Tigers Morning After: Reeling Memphis in danger of finishing below .500 in AAC play
Things have gone from bad to worse for the University of Memphis, which fell to 5-8 since the start of the new year following a 94-87 overtime loss at Tulane on Saturday afternoon.
With six games left to go in the regular season and three of those coming against No. 16 SMU, Tulsa, and Temple, the Tigers (14-11, 5-7 American Athletic Conference) appear headed for their first sub-.500 season in conference play since going 7-9 in Conference USA under Johnny Jones in 1999-2000.
Even as bad as things got for Memphis last year, when it lost forward Austin Nichols to injury and failed to make the postseason (NCAA tournament or NIT) for the first time since that 1999-2000 team, the Tigers still won 10 games in conference play. That team had some decent excuses for finishing 18-14, not having Nichols down the stretch and its inconsistent point guard play.
This one, though, has two McDonald's All-Americans averaging at least 15 points and eight rebounds. It's got a veteran point guard who's started every game and is averaging double figures in scoring. And it had three players finish with double-doubles in Saturday's loss at Tulane.
Yes, the Tigers have turned into a mess defensively over the last month. But there's still too much talent on this team for things to have gone this bad, losing to a Tulane team that hadn't won a conference game at home in more than a calendar year (Jan. 11, 2015, vs. South Florida).
Memphis is still in position to earn a first-round bye in next month's AAC tournament in Orlando. But does anyone still think the Tigers have a realistic shot at winning three straight games there and earning the league's automatic NCAA tournament bid when they haven't even won back-to-back games since mid-January?
Some other notes from Saturday's game:
--Senior forward Shaq Goodwin apologized on Twitter after the game for his behavior in the first half. Goodwin was hit with a technical foul for hanging on the rim after a dunk. He then celebrated the dunk with teammate Trahson Burrell with a chest bump.
"I want to apologize to Coach P, coaching staff and fans for letting my emotions get the best of me during the game and for my behavior after (the technical foul)," Goodwin tweeted. "I would never intentionally embarrass anyone."
--Senior guard Ricky Tarrant Jr. appeared to break out of his slump in the building where he played his first two seasons of college basketball as a member of the Green Wave. Tarrant finished with 19 points, four assists and two turnovers in 35 minutes, going 7 of 14 from the field and 3 of 9 from 3-point range. He cramped up, however, on the last play of regulation and was unable to play in overtime, where Memphis was outscored 14-7.