Memphis Opens Regular Season against No. 18 Iowa State in South Dakota

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The 2026-27 regular season will get underway Monday when the Memphis men's basketball program faces No. 18 Iowa State in a 6 p.m. neutral site game at Sanford Pentagon.

The Tigers (0-0) are 8-0 in season openers under head coach Penny Hardaway. It includes wins over Tennessee Tech twice, SC State, Saint Mary's, Vanderbilt, Jackson State, Missouri and San Francisco.

Memphis played a pair of exhibition games against SEC opponents on the road. It beat Mississippi State 75-78 before falling to No. 12 Arkansas 93-81.

In the win over the Bulldogs, Memphis opened the second half on an 11-0 run to go up 50-35 and the team's lead never dipped below 14 points in the final 16 minutes. The Tigers led for over 38 minutes in the game.

Memphis outscored Arkansas 47-45 in the second half despite the loss. Senior Nemanja Popovic registered 16 points and pulled down a team-high six rebounds. He was 5-of-7 from the field and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line.

Popovic was cleared by the NCAA for two years of eligibility. However, the NCAA notified Memphis that Popovic must serve a six-game withholding period to begin the 2026-27 season due to previous international competition. Memphis is appealing the withholding period and an update regarding Popovic's status will be provided once the NCAA has reached a final decision.

Senior Jayden Reid was named to the Preseason All-Conference First-Team after transferring from Northwestern where he averaged 10.1 points per game. Reid led the Tigers in the exhibition win over Mississippi State with a game-high 26 points and was 11-of-15 from the field with four assists, three steals and no turnovers.

Reid will be facing a former teammate Monday when he sees Iowa State's Tre Singleton. Both were starters on Northwestern last season. Singleton averaged 7.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.

Senior Tylik Weeks was tabbed to the Preseason All-Conference Second-Team. He transferred from Southern Miss where he led the Sun Belt Conference in scoring last season with 19.7 points per game. The Sun Belt All-Conference First-Team selection scored in double figures in 32 of 34 games and scored at least 30 points four times.

Memphis returned two student-athletes including one starter in junior Julius Thedford. The team's leading rebounder, Thedford averaged 8.4 points and 5.0 rebs per game, while senior William Whorton comes back after playing in 19 contests and starting in four.

Memphis was predicted to finish second in the American Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll and received four of 13 first-place votes. The Tigers received 131 points, only behind Wichita State's 140 points and nine first-place votes.

Iowa State is coming off a 29-8 season where it reached the Sweet 16. The Cyclones played a pair of exhibition games where it fell to Creighton 83-80 before beating Northwestern 94-59. Tamin Lipsey, who averaged 13.5 points per game last season, did not play against Creighton but recorded 14 points and seven assists in 30 minutes against Northwestern.

Monday's game can be watched on FS1 with Connor Onion and Miles Simon on the call, and can be heard on 98.9 The Roar with Dave Woloshin and Ken Moody.

NOTES
- The last time Memphis opened the season at a neutral site was Nov. 25, 2020 when it beat Saint Mary's 73-56 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at the Sanford Pentagon.

- The last time the Tigers opened the season against a ranked opponent was an 82-70 defeat against No. 25 Alabama on Nov. 10, 2017 in a neutral game in Annapolis, Maryland, prior to Hardaway's arrival.

- The last time Memphis beat a ranked opponent on opening day was Nov. 25, 1995 when the 12th-ranked Tigers topped No. 24 Purdue 91-76 in Kansas City, Missouri.

- The highest ranked opponent Memphis has ever beaten on opening day was No. 20 Cleveland State 70-66 on Nov. 22, 1986 in the Coca-Cola Preseason NIT at home.

- Memphis is 2-0 in season openers against Power 4 opponents under Hardaway with wins over Missouri 83-75 in 2024-25 and Vanderbilt 76-67 in 2022-23.

- The Tigers are 21-10 against Power 4 opponents under Hardaway in eight seasons.

- It's just the second-ever meeting between Memphis and Iowa State as the Cyclones took the first 78-59 at the NIT Season Tip-Off in Brooklyn, New York in in 2021-22.

- Hardaway is 1-1 against Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger as the two faced off in Hardaway's first year in 2018-19 when Otzelberger was the head coach at South Dakota State. The Tigers won 88-80 on Dec. 4, 2018 at FedExForum, before the two met again in 2021-22.

- Memphis' last win over a ranked team was Dec. 28, 2024 against No. 16 Ole Miss 87-80 at home. The last win over a ranked team on a neutral court was Nov. 25, 2024 against No. 2 UConn 99-97 (OT) at the Maui Invitational in Hawaii.

- The Tigers are 181-148 all-time on a neutral court.

- The Tigers non-conference schedule boasts an average opponent NET of 96.7, based on the final 2025-26 rankings, and adds to Hardaway's long-standing philosophy of playing elite opponents.

The Tigers are back Ⓜ️ #GoTigersGo https://t.co/9imZ7w8PT9
— Memphis Basketball (@Memphis_MBB) November 1, 2026

How to follow the Tigers: For complete information on Memphis Tigers Men's Basketball, visit http://www.GoTigersGo.com and follow the team's social media channels on Twitter and Instagram.

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Players Mentioned

Nemanja Popovic

Jayden Reid

Julius Thedford

Tylik Weeks

William Whorton

University of Memphis Athletics