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    Memphis vs. Missouri prediction, scouting report for Monday night's game
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    Memphis vs. Missouri prediction, scouting report for Monday night's game

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    3 minutes, 8 seconds Read

    Very little of the Memphis basketball team's season opener against Missouri will resemble how things were when the programs met this time a year ago.

    Tigers coach Penny Hardaway nearly turned over his entire roster, leaving Nicholas Jourdain as his only returning scholarship player. He did the same with his coaching staff. Mizzou coach Dennis Gates will have only one player who started last season against Memphis (Caleb Grill) at FedExForum on Monday (7 p.m., ESPN+). Gates' roster also includes a whopping nine freshmen. And Hardaway missed the game in Columbia, Missouri, in 2023 because he was serving a suspension.

    Memphis hopes that nothing changes in the outcome of the game. Hardaway's team, trailing by as many as 14 points, rallied for a 70-55 win, helping them get off to a 15-2 start to the season.

    Here are some things to keep in mind before the game.

    Memphis basketball at the lines

    If Tigers fans are worried after exhibition losses to North Carolina and Alabama, it's probably because of Memphis' struggles at the 3-point and free throw lines.

    The Tigers shot 16.2% from beyond the arc and hit just 60.5% of their free throw attempts.

    Colby Rogers, a career 39 percent 3-point shooter who is one of only three active Division I players to average 10 or more points per game at three different programs, shot just 20 percent this preseason the distance. But his self-confidence is not shaken.

    “I have every confidence that we will shoot the ball a lot better,” he said. “So I don’t really deal with it intensively. For example: 'Oh, we can't shoot the ball because of two friendlies.' I'm really happy that we didn't shoot the ball well and were still in these games. Imagine how great we will be if we shoot the ball well.

    “So that’s how I see it.”

    Does Penny Hardaway only have one contact?

    Yes – and so far it’s been PJ Haggerty.

    The Tulsa transfer, who averaged more than 21 points per game last season, scored 24 against North Carolina and 32 against Alabama.

    But Hardaway isn't interested in solely choosing one player as his favorite Tiger.

    “In the league we will feed the hot hand,” he said. “The ball ended up in PJ's hands because he performed well in the second half against Carolina.”

    “There really isn’t a primary ball-handler in our system. But he's the guy, he's proven in the first two games that he has the ball in his hands when we need a basket or need a decision. (But) everyone else will do it.” also have many options.

    MEMPHIS BASKETBALL: Penny Hardaway on the NIL drama: “Every team definitely has these problems”

    Missouri scouting report

    Gates made several key additions after Missouri failed to win a single SEC game last season, including adding five true freshmen to a team that features nine underclassmen (seven freshmen total) and nine upperclassmen. None were as big as Duke transfer guard Mark Mitchell.

    Mitchell (ranked as the No. 7 offseason transfer by CBS Sports) averaged 10.3 points in two seasons with the Blue Devils. But he will get the opportunity to play a more prominent role for Missouri. In his only exhibition game, a 90-45 loss to Lincoln, Mitchell led the way with 22 points.

    Mitchell's supporting cast includes Grill, who missed 23 games last season due to injury and is 6-3 in his fifth season as a guard. Sophomore Anthony Robinson II led Missouri with 38 steals as a freshman and had six (and six assists) against Lincoln.

    Memphis Basketball vs. Missouri Prediction

    Memphis 81, Missouri 74: Hardaway's Tigers will be rewarded for enduring a demanding preseason schedule.

    Reach or follow sportswriter Jason Munz at [email protected] @munzly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.

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