The loss of Austin Nichols was bad, but the Tigers did not expect it to be this bad with a 64-53 road loss to the East Carolina Pirates on Tuesday.
The Tigers (14-10, 6-5 AAC) came out aggressive, but couldn’t sustain their energy without Nichols. ECU (11-13, 4-7 AAC) took advantage at every turn and came out with a win.
In the first half of action, the Tigers went out to a 10-point lead in the first 10 minutes, but let the Pirates creep back in it before the half was over. Memphis held a tenuous 25-21 lead at the half after an 8-2 ECU run.
Turning over the Pirates eight times for 11 points could not help the Tigers overcome their own turnover problems. The Pirates zone defense forced the Tigers into nine turnovers of their own in the first half. The Tigers weren’t able to stop the bleeding in the second half and ended up with 19 turnovers.
The zone defense not only forced turnovers, but led the Tigers to shoot a poor 10-37 (37 percent) from the field. Forwards Shaq Goodwin and Nick King struggled around the rim while the guards struggled from the outside. While the Memphis offense was poor the ECU offense was much worse. The Pirates only shot 7-26 (27 percent) from the field in the first half.
ECU was able to make up points at the free throw line in the first half as the Tigers had 10 personal fouls that lead to 11 Pirate free throws. Forward Calvin Godfrey struggled with foul trouble the whole game, eventually fouling out in the second half.
Shaw Goodwin had a great first half in place of Austin Nichols with six points and eight rebounds. He finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds, which continued his domination on the glass after his 23-board performance against Temple.
Nick King had nine points and three rebounds in the first half and finished with 13 points and eight rebounds. King and Goodwin stepped up in the absence of Austin Nichols, but it wasn’t enough to carry the Tigers to victory.
The second half proved that basketball is in fact a game of runs as the Pirates came out hot with a 12-0 run. The Tigers responded with a 7-0 run of their own, but couldn’t sustain the momentum as ECU held the lead for the rest of the second half.
East Carolina finished the game shooting 23-50 (46 percent) from the field. The blue and gray defense was not up to par against a good Pirate attack.
Freshman guard B.J. Tyson took over the game in the second half for ECU. He scored 20 second half points to finish with 23 and kept the Pirates in front. The Tigers had no answer for his drives to the basket or out of bounds plays to him.
The Tigers guards were once again neutralized for most of the game. They consistently folded under the purple and gold press and couldn’t attack the inside of their defense.
Josh Pastner’s squad will hope to avoid a three game losing streak on Saturday as the Tigers will face off against South Florida on the road at noon. The game will be shown on ESPNU.
