In sports, the term "must-win" applies to any game that a team or player feels is imperative to the success of a season. The outcome of the year basically hangs on winning that contest and coming up short would mean utter disappointment.
For The University of Memphis men's basketball team, tomorrow's match-up against Gonzaga is a must-win game.
If the Tigers (16-6, 6-2 Conference USA) hope to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament without winning the C-USA tournament automatic entry, tomorrow's game against the Bulldogs (17-4, 6-1 West Coast Conference) is their last chance to win against a non-conference opponent.
The U of M had chances earlier in the season against notable non-conference opponents Kansas, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Syracuse, but lost each of those games. They have also surrendered two league games to Texas El-Paso and Southern Methodist, which signaled an end to the chokehold the Tigers have held on C-USA during the past four seasons.
According to the Rating Percentage Index, a tool the NCAA uses to select the participants for its postseason tournament, the Tigers are ranked 70th out of 347 Division I basketball teams. The RPI uses a team's winning percentage, its opponents' winning percentage and the winning percentage of those opponents' opponents to rank and seed the 65-team field at the end of the year.
Gonzaga, ranked 29th in the RPI standings, are coming off of a 81-77 overtime loss to San Francisco, an upset that snapped a Bulldogs nine-game winning streak dating back to Dec. 28.
The Bulldogs are led in scoring by 6-foot-5 senior guard Matt Bouldin, who averages 16.5 points per contest, to go with 4.3 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game. They also receive tremendous production down low from freshman forward Elias Harris. The 6-foot-7 German native averages 16.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per game, and has notched five double-doubles so far this season.
The U of M will look to keep Harris and the Bulldogs, who average nearly 40 boards per game, off the glass. The Tigers, who have had trouble securing rebounds all season, will look to big men Pierre Henderson-Niles and Will Coleman to bring down the boards. The two have a total of just three double-digit rebounding games all year.
Gonzaga junior guard Steven Gray also chips in 13.9 points per game, while 7-foot sophomore center Robert Sacre averages 10.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per contest.
Although the Zags are a perennial top-25 team and make the NCAA Tournament each year, they haven't had much success against the Tigers lately.
The U of M has won the last four contests between the two teams, with their last loss coming in a 88-73 loss at home during the 1998-99 season.
Last season the Tigers took a 68-50 victory on the road in Spokane, Wash., to upset the then-No. 18 Bulldogs. At the time, The U of M was ranked No. 14 in the country.
But in the course of a short year, the times have changed. Now it's Gonzaga who has the chance to get the win on the road, especially against an under-manned Tigers that many don't expect to make the NCAA Tournament.
Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. at FedExForum.
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