With losses in three of its last four games, Memphis is sliding into its Thursday night contest at home against UConn, and for the Tigers to come away with a victory they’re likely to need improved play out of forward Dedric Lawson.
Lawson excelled at the start of his freshman campaign, with a coming out party against now-No. 1 Oklahoma in which he scored a team-high 22 points. The 6-foot-8 freshman has posted a number of high-scoring performances this season, but especially recently he’s been plagued by poor efficiency.
“I think he’s probably hit a little bit of a wall, you’ve gotta remember that he should be a senior in high school, but he’s gotta get through it,” Memphis coach Josh Pastner said. “I think he’s hit a little bit of a wall, but I believe he’s gonna push through that wall and get a second wind.”
Lawson, who entered college a year early, shoots 39.3 percent from the field. That number is below average for any player, but it’s especially bad for a forward. For comparison, Nick Marshall and Shaq Goodwin, the only other Tiger forwards with consistent playing time, shoot 55 and 50 percent, respectively.
39.3 percent is poor enough to begin with, but the numbers are even worse when filtering out games against lower competition. When only counting games against teams ranked in the top 150 on KemPom.com, a college basketball analytics site, Lawson is shooting 37-125 — 29.6 percent.
In American Athletic Conference games Lawson shoots 33 percent, and if you throw out an 11-15 shooting display against East Carolina (rated No. 177 on KenPom), the number plummets to 25.9 percent.
“Ricky Tarrant, Dedric Lawson, Shaq Goodwin — those three guys; if all three play at an elite level we’re winning the game,” Pastner said. “If two of the three are playing at an elite level we’ve got a great chance to win the game. If two of the three don’t play well we’re not winning, or it’s going to be awfully hard for us to win.”
Goodwin is currently putting forth the best overall season of his four-year career, but too often this season he’s lacked help. In addition to Lawson’s efficiency issues, Tarrant, who was expected to be a major scorer when he transferred to the program over the summer, is third on the team in scoring at 12.6 points per game, and is shooting only 34.2 percent. Among rotation players, only Jeremiah Martin is shooting worse — 30 percent across only 50 shot attempts.
Tarrant has been inefficient all season long, but Lawson has shown flashes of offensive dominance, such as the 11-15 showing vs. East Carolina and a 12-18 shooting night against Southeast Missouri State.
The Tigers are desperate for a victory, and if they’re to get the win over UConn it’s likely going to require a big game from Lawson or Tarrant. When Memphis traveled to Connecticut to take on the Huskies in early January the two shot a combined 8-26 from the field, and the Tigers fell 81-78.
A better game from either Lawson or Tarrant almost definitely changes that loss to a win, and the duo gets a second chance at the Huskies on Thursday night at FedExForum. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPN2.
Dedric Lawson has averaged 14.4 points and nine rebounds per game in his freshman season.
