Memphis walked into Memorial Gym and found out quickly that No. 22 Vanderbilt was in a scoring rhythm the Tigers couldn’t match.
The Commodores shot 15-of-32 from three-point range and finished with a .571 field goal percentage in a 105-81 win Tuesday night in Nashville. Memphis, meanwhile, went just 4-of-19 from deep, and that gap helped tilt the game decisively in Vanderbilt’s favor.
The Tigers also had to navigate a pair of injuries along the way. Senior Jayden Reid, fresh off being named both AP player of the week and American Conference Player of the Week, went down with a left ankle injury in the opening two minutes before returning. Senior Luke Almodovar later delivered a big dunk in the second half, landed hard, and did not come back.
Even with the loss, Almodovar gave Memphis its biggest offensive punch. He poured in a season-high 21 points, going 7-of-14 from the floor and 6-of-7 at the line. He was one of three Tigers in double figures, joined by Tylik Weeks with 15 and Reid with 11.
Josh Holloway added seven points and a team-high five rebounds, while Brandin Cummings chipped in nine off the bench.
Memphis came out with some early pop. Maxim Logue dunked the first basket of the night, Weeks followed with a mid-range jumper, and the Tigers were in front 13-12 after Reid knocked down a three with 14:07 left in the first half.
The game stayed tight for a while. Memphis trailed 30-29 at the 6:57 mark after another Weeks basket, but Vanderbilt answered with a 10-2 burst to move ahead 40-31 with 4:30 to play before halftime.
The Tigers responded with a 9-0 run of their own, fueled by seven points from Almodovar, and pulled even at 40-40 with 2:06 remaining. Vanderbilt closed the half stronger, though, finishing on a 7-2 run that included T.O. Barrett’s three at the buzzer for a 47-42 lead.
The second half opened with more of the same from the home team. Vanderbilt hit back-to-back threes to stretch the margin to 53-42 with 18:53 left, then pushed it to 73-49 with 12:42 remaining.
Memphis made one more push. Almodovar scored eight straight points and threw down two dunks to cut it to 75-60 at the 10:27 mark. But Vanderbilt kept answering, and the Tigers never got the margin back into single digits.
The loss sends Memphis home for a Sunday matchup with No. 10 Louisville at 12 p.m. on ESPN. It will be the Tigers’ third ranked opponent in four games this season.
Memphis has now won four of the last six meetings with Vanderbilt. Penny Hardaway is 2-2 against the Commodores as a coach and 2-0 against them as a player at Memphis.
Hardaway’s record against Power 4 opponents now stands at 22-11. He is 1-1 this season, with Louisville, Penn State, Baylor, Texas and either Mississippi State or Wake Forest still on the schedule.
One other notable number: Memphis scored 81 points against a Vanderbilt team that had allowed just 49.0 points per game through its first two outings.
The Tigers also continued their pattern at the line, finishing 23-of-34 on free throws and reaching at least 23 made free throws in every game this season.
Almodovar topped his previous season high of 18 points, which came against Iowa State in the opener. His career best remains 29 points, set last season against Cal Poly while at Southeast Missouri State. Tuesday was his 26th double-figure scoring game and his eighth 20-point performance in two Division I seasons.
Weeks posted his second straight double-digit scoring game and the 34th of his career, while Reid extended his streak of double-figure outings to three games and 46 for his career.
Memphis entered the week one spot outside the AP Top 25 and received 97 votes.
Senior Nemanja Popovic has been cleared by the NCAA for two years of eligibility, but the NCAA also informed Memphis that he must serve a six-game withholding period to start the 2026-27 season because of previous international competition. Tuesday was the third of those six games. Popovic started at center in Memphis’ exhibition games against Mississippi State and Arkansas, shooting 11-of-16 and averaging 14.0 points.
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Tipoff is set for 6:15 p.m., and the game will be available nationally on SEC Network+ streaming. For a Memphis team trying to keep its unbeaten start intact, this is the sort of November matchup that can reveal a lot before the schedule really starts to tighten. [Read more 🡒]
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What stands out most is how little room the Tigers have given opponents to settle in. Little Rock shot just 28.1 percent, a number that reflects the kind of pressure Memphis has brought early in the year, and the Tigers also won the battle for bench points and interior scoring. For a team trying to build on a rare fast start, the next question is whether this mix of toughness and balance can keep holding up once the schedule gets a little less forgiving. [Read more 🡒]
Memphis Has A Jayden Reid Problem Fans Should Be Watching
Memphis opened the 2026-27 season with a pair of statement wins over favored opponents in Iowa State and VCU, and Jayden Reid was right in the middle of both. He was named American Conference Player of the Week after averaging 29 points, four assists and two and a half steals, and he also reached 1,000 career points along the way, giving the Tigers an early star turn to build around.
Still, the first two games have also shown why the Tigers need more than just Reid carrying the load. Memphis has leaned heavily on him offensively, and the defense has had its own issues to sort through, all while key contributor Nemanja Popovi remains unavailable because of NCAA restrictions. The wins buy the Tigers time, but they also leave an obvious question hanging over the start of the season: how long can this level of dependence hold up? [Read more 🡒]