Kendric Davis scores 22 to lead Memphis basketball to exhibition win. Here's what we learned

DeAndre Williams, ever the animated, heart-on-his-sleeve Memphis basketball player, looked around incredulously.

He had just missed back-to-back-to-back shots under the basket in the mostly nip-and-tuck first half against Christian Brothers University in exhibition action Sunday. Williams' first shot and the two subsequent tip-in attempts simply wouldn’t go down, and Williams couldn’t believe it.

It was the on-court embodiment how anyone paying attention likely felt throughout most of the contest. A very game CBU bunch did its best not to give the Tigers an inch, doing the bulk of its damage beyond the 3-point line (where it finished 8-for-20).

But Memphis came out on top, 69-60, in its first dress rehearsal of the season. Fifth-year coach Penny Hardaway said it was just the kind of game he believes some players on his team needed to experience.

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“This game was definitely a blessing for me,” he said. “I felt like Christian Brothers really outplayed us today. Just playing hard, playing with energy, moving the ball, playing the right way. It’s a tape that I definitely needed to try to prove to them that whatever we say to them in practice is real.

“If the guys in that locker room have the pride I think they have, they’ll start taking everything seriously.”

Here are some takeaways from the game.

Kendric Davis

A familiar face, having spent the past three seasons wreaking havoc on the AAC as SMU’s elite point guard, Kendric Davis lived up to his reputation as a difference-maker.

The reigning AAC Player of the Year dropped 22 to lead the Tigers. He strived to execute a mix of 3-point shooting and damage inside the paint. He was more successful with the latter. Davis missed all five 3-point attempts, but was effective driving to the basket, making 5 of 7 field-goal attempts inside the arc.

Davis also made the most of his penetration, getting to the free throw line regularly and converting frequently (12 out-of-13).

Davis called his Memphis debut "lovely," and added he expects his team to straighten things out quickly.

"We’re not making no excuses,” he said. “We ain’t trying to lose a game. That’s my mindset. That’s everybody’s mindset.”

Starting lineup

As usual, coach Hardaway’s starting lineup was again a point of great curiosity in the buildup to Sunday’s game.

Hardaway elected to go with a mostly familiar look. Davis was the only newcomer on the court to start the game. The rest of the lineup consisted of Alex Lomax, Jayden Hardaway, Williams and Malcolm Dandridge. Hardaway said he wanted to see how Lomax and Davis worked together, whether Jayden Hardaway could hit some shots early and the dynamic between the veteran bigs in Williams and Dandridge.

But he cautioned anyone against reading too much into that.

"It’ll be a different lineup next Sunday (in a 1 p.m. exhibition game against Lane College),” he said. “That’s just me. I do it in practice all the time as well.”

The Tigers mixed and matched heavily the rest of the way. Newcomer Keonte Kennedy scored nine points off the bench, and Elijah McCadden (the defending Sun Belt Sixth Man of the Year) led all players with a plus-17 plus-minus rating.

Ty-Laur Johnson in the house

Two weeks after landing his first commitment of the 2023 recruiting class (Ryan Forrest), Hardaway got another pledge Sunday afternoon.

Four-star guard Carl Cherenfant announced his plan to sign with the Tigers shortly after halftime.

Also on the recruiting front, Memphis had four-star point guard Ty-Laur Johnson in the building. Johnson, a senior at St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark, N.J., sat behind the home team’s bench for the duration. He is expected to announce his commitment soon and is picking between Memphis, NC State and Mississippi State.

Shooting?

While the Tigers picked up the win, one of the top concerns about the team throughout the offseason – outside shooting – surfaced early and often against CBU.

Memphis made just 2 of 19 3-point attempts. Johnathan Lawson and Kennedy (one in each half) were the only Tigers with successful 3-pointers.

Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis basketball: What we learned in exhibition win over CBU