As he strolled over to shake Memphis coach Josh Pastner’s hand, Mike Nienaber, the basketball coach at Christian Brothers, raised both arms to the side, as if to say, “I don’t know.”
Neither did any of the thousands of Tigers fans or media in the FedExForum on a chilly Wednesday night.
The Buccaneers, a Division 2 squad, shocked the Blue and Gray 74-70 in an exhibition, which does not count to the U of M’s overall record.
“We lost,” junior Shaq Goodwin said. “They beat us. They outplayed us.”
“I was too jacked up by the crowd,” sophomore Avery Woodson said.
“In my six years here, this is the slowest I've ever seen our team play,” Pastner said. “The slowest pace we have ever played, and I can't stand playing slow. Our pace was very, very slow.”
The Tigers could continue listing off dozens of reason why they lost, but nothing they could have said could justify a loss to a far-inferior CBU team.
“Any criticism, I welcome it, I embrace it, I deserve it,” Pastner said. “The fans should be upset. They should be upset at me.”
It was all cause for concern, but nothing was more troubling than how poorly the Tigers shot and took care of the basketball – the areas Pastner pinpointed for improvement after the secret scrimmage against St. Louis.
There was the wide-open 3-pointer Johnson missed late in overtime that would have tied the game.
There was the key turnover by Austin Nichols late in regulation that led CBU free throws.
There was the free throw Nick King missed with 39 seconds left to seal the game.
Add those things together, and there was an ecstatic group of CBU fans and players, who won their equivalent of the National Title.
Memphis turned the ball over 21 times, which is especially poor against a CBU defense that plays a less-aggressive style, according to Pastner.
Fortunately for Memphis, Goodwin and sophomore Austin Nichols confirmed they are the best offensive options on the team. The duo combined to shoot 14-17 from the field for 35 points, but they also committed 7 turnovers.
Aside from the turnovers, the Tigers were abysmal from, shooting 45.9 percent from inside the arc and 22.7 percent from 3-point range.
The only good news from the game was that it did not count toward the Tigers’ final record, according to Pastner. Also, if Memphis beats No. 11 Wichita State next Tuesday, no one will care about an exhibition loss to CBU. However, if the Tigers want to beat an experienced team like the Shockers, they have a lot of work to do before Tuesday.
“Well just like anything else in life, it's preparation,” Johnson said. “We have to go back, watch film, look at our mistakes and try our best to correct those. We will study Wichita State and go there, and we'll see what we can do."
