The Memphis Tigers will try to rebound after a disappointing loss at home to East Carolina Sunday as they travel to Orlando to face the UCF Knights on Tuesday at 6 p.m. on CBSSports Network.
Memphis, 12-7 (3-3), dropped to seventh in the American Athletic Conference standings and matched their record from last season through the first 19 games.
“Just a bad loss – no other way to describe it,” coach Josh Pastner said after Sunday’s loss to ECU. “I’m disappointed. No time to feel sorry or self-pity parties or point fingers, we just have to get back and play Tuesday and find a way to try to get a win on Tuesday.”
Memphis was led Sunday by Dedric Lawson, who finished with 27 points, Shaq Goodwin, who posted his 11th career double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds and Trahson Burrell’s near triple-double with 13 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.
“You’ve got to forget the good and the bad,” Goodwin said on Sunday. “Me, as a player, I’m going to get the team together and tell them to forget about it. The only thing that you can do is prepare for UCF and get better for our games next week.”
The last time the Tigers and Knights met up was in February 2015 in Orlando where Memphis came away with a 75-65 overtime victory, improving Pastner’s record to 11-1 against UCF. The Tigers were led that day by Austin Nichols’ 20 points, seven rebounds and three blocks while Kedren Johnson chipped in 13 points and four assists.
The Tigers will likely continue to lean on their two prolific post players – Goodwin and Lawson – as well as Burrell, who was named to the AAC Weekly Honor Roll after averaging 18.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and seven assists per game – including posting a career-high 24 points against Cincinnati. The Goodwin and Lawson combo has combined to average 28.6 points, 16.8 rebounds and 4.3 blocks so far this season.
Sam Craft, who joined the team in early January, had his best game of the season on Sunday, finishing with 10 points in his fourth-consecutive start. In 94 minutes of action this season he’s only turned the ball over twice.
As for UCF, they come into the game against Memphis on the heels of a 15-point defeat at Tulsa on Sunday, dropping them to 10-7 (4-2) on the season.
The Knights have used four different starting lineups this season, but the lineup of Daiquan Walker, Matt Williams, Adonys Henriquez, A.J. Davis and Tacko Fall has started the team’s last six games.
Fall, a 7-foot-6 true freshman originally from Senegal, is tied with UC-Irvine’s Mamadou N’Diaye for the tallest current player in college basketball. Fall is averaging 7.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.1 blocks in 16.9 minutes per game this season.
Davis, a former member of the Tennessee Volunteers men’s basketball program, who is averaging a team-high 13.8 points and 5.8 rebounds, leads UCF.
Henriquez is the team’s second leading scorer at 10.4 points per game, and Walker leads the team with 3.9 assists per game.
Memphis holds an 18-1 all-time record against UCF with the only loss coming in January 2012, when the Knights secured a one-point home victory.
Josh Pastner and his Tigers will hope to rebound quickly when they face the UCF Knights Tuesday night.
