Memphis Knocks Off No. 18 Iowa State in Opening Night Thriller

Monday, November 2

Sioux Falls, S.D.

6 p.m.

University of Memphis

1-0,0-0American

No. 18 Iowa State

0-1,0-0Big 12

Team	1	2	F
Memphis	40	40	80
Iowa St.	39	37	76

Nov 03, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Final Book (PDF)

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – A statement win to start the season, the Memphis men's basketball program ousted No. 18 Iowa State 80-76 in a neutral site game Monday at Sanford Pentagon.

The game was tied 69-69 with 3:15 left when senior Jayden Reid scored four consecutive points to put Memphis (1-0) up 73-69. After the Cyclones (0-1) got back within two at 75-73, Reid drilled a dagger three-pointer with 38 seconds remaining to make it 78-73.

Reid hit a pair of free throws with 20 seconds to go, and the Tigers got stops defensively to close it out.

Memphis improved to 9-0 in season openers under head coach Penny Hardaway. It was the program's first win over a ranked opponent on opening day since Nov. 25, 1995 when the 12th-ranked Tigers topped No. 24 Purdue 91-76 in Kansas City, Missouri.

Reid poured in a game-high 26 points on 6-of-11 shooting and 12-of-14 from the free throw line. Most of his damage came in the second half where he netted 17 points.

A big night came from senior Luke Almodovar who tallied 18 points, eight rebounds and a pair of steals. He threw down a highlight dunk to beat the buzzer at the end of the first half, which gave the Tigers a 40-39 edge at the intermission.

Fifth year Rihards Vavers notched 15 points and hit a trio of three-pointers. He also pulled down five rebounds.

Memphis outrebounded Iowa State 38-36. Fifth year Corneilous Williams secured eight rebounds off the bench to go along with six points. The Tigers also led the steals battle 7-4 which led to a 14-5 advantage in fast break scoring.

The Tigers made a living at the line where they were 25-of-33 (.758). Memphis was also 9-of-20 (.450) from beyond-the-arc.

The Tigers led 6-2 early after a lay-in by Rihards. A three by senior Jerry Deng made it 16-12 Memphis at the 12:16 mark.

The Tigers were still in front 30-27 after a tip-in by Williams with 6:48 left. Memphis carried a 40-39 lead into the half after a last-second throwdown dunk by Almodovar.

Memphis scored the first five points of the second half and was up 45-39 after a bucket by senior Tylik Weeks. A pair of free throws by Reid kept the Tigers ahead 55-50 with 12:04 to go.

A dunk by Weeks on the fast-break put Memphis in front 58-52 with 10:32 remaining. A three by Vavers extended it to 69-62 at the 5:30 mark.

Iowa State battled back and tied it 69-69 with 3:02 left. Though, four straight points from Reid gave the Tigers a 73-69 edge with 2:39 to go. Reid's two free throws with 20 seconds left upped the lead to 80-74.

The game featured 11 ties and 12 lead changes, but Memphis led for over 32 minutes in the contest.

The Cyclones were led by Ryan Prather Jr.'s 19 points off the bench.

Memphis will play its home opener Saturday when it hosts VCU (RV) at 2 p.m. at FedExForum. The game can be watched on ESPN+.

ICE IN HIS VEINS https://t.co/nK2ylmE1wn
— Memphis Basketball (@Memphis_MBB) November 3, 2026

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

- The Tigers improved to 3-0 in season openers against Power 4 opponents under Hardaway. It included previous wins over Missouri 83-75 in 2024-25 and Vanderbilt 76-67 in 2022-23.

- Hardaway is now 22-10 against Power 4 opponents.

- 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.

- Hardaway improved to 2-1 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 when Otzelberger was at Iowa State.

- Memphis improved to 182-148 all-time on a neutral court.

- The Tigers are now 137-12 under Hardaway when leading at half, 119-35 when they outrebound the opposition, 103-23 when they make more free throws and 91-13 when scoring at least 80 points.

- Reid, a Preseason All-Conference First-Team honoree, faced former teammate Tre Singleton from Iowa State who ended with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Reid and Singleton were starters on Northwestern last season.

- Reid's 26 points were two shy of his career-high 28 set last season against Illinois as a member of Northwestern. It was his eighth career 20-plus scoring outing and 44th career double-figure scoring performance. Reid's 12 made free throws were a career-high, surpassing his 11 against Virginia on Nov. 21, 2025.

- Almodovar submitted his 25th career double-figure scoring game at the Division I level after doing so 24 times last year at Southeast Missouri State. He nailed three long range shots and was 5-of-6 from the charity stripe.

- Vavers etched his 29th career double-digit scoring outing. He logged a career and game-high 38:07 minutes.

- The team saw 10 student-athletes make their Memphis debut. It included senior Josh Holloway, senior Jerry Deng, junior Maxim Logue, junior Brandin Cummings, freshman Cello Jackson Jr., Reid, Almodovar, Vavers, Weeks and Williams.

- Memphis was without senior Nemanja Popovic, who 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. Popovic started at center in the team's exhibition games against Mississippi State and Arkansas and was 11-of-16 (.688) from the field and averaged 14.0 points per game.

OMGGGGGGG ARE YOU SERIOUS !!!!!!!!!!!!! @lukealmo https://t.co/2RnqhJzYmo
— Memphis Basketball (@Memphis_MBB) November 3, 2026

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