The University of Memphis men’s basketball team travels to Storrs, Connecticut, in an attempt to complete a season sweep over the defending national champions Connecticut Huskies, at Gampel Pavilion Thursday at 8 p.m.
The Tigers took down the Huskies once already this season in a thrilling 75-72 victory at the FedEx Forum. Kedren Johnson and Austin Nichols were key in the Tigers’ victory last month. Johnson put together arguably his best game of the season with 21 points and six assists. Nichols, his first game back from an ankle injury he suffered against Temple, also had a monster game with 16 points, 8 rebounds, 7 blocks and 3 assists.
Memphis is still competing for a potential third seed in next week’s American Athletic Conference tournament and Tigers’ coach Josh Pastner is up for the challenge.
“We come into the final weekend of the regular season and there is still a lot to be played for,” he said. “I don’t know if anyone has done the math, but we are still in contention for third place – as high as third and as low as sixth. Yes, we need a little help if we are going to finish third, but that’s not out of the equations, so still a lot to be played for. I’m excited to see where this week is at.”
The Tigers will face a much tougher task against UConn this time around though. Not only will the Tigers face the Huskies on their senior night, but they will also be without Nichols, who reinjured his ankle in a 74-72 overtime loss to Tulsa last Saturday. Nichols is expected to miss Sunday’s game at Cincinnati and next week’s American Athletic Conference tournament as well.
Coach Pastner knows it will be difficult without Austin, but said his players have played without Austin before and that he believes in his guys.
“Obviously there’s a loss not having Austin, but we have good players,” Pastner said. “It allows other players to step up and get the job done—kind of the next man up mentality. Obviously there is nothing good about losing Austin, but if there is any positive it is that it has happened to us earlier in the year, so there is less of a shock for the guys to play without him. We went through that initial wave without him. Guys understand they have to pick it up and step up.”
The loss of Nichols hurts Memphis on both ends of the floor, but Pastner believes junior big man Shaq Goodwin can step up in his place.
“It’s a tall task, but he can do it,” Pastner said. “He can put us on his shoulders and lead us to wins. I know its not golf or tennis where it’s a one-man-show and it’s got to be team effort, but instead of having 17 (points) and 8 (rebounds) he might need to have 27 (points) and 18 (rebounds). He has that capability of doing it, especially with the numbers being shorter now then any other time during the year. Last game, he had 44 minutes and now he becomes a big focal point on what we are trying to do. He has a big opportunity in front of him and I’m excited and enthused to see him step up for that challenge. He has been playing great as of late and he needs to even take his game up another notch—to another level.”
Goodwin is not the only player who will have to step up though. Nichols leads the team in scoring (13.3 points per game) and is second in rebounding (6.1 rebounds per game), so the Tigers will need outstanding performances from both sophomore forward Nick King and junior wing Trahson Burrell.
Burrell has struggled in the second half of the season, but appears to have broken out of his slump with 12 points and eight rebounds and four assists against Tulsa Saturday. King, though he had only six points against Tulsa, brought down 8 rebounds against the Golden Hurricane. The sophomore has recorded at least five rebounds in the three games. Burrell and King will be expected to fill the rebounding and scoring void.
Zone defense was a huge key in the Tigers’ win over UConn earlier this season. The Tigers held Ryan Boatright (AAC leading scorer at 17.7 points per game) to only seven points.
Goodwin explained that if the Tigers decide to play zone against the Huskies again, he knows redshirt freshman guard Markel Crawford will play a huge part in slowing down Boatright.
“I know that Markel is a big part of that zone and as long as Markel is ready to play I’m sure we will be fine,” he said. “He definitely gets Boatright again—on his senior day, so lets put the pressure on Markel.”
Goodwin knows it will be a competitive game and is excited for the challenge of facing the Huskies on senior night.
“Well it’s definitely competitive,” he said. “To the players that have been here since last year, I guess it’s more competitive because they swept us last year. I’m pretty sure they’re going to be excited for us to come there on senior night and get their last win at their home gym, and we are looking to give them their last loss of the season at home. It’s going to be a good one.”
Kenpom.com has only given the Tigers a 24 percent chance of beating the Huskies Thursday night and just a 21 percent chance to take down Cincinnati on March 8. Coach Pastner knows it is a difficult task, but believes his team can take advantage of the opportunities in front of them.
“We have a really tough test Thursday against UConn and Sunday at Cincinnati,” he said. “Two big time opportunities for us. A lot of people have probably counted us out and that’s understandable based on us not having Austin and some of the recent losses, but I look at it the exact opposite way. I say ‘hey we have a heck of an opportunity in front of us and we can surprise a lot of people.’ We have good talent. Even without Austin, we have good players. This is just a big time opportunity for them to make big time plays through a 40 min game starting on Thursday.”
