With sophomore forward Austin Nichols ranking third in the nation in blocks per game and the team as a whole holding opponents to 39 percent shooting, much has been made about the Memphis Tigers’ improvement on the defensive end of the floor this season. There’s no denying that the improved defense has been a silver lining in a disappointing 15-10 season, but the truth is that over half of the teams in the American Athletic Conference boast elite defenses on par with the Tigers’.
Five teams in the AAC — Southern Methodist, Temple, Cincinnati, Memphis and Connecticut — are keeping opponents under 40 percent, and Tulsa is right behind them with opponents shooting 40.2 percent from the field.
These six teams also fare well in Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted defensive efficiency metric, which is described on KenPom.com as “an estimate of the defensive efficiency (points allowed per 100 possessions) a team would have against the average Division I offense” and is widely regarded as one of the best evaluations of a team’s effectiveness on the defensive end.
Temple ranks first in the conference and eighth out of 351 teams in the entire country giving up 89.7 points per 100 possessions, and the other five teams are so tightly packed that the difference is near negligible. Cincinnati is second in the AAC with a rating of 92.7, and Connecticut is sixth with 94.1. Memphis slots third in the conference and 33rd nationally at 93.5.
For Memphis, the defense has been anchored by the shot blocking of Austin Nichols and a team-wide effort in keeping opposing shooters in check from behind the arc. Nichols ranks third in the country in blocked shots, swatting 3.3 per contest, and is the driving force behind the Tigers ranking fourth in the country in block percentage — Memphis sends back 17.6 percent of opponents’ two-point field goal attempts, ranking behind only Texas, Kentucky and St. Johns.
All of those blocked shots play a large part in opposing offenses converting on only 42.8 percent of their two-point field goals, and when coupling this with the Tigers’ 20th ranked three-point defense it’s easy to see why Memphis is one of the nation’s very best defensive teams.
Ramping up the defense during a disappointing season isn’t just a theme for the Tigers, but of the entire American Athletic Conference as well.
A season ago the AAC found massive success in the conference’s inaugural campaign, with five teams spending most of the season in the top 25 polls and Connecticut taking home the NCAA Tournament crown. Now, SMU is the conference’s sole representation in the polls at No. 21 in both the AP and Coaches polls, and the Connecticut Huskies are tied with Memphis at 7-5 in conference play and 14-10 overall and most likely out of the tournament picture.
But despite the conference’s overall struggles the AAC and Big 12 are the only two conferences in all of Division I to have six teams in the top 45 in adjusted defensive efficiency.
Defense was the key component in all of the AAC’s signature wins in early season non-conference play, with Temple holding Kansas to 52 points in its victory over the then-No. 10 Jayhawks, and Cincinnati keeping then-No. 19 San Diego State to 57 in regulation and 62 overall in an overtime win.
Two of the conference’s best defensive teams will square off in FedExForum Thursday night when Memphis tips off against Connecticut. The Tigers are expected to be without the shot blocking of Nichols, who has missed the last two games after suffering a sprained ankle in a loss against Temple on February 7th.
The Tigers and Huskies are set to tipoff at 8 p.m. Thursday night, and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN.
