Memphis opened the season with a win that looked like a March-type grind, not a November warmup.
Behind 26 points from Jayden Reid, the Tigers knocked off No. 18 Iowa State 80-76 in a neutral-site game Monday at Sanford Pentagon, using a late burst to take control after the Cyclones had clawed all the way back. The game was tied 69-69 with 3:15 left when Reid scored four straight points to push Memphis ahead 73-69, and after Iowa State trimmed the margin to 75-73, Reid buried a three-pointer with 38 seconds left to make it 78-73.
He finished the job at the line, hitting two free throws with 20 seconds remaining as Memphis closed it out with stops on the defensive end.
The victory gave Penny Hardaway’s team a 1-0 start and kept a perfect trend intact: Memphis is now 9-0 in season openers under Hardaway. It also marked the program’s first win over a ranked opponent on opening day since Nov. 25, 1995, when the 12th-ranked Tigers beat No. 24 Purdue 91-76 in Kansas City, Missouri.
Reid was the headliner, but Memphis had plenty of help. Luke Almodovar delivered 18 points, eight rebounds and two steals, including a buzzer-beating dunk at the end of the first half that sent the Tigers into the break ahead 40-39. Rihards Vavers added 15 points, knocked down three triples and grabbed five rebounds.
Memphis also won the hustle battle in several key areas. The Tigers outrebounded Iowa State 38-36, got eight rebounds and six points from Corneilous Williams off the bench, and finished with a 7-4 edge in steals that helped fuel a 14-5 advantage in fast-break scoring. They were also efficient enough at the stripe to survive the swings, going 25-of-33 from the free throw line, while hitting 9-of-20 from deep.
The opening stretch belonged to Memphis. The Tigers jumped out 6-2 after a lay-in by Rihards, and a three from Jerry Deng made it 16-12 at the 12:16 mark. They still led 30-27 after a Williams tip-in with 6:48 left in the half before Almodovar’s last-second dunk gave Memphis a 40-39 edge at intermission.
The Tigers kept the pressure on to start the second half, scoring the first five points and going up 45-39 after a basket by Tylik Weeks. Reid’s free throws later kept Memphis in front 55-50 with 12:04 to play, and Weeks added a fast-break dunk to stretch the margin to 58-52 with 10:32 left. Vavers then pushed the lead to 69-62 with a three-pointer at the 5:30 mark.
Iowa State answered, though, and eventually tied it at 69-69 with 3:02 remaining. That set up Reid’s closing run, and Memphis never let go from there.
Ryan Prather Jr. led the Cyclones with 19 points off the bench.
Memphis now turns to its home opener Saturday against VCU (RV) at 2 p.m. at FedExForum. The game will be shown on ESPN+.
There were also some notable side notes from the night. The win was Memphis’ highest-ranked opening-day victory ever, topping the previous best of a 70-66 win over No.
20 Cleveland State on Nov. 22, 1986 in the Coca-Cola Preseason NIT. Hardaway improved to 3-0 in season openers against Power 4 opponents, and to 22-10 against Power 4 teams overall.
Reid’s night carried extra weight too. The Preseason All-Conference First-Team pick went up against former teammate Tre Singleton, who finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds for Iowa State.
Reid ended two points shy of his career high of 28, set last season against Illinois while at Northwestern, and his 12 made free throws were a career best. Almodovar logged his 25th career double-figure scoring game at the Division I level, while Vavers posted his 29th career double-digit scoring outing and played a game-high 38:07.
Memphis also unveiled a lot of new faces. Ten student-athletes made their Tigers debut, including Josh Holloway, Jerry Deng, Maxim Logue, Brandin Cummings, Cello Jackson Jr., Reid, Almodovar, Vavers, Weeks and Williams.
One notable absence was Nemanja Popovic, who had been cleared by the NCAA for two years of eligibility but was informed he must serve a six-game withholding period to begin the 2026-27 season because of previous international competition. Popovic started at center in Memphis’ exhibition games against Mississippi State and Arkansas, and in those two games he went 11-of-16 from the field while averaging 14.0 points.
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For Memphis fans, the result that jumps off the page is Iowa States unexpected loss to the Tigers, a reminder that conference reputation only goes so far once the games begin. Arizonas rally fell short, but Kharchenkovs night added another layer to what is already shaping up as a league-wide debate about which Big 12 teams are ready to separate themselves early and which ones still have more proving to do. [Read more 🡒]