The Memphis basketball team is about to find out what it’s made of.
Beginning Thursday, the Tigers (3-0) will play four games in seven days. All of them will be played far from home. And odds are most of their opponents will be NCAA Tournament teams.
Memphis coach Penny Hardaway acknowledged he did this to himself, but that doesn’t make the upcoming stretch any easier to stomach.
“It’s the toughest stretch of the year,” Hardaway said Tuesday before the team leaves for a neutral-site game against San Francisco (9 p.m., ESPNU) in San Francisco. “Maybe my toughest (stretch) in my coaching (career) at Memphis.”
The gauntlet starts with the Dons (4-0), who are sporting an average margin of victory of 23.5 points and are rated No. 53 by KenPom. After that, Memphis heads to Hawaii where they will open the Maui Invitational against No. 2 UConn (1:30 p.m., Monday, ESPN2), the first of three games on consecutive days. The Tigers will face either Colorado or Michigan State on Tuesday, then finish the tournament against either North Carolina, Iowa State, Auburn or Dayton.
The eight-team Maui Invitational field features three of the top five teams in this week’s USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll and four of the top 12.
While it may feel like he’s bitten off a bit more than he can chew, Hardaway prefers it this way.
“It’s heavy hitter after heavy hitter. To me, this is the type of stuff you live for when you’re a competitor,” he said. “When you go on the road for that long, playing great games every game – let’s see if we’re up to the challenge.”
Preparation is key, according to Tigers players.
“You’ve got to be mentally and physically on point going into it,” said senior forward Nicholas Jourdain.
“I think we’ve got a group of older guys who know that you’ve got to take full account of the next game,” guard Tyrese Hunter said. “Then, work our way from there. The most important game is the next game.”
PJ Haggerty, Tyrese Hunter injury updates
Hunter and fellow guard PJ Haggerty are still being held out of practice, Hardaway said Tuesday. Both are still dealing with knee issues that are keeping them from being 100% healthy.
“Tyrese is struggling a little bit – still nursing that knee,” Hardaway said. “PJ’s kinda the same, on the sideline.”
But, Hardaway added, both are expected to play against San Francisco on Thursday.
“The challenge is going to be Hawaii,” he said. “I’m just praying we get through San Francisco healthy, then see how it goes with three games in a row.”
Despite their injury issues, Haggerty and Hunter have still been plenty productive. In last week’s win over Ohio, they scored 23 and 21 points, respectively. Hunter also added six assists, five rebounds and four steals.
“Maybe Tyrese is not as explosive as he wants to be,” said Hardaway. “Maybe it’s certain moves that he makes a little more (cautiously) than he would if he was perfectly healthy. Once he plants and explodes, maybe that hurts his knee. But he’s able to play a floor game where he can shoot jump shots and space the floor.”
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at [email protected] or follow him @munzly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis basketball schedule: Penny Hardaway on ‘toughest stretch’
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