Walton leads Memphis to 94-77 victory over Jackson State in home opener

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - The Memphis Tigers defeated the Jackson State Tigers 94-77 in their regular season opener Monday night.

Memphis played its first game without head coach Penny Hardaway, who is currently serving a three-game suspension for past recruiting violations.

Newly acquired assistant coach Rick Stansbury is in place for Memphis.

Jaykwon Walton led Memphis with a game-high 19 points. David Jones followed up with 15 points as five players scored in double figures for Memphis.

Ken Evans scored 18 points to lead Jackson State while Chase Adams posted 16 points as well.

Memphis started the game off rocky as Jackson State opened the game on a 12-2 run after falling behind 5-0.

Coach Stansbury’s crew struggled in the beginning as Memphis committed 10 first half turnovers with 5 coming in the first five minutes of action.

However, Memphis made up for it defensively by forcing Jackson State to commit 14 turnovers in the first half.

Memphis eventually bounced back to regain the lead with a 10-0 run in the 12-minute mark.

Memphis went into halftime with a 47-36 lead thanks to a perfect 6-6 shooting performance with 17 points from senior Jaykwon Walton.

Memphis took control of the second half, eventually gaining their largest lead of 17 points and totaling 94 points at the end of regulation.

“We didn’t really play well. That’s what happens early in the season. The best teams usually get better later on in the year. We just got a lot of unselfish guys,” said Caleb Mills.

Malcolm Dandridge and David Jones controlled the second half with 8 points each for Memphis as the Tigers controlled the pace of the game.

Memphis only committed six turnovers in the second half while also forcing nine turnovers on the defensive side.

“I’m proud of the way our guys came and withstood those first five minutes,” said Coach Stansbury. “We’re not as smooth as we need to be offensively, but we’re getting better.”

Memphis will go on the road to face SEC opponent Missouri on Friday, November 10 at 8 P.M. CT on the SEC Network.

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