In front of an oddly empty FedEx Forum due to the ice and snow on the roadways in Memphis, Coach Penny Hardaway and his Memphis Tigers would welcome the Owls of Florida Atlantic to the 901 for a massive American Conference matchup. These two met a couple of weeks ago, where the Owls got the better of the Tigers, giving Memphis their first of three conference losses on the season. From there, Coach Hardaway and his Tigers have struggled with identity and needed a win on Thursday night to send Memphis into the new month with a changed narrative to build off of. 

There’s no way around it, this season has not been the season that Memphis fans expect to see from their basketball team but there’s still a whole month remaining plus a conference tournament that could change a missed postseason type season to a season that is paved throught he overcome adversty of being left for dead by everyone to overcoming the odds and reaching the NCAA Tournament. All of that narrative started on Thursday night, as the Tigers faced the Owls, and a win would start to creep back in, with a winnable game on Sunday against Tulane on the horizon. FAU might not be a Cincinnati or even a UCF, but the Owls have been a thorn in the side of the Tigers since joining the conference in 2023. 

With their backs against the wall, the Tigers opened the game with venegence leading the entire first half, even taking a 41-33 lead over FAU to the locker room. In what felt like his game against FAU the first go around, Aaron Bradshaw led the Tigers in scoring in the first half with eleven points. 

Once again this season, another Memphis basketball game would come down to the second half, not only just another game, but one with this much weight on it. 

However, the Tigers answered the call in the second half by turning up the heat on defense while turning the numerous FAU turnovers into points on offense. Putting together one of the most complete games of the season, showcasing the potential this team has not only to play good basketball but to win games. Now that they’ve shown they can do it, there are no more excuses left in the book to not flip the season on its head and do a full 180 by not allowing the first half of the season to define the total story of the 2025-2026 season. 

Tonight showed what this team is capable of doing if they just played together as one team, forcing turnovers and taking advantage of every scoring opportunity tonight. Again, tonight was the Memphis team that everybody expected to see back in November, celebrate the win, but go out on Sunday and do the same thing to Tulane, and the narrative will be heading in the right direction as the race to Birmingham takes center stage in the last month of regular-season basketball. 

Aaron Bradshaw, Sincere Parker, and Dug McDaniel all scored in double digits for the Tigers, with McDaniel leading the charge with 23 points. 

Memphis will return to action on Sunday as they welcome the Tulane Green Wave to the FedEx Forum for a Sunday matinee matchup. 

Photo Credits- Memphis Basketball on X