The University of Memphis men’s basketball team suffered its fourth loss in five games Thursday night at FedExForum to the UConn Huskies, 77-57. Here are three quick takeaways from the game.
1. The second half collapse
Given how poor the Tigers looked on offense and defense in the second half, you would be surprised they held a 37-36 lead over the Huskies at halftime. Whatever happened during halftime either didn’t stick or frankly didn’t matter. Memphis shot 4-16 (25 percent) in the second half, compared to UConn, which shot 19-39 (48 percent) from the floor. As a result, Memphis was outscored 41-20.
Senior forward Shaq Goodwin, who had eight points and six rebounds in the loss, said he saw some “give-in” from himself and his teammates in the second half.
“I feel like we’ve got to change our mentality,” Goodwin said. “We’ve got to play like there’s nothing to lose. Hopefully, we see the severity of it, and come with a since of urgency come Saturday (against Cincinnati).”
What makes it even more surprising was Memphis failed to show a lack of urgency in the second half. The Tigers had lost three of their past four games and had fallen to 4-4 in American Athletic Conference play heading into the contest. Plus Memphis took UConn to the wire in its first matchup on the road Jan. 9, an 81-78 loss at Storrs. Regardless, the Tigers are now 13-9 on the season and surely at their lowest point, morale wise, this season.
2. Goodwin, Lawson and Tarrant Jr. fail to deliver
Memphis basketball coach Josh Pastner said at his press conference on Tuesday ahead of its game against UConn, once again, the key to the Tigers’ success is the play of forwards Goodwin and Dedric Lawson as well as point guard Ricky Tarrant Jr. The three combined for 30 points on just 7-25 from the field and 14-29 from the free throw line.
“We need those guys and obviously they didn’t play as well, when they don’t it makes it tougher on us,” Pastner said. “It’s just the facts.”
Lawson, especially, seems to have hit the “freshman wall” and hard. He had as many points (6) as turnovers (6) in the loss. Going forward, if the Tigers have any chance to save their season, it still has one albeit dwindling by the game, those three players have to find their mojo.
3. Jeremiah Martin and Markel Crawford shine in first half
Given how the game ultimately shook out, the Tigers were fortunate to be up one at the half, and it was because of strong first half performances from sophomore forward Markel Crawford and freshman point guard Jeremiah Martin. The duo combined for 17 first half points and gave Memphis energy, even if the team failed to build on it in the second half. Martin has now had two solid games in a row after being out of the rotation over the past three weeks. In a game that lacked few positives, Martin’s performance was one.
Despite his poor shooting numbers, Memphis point guard Ricky Tarrant Jr. had a team-high 16 points in the loss to UConn Thursday night.
