NASSAU, Bahamas — Ashton Hardaway hit the first five 3-pointers of his collegiate career in scoring 17 points and helped Memphis hold off Michigan 71-67 Wednesday in the Battle 4 Atlantis with both head coaches making their first appearances on the bench this season.
Juwan Howard, recovering from heart surgery on Sept. 15, was an observer while Phil Martelli continued to serve as interim head coach. Penny Hardaway was back for Memphis after returning from a three-game suspension resulting from recruiting violations.
Penny Hardaway has two sons on the team, freshman Ashton and graduate senior Jayden. Ashton, who had just two points this season, was 5 of 7 from the arc, including three consecutive 3-pointers in the second half while Michigan (3-2) was cutting a 16-point deficit to one with three minutes left.
Jaykwon Walton and David Jones hit 3-pointers and Memphis (4-0) was able to rebuild a nine-point edge with a minute remaining. But Dug McDaniel hit a couple baskets and Tray Jackson put in a baseline 3-pointer after a held-ball turnover to trail by two with 9.1 seconds left. Memphis was able to break the press and Jones made two free throws for the final score.
Memphis will play the Stanford-Arkansas winner in a semifinal Thursday while Michigan will get the loser.
Jones scored all 11 of his points in the second half, including the Tigers’ last nine points, and Caleb Mills finished with 10 for Memphis.
Olivier Nkamhoua scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half for Michigan before fouling out with 2:39 left. Nimari Burnett added 16 points and McDaniel scored all 13 of his points in the second half. Tarris Reed Jr. had 12 rebounds to go with eight points and four blocks.
Michigan outrebounded Memphis 50-28, including 19-6 on the offensive boards for a 15-4 edge on second-chance points. But the Wolverines committed 18 turnovers leading to 21 Memphis points. Memphis’ bench outscored Michigan’s 32-10.
The Tigers led 37-25 after a 17-6 run to end the first half. Burnett hit a 3-pointer to get Michigan within a point with nine minutes remaining before the Tigers pulled away, capping their run with eight straight points on 3-pointers by Jayden Hardaway and Jahvon Quinerly and a step-back jumper by Mills that left a defender falling backwards.
Burnett had 13 first-half points, getting the last basket of the half for the 12-point margin.
