Kendric Davis ejected from Memphis basketball's win over Little Rock

Memphis basketball won its fifth straight game Tuesday, beating Little Rock 87-71 at FedExForum.

But the Tigers (7-2) could have paid a steep price in the process. Leading scorer Kendric Davis was ejected in the second half after a brief skirmish with the Trojans’ D.J. Smith. Davis head-butted Smith, drawing a flagrant two foul, which results in an automatic ejection.

Losing Davis for the rest of Tuesday’s game was of little consequence to Memphis, as Penny Hardaway’s team polished off Little Rock without him. But the team could have been without him for Saturday's game at No. 11 Auburn, had the officiating crew determined Davis took part in a "fight." According to a Tigers' spokesperson, however, Davis will not serve any suspension and will be available for Saturday's game (4 p.m., ESPN2).

The bad vibes weren’t limited to Davis’ dust-up, either. Malcolm Dandridge was hit with a technical foul not long after Davis’ ejection. Later, several Tigers and Trojans had to be separated near the visitors' bench, prompting coach Penny Hardaway to walk over and ask his players, "What are we doing?"

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“They came in feisty. They came in wanting to win and our team felt disrespected,” Hardaway said. “But I respected them wanting to fight. We just got out of character from just the physicality of the game and the talk. It’s just part of basketball.”

“It was just one of those games where the other team is trying to get in your head,” said Keonte Kennedy. “We just have to keep our composure as best we can. Some stuff might’ve been disrespectful or over the line. But, at the end of the day, we’ve got to keep our heads.”

Four Memphis players finished in double-figures, led by DeAndre Williams' 17 points, Jayden Hardaway's career-high 16 points, Kennedy's 14 and 10 from Lomax.

Here are three takeaways from the win:

Kendric Davis' struggles continue

The Tigers’ leading scorer is still mired in the throes of shooting slump. Still hampered by nagging ankle issues, the preseason All-American’s struggles began in the team’s win over Stanford at the ESPN Events Invitational in Orlando and continued Tuesday.

Davis, who was 3-of-15 against Little Rock, is 16 for 58 in his last four games. His frustration boiled over midway through the second half. After his 12^th miss of the game, he and Smith had to be separated, but not before Davis head-butted Smith. Davis was whistled for a flagrant 2 foul and automatically ejected.  

He put up eight points, four rebounds and four assists before being sent to the locker room.

Alex Lomax, the pickpocket

Memphis’ resident glue guy, Lomax has always been lauded for his defensive prowess.

But he’s been particularly good at creating turnovers. Lomax finished with five steals Tuesday, bringing his career total to 192, moving him past Joe Jackson for eighth place all-time in program history.

While Lomax led the way against Little Rock, he had plenty of help. The Tigers came up with a season-best 16 steals in the win. The Trojans ended the game with 17 turnovers.

Jayden Hardaway's big night

Hardaway made the seventh start of his redshirt senior season Tuesday, the same number of his first three seasons at Memphis combined.

The 6-foot-5 wing was the picture of efficiency, especially in the first half, going 5 for 5 from the floor. When the Tigers needed some scoring punch, Hardaway was there to give it to them. Memphis started the game 0 for 4 from the field. Hardaway snapped that streak, capitalizing on a Little Rock turnover, and put the Tigers up 2-0 almost three minutes into the game. Later in the first half, Hardaway deposited a pair of 3-pointers and another layup in less than 90 seconds, outscoring the Trojans 6-3 by himself during that stretch.

He finished with 16 points (on 7-of-9 shooting) and played a career-best 26 minutes.

Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.