David Jones left Tulane’s Sion James before the inbounds pass had even been thrown. Just left him wide open in the corner to try and get a steal for reasons Penny Hardaway seemed miffed by afterward.

Memphis had the lead, but never did again in its 81-79 loss to Tulane on Sunday in New Orleans. James sank that 3-pointer, and soon the entire Tulane student section came streaming out of the stands for a court-storming more than 40 years in the making. This Tigers season that seemed so promising is suddenly taking on serious amounts of water after a second-straight setback.

So here we are again, left with an all too familiar feeling for those who have followed Hardaway’s teams at Memphis. The details are threatening to devour all of the talent.

“I’ve been here. I understand what adversity is. I’ve been here,” Hardaway said. “We’ve always been a last-four-in type team, so I’ve always had to fight through adversity.”

It's reassuring because he has gotten Memphis out of worse situations the past few years. But it's also rough to hear him concede this program could be stuck on repeat.

That, of course, is why the past month has become increasingly worrisome and officially crossed the threshold of being a crisis with this week’s skid. It has had all of the hallmarks of the roller-coaster rides Memphis went on the past few seasons with Hardaway — chemistry concerns, key injuries and inconsistent roster management — and this time the Tigers aren’t playing much defense, either.

None of it should prevent Memphis from making the NCAA Tournament, just as it didn’t the past two years. Indeed, the Tigers are still technically in position to get a better seed if they can figure out what has gone wrong of late. But this season was never about just making the tournament again. It was about making a run in March Madness. It was about getting Memphis basketball over the hump and into the conversation among college basketball's best teams.

Back in December, this group sure seemed poised to do all of that. It still could be, too. Don't lose sight of that when it's still only January.

But the longer it continues to compound every good play with a silly one, or every physical feat with a mental error, the harder it becomes to be that optimistic.

It’s Jones putting together another 32-point, 11-rebound performance, only to consistently lose his man on defense and give up open shot after open shot.

It’s Malcolm Dandridge playing arguably the best game of his college career (13 points, eight rebounds and an absurd eight blocks), only for the usually reliable Jahvon Quinerly to play arguably his worst game at Memphis.

It’s forcing Tulane into 30% shooting in the first half, only for it to shoot better than 50% after halftime.

It’s giving up 29 foul shots to Tulane — and there were a few that seemed like home cooking, especially a late flagrant foul called on Quinerly — only for Memphis to shoot 14 of 22 from the free-throw line and make it a lot harder to declare officiating as the difference.

It’s Hardaway lamenting yet again that the players stopped following his game plan, only to not acknowledge that he played one son (Jayden Hardaway) too much and set up a crucial 3-pointer late for his other son (Ashton Hardaway), even though he hadn’t played the entire second half to that point.

It’s watching this group play so inspired against a daunting nonconference schedule, only to see it fall into the same traps that have kept it from truly taking off under Hardaway — and wondering if the decisions to add Kansas State big man Nae’Qwan Tomlin midseason and allow Jordan Brown to return to the program might have contributed to the in-fighting Hardaway keeps referencing.

“I’m built for this. We’re built for this,” he said. “Not everything was going to be peachy.”

He’s right that no season goes in a straight line. Maybe that’s how this will be remembered — as the inevitable curveball even great teams run into eventually.

Maybe we'll remember the USF loss as a letdown that would have been avoided with a full crowd at FedExForum. Maybe we'll remember this latest loss at Tulane as one that would have been avoided had Jaykwon Walton not gotten hurt. UConn, if you remember, lost five of six games at one juncture last season before winning a national title.

But not everything had to be as hard as it has been recently for Memphis.

That’s what the Tigers must ponder with a week off before playing at UAB — a week that will either turn this season back in the right direction or send it spiraling in a manner that seemed unfathomable not long ago.

You can reach Commercial Appeal columnist Mark Giannotto via email at mgiannotto@gannett.com and follow him on X: @mgiannotto

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis basketball: Tulane loss leaves Penny Hardaway in familiar spot