Coming off their big loss in the “Big Easy,” the Memphis Tigers were hoping to bounce back against another American Athletic Conference opponent, the University of Central Florida Knights.
The Tigers once again avoided its first three-game losing streak under coach Josh Pastner, beating UCF 73-56.
After a late push by the university to get fans in the seats, the announced turnstile attendance was 6,273 at FedExForum in Memphis Wednesday night, just shy of the 6,666 goal.
Pastner said he doesn’t want all of the rumors about his job to take away from this team and the support they deserve.
“Regardless of how you feel about me, be there, we need people to be there and support this team,” Pastner said. “We need people in the seats.”
The Tigers (15-11, 6-7 AAC), who have lost six of their last 10 games, hoped to finally snap out of their defensive rut. Both teams started off slow on the offensive end in the first half, but it was the Tigers’ guards, Craig Randall II and Avery Woodson, who got things going in the first half with a combined 15 points.
Memphis, which was once was ranked 24th in the nation for defensive efficiency, held UCF (11-13, 5-8 ACC) to 15 points in the first half. The lowest amount of points allowed this season for the Tigers.
Pastner said getting back their defensive identity is a major key in trying to finish out this season strong.
“We just went right down the drain the way we've done defensively the last three weeks and got away from it technically,” Pastner said. “I felt tonight we got back to it.”
The Knights, who had been down by 18, came back fighting in the second half and outscored the Tigers 41- 40. UCF was still unable to keep up with freshman forward Dedric Lawson once he got going.
Lawson got off to a rough start, going 0-5 with three turnovers in the first half, but got things going in the second half. Lawson finished with a double-double for the fourth straight game with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Senior Trahson Burrell came off the bench strong scoring in double figures for the third game in a row, but for him it was all about the win.
“It feels good. It feels like Christmas. We haven't experienced one of these in a couple games,” Burrell said.
Burrell finished the game with the 13 points, five rebounds, and six assists off the bench. Senior forward Shaq Goodwin added double 12 points and 10 rebounds for his 12th double-double of the season.
The Tigers have five games remaining in their schedule and are positioning themselves for No. 6 seed in next month’s AAC tournament in Orlando.
Memphis will head down to Tampa to the USF Sun Dome to take on the University of South Florida 10 a.m. Saturday. The game will be shown on ESPNU.
The Tigers' players celebrate on the bench during the win against UCF. Memphis (15-11, 6-7 AAC), for the third time this season, avoided its first three-game losing streak under coach Josh Pastner.
