Jayden Reid Scores 26 as Memphis Stuns No. 18 Iowa State 80-76 in Sioux Falls

The crowd at the Sanford Pentagon was wearing cardinal and gold, the coach on the Iowa State bench made his name in South Dakota, and for most of Monday night the script read like a homecoming. Then Jayden Reid took the pen. The Memphis guard scored 26 points, including the Tigers' final 11 in the last 3:02, and Memphis knocked off No. 18 Iowa State 80-76 in the season opener for both teams.

It was the only opening-night loss by a ranked team to an unranked opponent, and a loud statement from a Memphis program coming off what its own local coverage called a tailspin of a season. Penny Hardaway rebuilt the roster, replaced his entire coaching staff and brought back former assistant Tony Madlock. One night in, the new version looks like it can close.

A Back-and-Forth First Half and a Buzzer Dunk

Neither team could find a rhythm early in a game that was whistled tight from the start. Memphis jumped out 4-0 on a series of early Iowa State fouls and live-ball turnovers, and the Cyclones briefly went ahead 9-7 before the Tigers pushed back in front. Tamin Lipsey's three tied it 19-19 at 9:31, and Iowa State retook the lead on a Ryan Prather Jr. free throw at 9:07.

The Cyclones built their biggest cushion of the night at 37-32, but Memphis kept hanging around thanks to Luke Almodovar, who had 12 points and eight rebounds before halftime, and an offensive rebounding effort that produced 10 first-half boards on the offensive glass. Lipsey put Iowa State up 39-38 with four seconds left, and that should have been the halftime score. Instead, Almodovar threw down a dunk over a defender as time expired, and Memphis went to the locker room up 40-39.

That play mattered. It flipped the lead, it flipped the energy, and it set up a second half in which Memphis never really let go of the game.

Iowa State's Cold Start After the Break

The Cyclones came out of halftime flat and went scoreless for the first four minutes of the second half. Almodovar's three at 17:31 made it 43-39, and Memphis stretched the lead to six. Iowa State answered with a push of its own and took a 46-45 edge with 14 minutes left, but that would be the Cyclones' last lead of the night. In total, Iowa State led for just 4:42 of game time.

Prather's jumper tied it 50-50 at 12:38, and the game settled into a grind of free throws and fouls. The two teams combined for 50 fouls and 65 free throw attempts, which turned long stretches of the second half into a parade to the line. Memphis went 25-of-33 at the stripe for the game, and Iowa State went 22-of-32.

What separated the teams in the second half was the three-point line. Memphis made 7 of its 10 attempts from deep after halftime and finished 9-of-20 (45 percent). Iowa State made just 4 of 20 all night. Almodovar's three at 6:53 made it 66-62, and Rihards Vavers followed with another at 5:30 to push the Memphis lead to 69-62.

The Turning Point: Reid Answers the Rally

Iowa State had one more surge left. The Cyclones ripped off a 7-0 run, capped by a Prather free throw that tied the game at 69 with 3:15 to play, and the partisan crowd finally had something to scream about.

Reid made sure it did not last. He attacked the rim for a layup at 3:02 to put Memphis back in front 71-69, then kept scoring. With 38 seconds left, Reid buried a three to make it 78-73, and he scored again to close it out. Every one of Memphis' final 11 points came from Reid.

His full line was remarkably efficient: 26 points on 6-of-11 shooting, 2-of-2 from three and 12-of-14 at the line in 28 minutes, with 17 of his points coming after halftime. When a game turns into a free throw contest, the guard who can draw contact and convert decides it, and Reid was that guard on Monday.

Almodovar and Vavers Did the Heavy Lifting

Reid closed it, but Memphis does not get to the final minutes without Almodovar and Vavers. Almodovar finished with 18 points on 5-of-12 shooting, 3-of-8 from three and 5-of-6 at the line, plus eight rebounds, tied for the team high. Vavers played 38 minutes and scored 15 points, hitting 3-of-7 from deep and grabbing five rebounds without a turnover.

Tylik Weeks ran the offense with eight points and four assists in 35 minutes, though his six turnovers were the one real blemish on the Memphis box score. Corneilous Williams added six points and eight rebounds off the bench. The Tigers' reserves only scored 13 points, but Memphis did not need much from them. The starters carried the night.

As a team, Memphis shot 23-of-55 (41.8 percent) and won the rebounding battle 38-36. It also became the first Memphis team to beat a ranked opponent in a season opener since Nov. 25, 1995, when the Tigers beat No. 24 Purdue 91-76 in Kansas City.

What Went Wrong for Iowa State

Iowa State's bench was terrific. Prather led the Cyclones with 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting and 3-of-6 from three, and Dominykas Pleta scored 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting in just 12 minutes. Iowa State's reserves outscored Memphis' 38-13, and the Cyclones won the paint 38-26.

The starters were another story. Lipsey, who is on the Naismith Player of the Year watch list and played his 138th game at Iowa State to tie for second in program history, scored 12 points but needed 13 shots and went 1-of-7 from three. Jamarion Batemon went scoreless on 0-of-6 shooting in 26 minutes. Jaquan Johnson scored nine points without making a field goal, going 0-of-5 from the floor and 9-of-10 at the line. Tre Singleton was the bright spot among the starters with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Coach T.J. Otzelberger, who previously led South Dakota State, was clearly touched by the turnout in Sioux Falls and just as clearly frustrated by his team's response. "I wish we would've matched their energy and enthusiasm tonight," he said afterward, crediting a fan base that showed up in force.

The loss was Iowa State's first in a season opener since 2017, and it gives the Cyclones the first losing record of the Otzelberger era. This is a team that lost much of its Sweet 16 core and is still learning itself, and that showed in the late-game execution.

What It Means

For Memphis, this is the kind of win that can reset the tone around a program. Hardaway overhauled nearly everything after last season, and the Tigers responded by winning a close game away from home against a ranked team, with poise at the line and shot-making when it counted. The schedule does not let up. Next up is a home game against VCU at FedExForum on Saturday, Nov. 7, followed by a trip to Vanderbilt on Tuesday, Nov. 10.

For Iowa State, there is no reason to panic, but there is plenty to fix. The Cyclones need more from Lipsey and the starting backcourt, and 4-of-20 from three will not win many nights against good teams. Iowa State plays its home opener against Southern Miss at Hilton Coliseum on Friday, Nov. 6. The full numbers are in the ESPN box score (opens in a new tab), and both schools posted recaps: Memphis Athletics (opens in a new tab) and Iowa State Athletics (opens in a new tab).

Sources: ESPN box score, Field Level Media via Deadspin, Dakota News Now, Western Iowa Today, KJAN, Iowa State Cyclones On SI, The Daily Memphian. More men's college basketball coverage on Undrafted.

One upset does not make a season. But Memphis walked into a building full of Iowa State fans and walked out with the first big statement of November.

Photo: Iowa State Athletics.