Who Penny Hardaway said was on Memphis basketball's growing injury list before Cincinnati game

Penny Hardaway’s decision-making ability will be tested Sunday.

The Memphis basketball coach, who met with the media Friday ahead of Sunday’s AAC showdown with Cincinnati (2:30 p.m., ABC), listed four Tigers as “game-time decisions” as the group deals with various ailments. Memphis (8-5, 2-1 AAC) has won three of its last four, while Cincinnati (11-4, 1-1) beat SMU Thursday after losing to Tulane the game before.

Center Jalen Duren, who sat out the win over Tulsa with a bothersome hip, is one. Forward DeAndre Williams came out of Tuesday’s game late in the second half with a back injury and did not return. Junior guards Landers Nolley II (neck) and Jayden Hardaway (right leg) also made the list. Those four players are in addition to guard Alex Lomax (ankle) and forward Chandler Lawson (ankle), both of whom have already been ruled out for Sunday’s game. It will be Lomax’s third game in a row sitting out and Lawson’s ninth.

“I think that’s it,” Hardaway said after a prolonged pause.

On the flip side, wing Emoni Bates (finger infection) could be on the verge of making his return. He has not played since the Dec. 14 win over Alabama.

“Emoni ... practiced yesterday, so we’ll see,” said Hardaway. "We're hoping to have everyone. But you just don't know until Sunday morning, just to see how they feel."

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The only Memphis players who have seen regular playing time this season and weren’t on Hardaway’s injury report were guards Earl Timberlake, Lester Quinones and Tyler Harris, wing Josh Minott, and center Malcolm Dandridge.

Hardaway said his son, Jayden, has been dealing with a sore knee, and Williams' back has been less than 100% healthy since he got to Memphis as a transfer from Evansville.

"(Jayden) just kind of reinjured an area on his knee that's been really sore with tendinitis," Hardaway said. "So, he's been nursing that injury for a while, for at least three weeks. So, we're just kind of sitting him out. Everyone else, it just happened. DeAndre's back, you know, he's had a bad back since he's been here. So, to aggravate that area that has always given him problems, he's always been able to maintain and keep it calm and under control. But whatever it was, it shut him down. He's in bad shape."

For Hardaway and those healthy Tigers, he said the only way to prepare is “as normal” and keep their fingers crossed.

“Hopefully all of those guys that I mentioned that are game-time play,” he said. “(But) I guess (you go through) the routine of getting prepared for the game, offensively and defensively, and have those (injured) guys on the sideline just watching.”

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

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis basketball: Penny Hardaway hopes Emoni Bates back vs Cincinnati