The Memphis Tigers basketball team (11-6,4-2 American Athletic Conference) has not had the best start to the season but they are now hoping to build off of a three-game winning streak in their next game on the road against Tulsa.
The Golden Hurricane (12-5, 5-0 AAC) have exceeded expectations this season and are a surprise first place in the American conference.
Coach Josh Pastner said at his press conference that while his team is very confident right now because of the streak, it’s time to move on to the next game.
“It’s been a good seven days for us with three wins, and that’s in the history books now,” Pastner said. “We know we got to improve, get better and keep working we had a good practice yesterday and a good practice today and we’re playing a very good Tulsa team.”
Pastner also said while Tulsa is in first place and coach Frank Haith has done a good job, the Tigers need to focus on themselves.
“For us our focus has to be about us,” Pastner said. “It’s not the Super Bowl its not the final game no matter what happens (against Tulsa) if we’re fortunate enough to win or not we still have another game on Saturday, we just have to keep getting better and making sure we’re staying on the right track.”
One player who has improved his play over the last three games is senior forward Calvin Godfrey. Godfrey has been averaging 7.3 points, 4 rebounds and two blocks a game during the Tigers three-game winning streak and has eased the burden off of forwards Austin Nichols and Shaq Goodwin.
Pastner said after Godfrey’s outburst to being benched in the loss against Oklahoma State on Dec. 13, he has came back and handled it like a professional.
“Yeah I do think Calvin has not only helped Austin but the whole team with his tenacity and his hard nose mentality it’s set the tone for all of our guys,” Pastner said. “He’s kinda that guy you see on other teams that set the tone. And he’s been really good for us and to his credit after he hit rock bottom he looked himself in the mirror and said ‘I got to snap out of it.’ I’m worrying about things I can’t control and he’s handled it like a true professional and he’s accepted his role.”
Two players the Tigers will have to keep on eye are junior guards James Woodward and Shaquille Harrison two of the top five scorers in the conference. The duo combine to average nearly 30 points a game (29.4). Also Tulsa as a team is shooting 43 percent from the three point line in their last two games and Woodward leads the team in three point percentage at 38.1 percent for the season.
Pastner said that Tulsa space the floor really well and that they will have to play good solid defense to get the win.
However, he also said that two of their biggest problems this year have not involved defense.
“Our issues this year have been turnovers and scoring droughts,” Pastner said. “We’ve been better with turnovers lately and (scoring) we need to make shots.”
Forward Austin Nichols said he believes that the team’s confidence is very high right now and that they have to keep executing the gameplan.
“I think our team confidence is at an all-time high and coach keeps telling us that every win or loss that we are about to hit a hot streak,” Nichols said. “We’ve been winning some games and believing in ourselves. I think we can definitely make a run in this conference.”
Nichols also said it’s important they don't let the Tulsa crowd get into the game and affect them mentally.
“We just got to go out there and execute,” Nichols said.
The Tigers will take on the Golden Hurricane on Jan. 21 at the Reynolds Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. ESPNU plans to broadcast the game.
