbilt is now 3-0, and Memphis was left searching for answers after a performance that exposed how quickly things can snowball when the response is not there. [Read more 🡒]