Avery Woodson was looking for a screen from one of his big men. He couldn’t get the help he wanted. After hesitating for a few seconds he drove to his right, took a step back and launched a three-pointer with a man in his face. The ball fell through the net pushing Memphis’ lead to four with only 1:10 remaining in the game.
Although Woodson’s stats don’t jump off the page (eight points and three rebounds), his two three-pointers down the stretch in the second-half helped Memphis secure a much-needed 63-59, conference victory over the Cincinnati Bearcats (17-7, 7-4 American). The Tigers improved to 14-9 (5-5 American) on the year with the win.
Seventh-year coach Josh Pastner said it was not a designed play and gave all-credit to Woodson on the shot.
“It was a situation where we were trying to get the ball to a high-low situation with Shaq and Dedric, but Cincinnati guarded it well and Avery (Woodson) made a big shot,” he said. “All credit on that goes to Avery. Players make plays, and he made a big play at a key time—he put the ball in the basket.”
After dropping its last two games, Memphis was able to respond in a huge way defensively against a Bearcats’ squad that defeated them 76-72 earlier this season. Memphis was able to hold the Bearcats to 36.2 percent from the field and 22.7 percent from behind the arc. The Tigers also outrebounded Cincinnati 49-38, including 24 offensive rebounds.
Pastner said there was no time to dwell on their losses going into today’s matchup, and he and his staff focused on keeping the team positive.
“First off, this was a really good win,” he said. “I’m proud of our young men. They competed, battled, and had a quick turnaround. We had to keep the guys upbeat and positive. As you guys know there is a lot of negativity, and of course they hear it. We had to make sure to right the ship and navigate through some of the rough patches. We were in a rough patch, and the best way to get out of it is to win—and hopefully get some momentum from that. We found a way, and led from wire-to-wire.”
Freshman forward Dedric Lawson and senior big man Shaq Goodwin led the way for Memphis as both players put up 20 points and 11 rebounds apiece. Goodwin added three blocks as well.
Trahson Burrell, who was suspended the last game and a half because of an “internal matter,” brought some much needed energy off the bench for the Tigers. Burrell finished with nine points, eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block in 29 minutes of action.
Burrell said Pastner had been preaching energy and toughness before the game, as well as forgetting about their record and just leaving it all out on the floor.
Burrell said he apologized to his teammates for his actions, which led to his suspension, and said he’d never let it happen again.
“I talked to all of the guys and I apologized for my actions,” he said. “Just sitting there watching it hurts even more knowing that you can’t help your team when you lose. It hurt me a lot to see my guys out there fighting and going hard just to get the loss. It put a little burden on me. I’ll never let it happen again and never let my team down like that again. I’m just going to keep my head clear, keep a straight face and just go hard when I’m out there.”
Senior guard Troy Caupain, who torched Memphis for a career-high 25 points in their first meeting this season, led the Bearcats with 17 points five rebounds and six assists. Sophomore forward Gary Clark added 15 points and 14 rebounds as well.
The Tigers will return to action Wednesday against the Houston Cougars at Hofheinz Pavilion at 6 p.m.
“This is definitely a motivational win for us, especially going into Houston, who has been playing really well this season,” Burrell said. “We are going to put on our hard hats and go down to Houston and try to get a win.”
