Memphis took care of business and won their last two games, breaking their four-game losing streak. They now have the toughest part of their season coming up, and this stretch will determine how their entire season goes.
Gauntlet of quality opponents and opportunities
The stretch begins with a home game against 6-1 Baylor on Saturday. After this the Tigers go to No. 6 Louisville then head home against undefeated No. 17 Vanderbilt. Lastly, the Tigers end this stretch at Mississippi State on Dec 20.
The Tigers have a strong focus on their non-conference schedule every season. Since Memphis is in a not-so-strong American conference, their path to an at-large bid and high seed in the NCAA tournament often depends on their wins over quality non-conference opponents early in the season.
Last year, Memphis went 10-3 in the non-conference and got three ranked wins. This was a major reason why they got a 5-seed in the NCAA tournament. These four upcoming opponents give Memphis a great chance to turn their season around very quickly.
Not much room for error
So far Memphis has not taken any advantage of these games, even dropping a game at home to a not great UNLV team. The Tigers proved in the Bahamas that they can compete in these big games but came back home with 0 wins to show for it.
With only five non-conference games left, Memphis is running out of time to add quality wins to their resume. To stay alive in the hunt for an at-large bid, Memphis will probably have to win two out of their next four games at least.
“We’re there to be able to win those games, but we have to do things the right way,” coach Penny Hardaway said.
Lineup changes
Hardaway experimented with different lineups over the last two games. For the game against Southern Illinois, the lineup stayed consistent but added forward Hasan Abdul Hakim to the mix. Thierno Sylla was also added back to the starting lineup. He was unable to make the trip to the Bahamas.
The lineup massively changed against New Orleans with Ashton Hardaway and Curtis Givens III out. Sylla was limited to 2 minutes, and William Whorton, Julius Thedford and Abdul Hakim were added to the starting lineup. Most surprisingly, Aaron Bradshaw didn’t even see the floor.
When asked why Bradshaw didn’t play, Hardaway simply replied with, “Yeah, Coach’s decision.”
“If guys aren’t on the floor, that means that they’re not giving everything,” Hardaway said later.
Whorton and Abdul Hakim didn’t take advantage of this opportunity, only scoring 2 and 3 points each. Thedford scored 13 and had 15 in the previous game, so it seems like he has earned a larger role going forward.
What’s Next
The upcoming game against Baylor will be a litmus test for how the rest of these games will go. Baylor has two projected first round picks in Tounde Yessoufou and Cameron Carr. Baylor is a good team but lost to St. John’s by 15 in their only ranked opponent so far.
Memphis has gained some momentum and can propel forward with a win over Baylor. Although if the Tigers lose, the next two games will be much more difficult coming against two ranked teams. Things could fall apart very quickly and leave Memphis with having to win the American tournament to make the NCAA Tournament.
