PARADISE ISLANDS, The Bahamas — Ashton Hardaway had to let them know.

The Memphis basketball freshman and youngest son of Tigers coach Penny Hardaway had just hit his fifth 3-pointer in Wednesday's 71-67 win over Michigan at the Battle 4 Atlantis. Then, in stride, as he made his way down the floor, Ashton looked over his shoulder and directly into ESPN2's camera.

"I'm really like that," he said, smiling, before glancing up and nodding his head at some Wolverines fans in the Imperial Arena stands.

Ashton Hardaway is right. It has never been any secret that he is indeed really like that. A four-star recruit, he made a name for himself on the strength of his elite ability as a knockdown, deadeye shooter. But three games into his first season in college, he was getting only sporadic minutes.

Prior to Wednesday's breakout, Ashton Hardaway had played on 11 minutes this season with just two points to his credit. Not a tremendous surprise, considering the Tigers' extremely experienced roster.

Memphis, though, needed a lift. Big names like David Jones, Jaykwon Walton and Jahvon Quinerly struggled on offense, combining for just 16 points through the first 38-plus minutes of the game. Jones eventually came through, dropping nine of his 11 points in the final 97 seconds of play.

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But it was the fresh-faced Hardaway putting the team on his back when it needed a leader and announcing his arrival on national television.

Who was he talking to? The naysayers, of course.

“Oh yeah, a lot of people doubted me before this, talking about I was fading away when I went to Memphis and I made the wrong decision playing for my dad,” he told The Commercial Appeal. “So, that kind of stuff just, like, fuels me. So when I get hot like that, I just gotta let people know.”

Penny Hardaway was back on the sideline with the Tigers for the first time this season. The sixth-year coach served a three-game suspension for recruiting violations committed in 2021. So you'll have to forgive him if he was a little emotional — flexing his own muscles toward Ashton — after his son's first 3-pointer of the game.

“I did. Yep, proud dad moment,” Penny Hardaway said. “He’s a feel player, and I felt like all he needed was that one to go down and he was gonna get hot.”

That he did. Trading baskets with the Wolverines for more than a minute in the first half, Ashton Hardaway scored eight straight points to give Memphis an 18-14 lead. His first bucket of the game was a mid-range jumper where he showed off some craftiness and a knack for creating his own shot as he broke down Michigan's Will Tschetter.

It may not have been the make that grabbed most people's attention. But it let Penny Hardaway know what was to come.

“When he hit that (first field goal), I was like, ‘All right, that’s gonna open his 3 up.’ Because he made a nice move and finished that shot,” he said.

In the second half, he helped the Tigers hang on to a lead as Michigan found its footing. The Wolverines cut the deficit to 48-42, when he made the first of three straight triples. His final one pushed Memphis' lead to 57-51.

“I just feel like any time my teammates trust me with the ball to score, I’m pretty confident in my shot,” Ashton Hardaway said. “(But) it was bigger than me hitting 3's. I wasn’t really focusing on how many 3's I was hitting or how many points I was stacking up. Just staying level-headed and staying ready to shoot, executing plays.”

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Michigan guard Nimari Burnett, who scored 16 points against Memphis, came away impressed by Ashton Hardaway's showing.

“They were moving the ball well against our zone, (and) they found, at that time, the right guy,” Burnett said. “And he hit timely shots. Something we wish we could’ve taken away. Big-time shots by him.”

Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or follow him @munzly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis basketball: Ashton Hardaway quiets doubters in win vs Michigan