University of Memphis coach Josh Pastner and the men’s basketball team will hope to build off its win against Tulsa Sunday when they travel to Philadelphia to play Temple Thursday night.
Thursday’s game against the Owls presents Memphis (16-13, 7-9 American Athletic Conference) another chance to win back-to-back games for the first time since January.
Pastner said its final two opponents, Temple and East Carolina on Sunday, will be highly motivated to win on its respective Senior Days and hopes for Memphis to continue its play against Tulsa in the Tigers last two regular season games.
“I thought we played really well against Tulsa for the most part,” Pastner said. “Like I said, Tulsa played at a really high level. We had to play at a really high level to win and so that’s what we did. Looking forward to see how we come out these next couple of games and ready to have the continuation on Thursday and Sunday.”
Memphis defeated Temple in its previous meeting with the Owls 67-65 Jan. 13 at FedExForum. However, the Tigers have gone just 4-8 over their last 12 games, a stretch that has seen them fall to the three worst teams in the AAC (East Carolina, Tulane and South Florida). Temple (18-10, 12-4 AAC) is chasing an AAC regular season title after a disappointing start to its season.
However, Memphis clinched a first-round bye in next week’s AAC Tournament with its win against the Golden Hurricane. The Tigers are now locked into the No. 6 seed, and will face off against the No. 3 seed in the quarterfinal round. Memphis can thank SMU being ineligible for the postseason, because in a normal season the Tigers would own the No. 7 seed and play in the opening round.
As a result, Memphis only has to win three games in three days as opposed to four games in four days to win the conference tournament and earn a trip to the NCAA Tournament. A strong end to the regular season combined with a solid run in next week’s tournament also gives Pastner’s squad the possibility of qualifying for the NIT. The Tigers, which finished 18-14 in the 2014-15 season, failed to qualify for the NIT or NCAA Tournament last season for the first time since 2000.
“We all need to have postseason,” Pastner said. “I want to play past next week. The only way we can do that is by winning games. We got to try and win two games this week, and make a run in the conference tournament and win that. Not only for the seniors but for all of us. We want to have postseason play bottom line.”
One of the keys to a Memphis win Thursday will probably rely on the play of frontcourt duo Dedric Lawson and Shaq Goodwin. The two combined for 38 points and 22 rebounds in the Tigers win against Temple in January.
The Tigers and the Owls will face off 6 p.m. Thursday at Liacouras Center in Philadelphia. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU.
Dedric Lawson and Josh Pastner will hope to lead Memphis to its second road win of the season Thursday. The Tigers are just 1-7 on the road in the 2015-16 season.
