Penny Hardaway went to Saturday's news conference that followed Memphis basketball's 65-63 win over Wichita State with plenty to say.

"I'm very appreciative to the people who stuck by us through this hard time. It's been a very hard time for us the last four games," Hardaway said. "And through all of the negativity or what's warranted, what's not warranted, throughout this whole entire thing, these are still kids. And they can have bad days, they can have bad games, they can have bad weeks.

"It doesn't mean that disconnection happens between a coach and a player because you're losing now. It's happened to plenty of teams over the years. It just seems like everything gets heightened here at Memphis."

The Tigers (16-6, 5-4 American Athletic Conference) snapped their four-game losing streak with the last-minute win at FedExForum, overcoming a slow start and 14-point deficit in the second half to take the lead in the final minute. David Jones' jumper with 2.8 seconds left found the bottom of the net, and Memphis finally got back on the right track after a trying two weeks.

"I only want to do well for the city. I'm the first person that's going to be the hardest on myself. When I don't do well for the city, it guts me," Hardaway said. "So when we go on a four-game losing streak, I get no sleep, I'm as hard on myself as anybody."

Hardaway and the Tigers started the season off strong and went into the Jan. 18 game against South Florida on a 10-game winning streak. But they blew a 20-point lead and fell to the Bulls, the beginning of the skid that finally ended by beating the Shockers (9-13, 1-8).

The losing streak also cost the Tigers their top-25 ranking and dropped them toward the NCAA Tournament bubble. But Saturday's win represented a step back in the right direction.

"I'm happy that I'm coaching this team," Hardaway said. "The best team I've coached. We got into a slump. Let's call it a slump. And now we get out of it with a tough, tough win. But the fashion in which we did so is who we are. And hopefully we'll be that moving forward. I'm happy that we got the win in the fashion that we did. Now we have some positive tape to watch and be able to move forward."

Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @thejonahdylan.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis basketball: Penny Hardaway says skid: 'Very hard time for us'