"We had a chip on our shoulders...they embarrassed us": Penny Hardaway admits Mississippi State upset fuelled Tigers' Ole Miss win

Memphis Tigers coach Penny Hardaway understood that his team needed a response after the disappointing 66-79 loss to Mississippi State on Dec. 21. Memphis bounced back in a big way, defeating No. 16 Ole Miss 87-70 on Saturday.

Hardaway was candid in his assessment of his team's performance against the Bulldogs, calling them “soft" and needing to show more fight. It was the type of criticism that can light a fire under a team, and the Tigers responded to Hardaway's words against the Rebels.

After the win against Ole Miss, a reporter mentioned Chris Beard's comments to Penny Hardaway, suggesting that Memphis appeared to care more about the game than his own team did.

"It was absolutely true. It was true because we had a chip on our shoulders for how we played last week," Hardaway replied (7:02). "Mississippi State is a damn good team, and to go out there and not fight, they embarrassed us.

"So we had to go through Christmas and enjoy Christmas with family, but we knew we had to get back to business. We knew that we couldn't let Ole Miss come in here and do the same thing that Mississippi State had done."

The Tigers led by only two points in the first half, but were able to pull away in the second half, outscoring Ole Miss 49-34.

Penny Hardaway admits his team could not handle another loss

Penny Hardaway's Memphis Tigers came into the Ole Miss game with back-to-back losses at home — a 72-85 defeat against Arkansas State on Dec. 8 and the Mississippi State defeat last week.

Had they lost to the Rebels at FedExForum on Saturday, it would have been the first time the Tigers had lost three home games in a row under Penny Hardaway's tenure.

"Today's game, in my mind, was a must-win. That's why the practices were much harder," he said postgame (2:28).

"We had to be tough today. That's what we've been doing in all our wins — being the tougher team," he added. (7:50). "We definitely didn't want to lose three in a row at home because that just doesn't send a good message to our fans and to the rest of the league. Anybody would feel like they could come in here and win."

The Tigers' defensive effort was a big factor in the win as they held Ole Miss to just 36.4% shooting — a complete turnaround from the Mississippi State game where they allowed the Bulldogs to shoot 44.3%. Memphis plays its next game at Florida Atlantic, its first AAC game, on Jan. 2.