With speculation about head coach Josh Pastner’s job status at an all-time high, Wednesday night’s conference showdown between Memphis and UCF almost feels like an afterthought, and with the two teams a combined 3-12 in their last 15 games, it’s easy to see why.
The two teams previously tangled on Jan. 26 in Orlando, with Memphis (14-11, 5-7 AAC) utilizing a massive 35-point effort from senior forward Shaq Goodwin to take a 97-86 victory. Since that meeting, both teams have endured their worst stretches of the season. The losses have begun to pile up, and both teams enter the game following embarrassing performances. The Tigers suffered perhaps their worst defeat of the season in overtime at 10-16 Tulane, and the Knights (11-12, 5-7 AAC) were dealt an 82-58 drubbing by the Houston Cougars.
For Memphis to overcome its recent slump and pick up a victory on Wednesday the Tigers will need much better execution on defense. The team’s defense was its calling card earlier in the season, but that has since fallen off considerably. In the first 18 games of the season Memphis allowed opponents to score 80 or more points only four times. In the seven games since, opponents have scored in excess of 80 five times. Additionally, when allowing opposing teams to score in the 80s or 90s the Tigers have won only once this season, in the road win over UCF.
“We’re having breakdowns — we’re not taking the pride that we need to take defensively as we had earlier,” Memphis head coach Josh Pastner said. “We’re not shrinking the floor enough, we’re not digging enough, and we’ve gotten away from fronting the post. We haven’t guarded the ball screens as well as we did vs. Cincinnati.”
UCF’s strength is on its front line, where sophomore A.J. Davis leads the team in scoring at 12.7 points per game. In addition to Davis, the Knights’ rotation features a massive pair of forwards in 6’10”, 325-pound junior Justin McBride and 7’6”, 300-pound freshman Tacko Fall.
Fall has had problems staying on the court this season, but when he does play his enormous frame causes fits for opposing offenses. The freshman leads UCF with 2.1 blocks per contest despite playing only an average of 16 minutes.
In the first meeting between the two teams earlier this season McBride provided a spark off the bench for UCF, shooting 8-8 and scoring a team-high 20 points. Davis added 15 points while Fall was largely ineffective, recording just a block and three rebounds in 10 minutes of action.
If the Tigers fall to UCF it will mark the first time in Pastner’s seven-year tenure that the team has lost three consecutive games. Memphis has flirted with the three-game mark twice already in 2016, but has been able to win the third game each time.
Tipoff between the Tigers and Knights is set for 6 p.m. Wednesday night at FedExForum, and the game will be nationally televised on ESPNU.
The Tigers will hope to get strong performances from Shaq Goodwin (left), Dedric Lawson (middle) and Trahson Burrell (Right) against UCF Wednesday. Memphis has lost six of its past eight games heading into the contest.
