During the holiday break the Memphis Tigers basketball team (12-5, 2-2 AAC) went 7-4 behind the continued solid play of Dedric Lawson and the offensive emergence of Markel Crawford. But they lost their starting center, Chad Rykhoek for six to eight weeks with a dislocated ankle.
   Many of the Tigers successes and struggles can be attributed to the play of Dedric, who is the frontrunner for American Athletic Conference player of the year. He has filled the box score with big numbers in wins, but when he struggles, the Tigers do not play well.
In the four loses during the break, Dedric averaged 16.5 points and eight rebounds compared to 21.4 points and 11.7 rebounds in wins. In each Memphis win, Dedric has earned a double-double, but he failed to get one in three of the four break loses.
   Due to his foul trouble against Ole Miss, Lawson had 8 points and 6 boards which has been his least productive game of the season, and despite scoring 18 and 14 points in loses to Monmouth and SMU, he went a combined 9-25 from the floor.
Markel Crawford (5) drives the lane and hits a layup in the 104-65 win against McNeese State. Crawford leads Memphis with 24 made threes on the season.
   Coming into the season, the biggest question was, “Who will help Dedric offensively?†and during the holiday break, Crawford has solidified himself as a strong second scoring option.
Slowed by injuries in his first two seasons as a Tiger, he did not play to his full potential averaging about five per game while playing about 20 minutes. He has played well this season, averaging 14.9 points and playing 32.9 minutes, but he has picked up his game since the break started.
   Crawford scored 20 points for the first time in his Tiger career December 12 against Oklahoma and has then topped 20 two more times when he scored 28 and 24 against South Carolina and Tulane.
   In the Tigers’ loss to Tulsa, Crawford had one of his lowest scoring games of the season with eight points on five shots.
   The Tigers had four loses during the break, to Ole Miss, Monmouth, SMU and Tulsa. But they dominated South Carolina, who have reached as high as No. 16 in the AP rankings this season, 70-54 and handing the Gamecocks their worst loss of the season.
   The three-point line has been a problem offensively for the Tigers, shooting 31.5 percent on the year. But in half of the holiday break loses, Memphis struggle to shoot from and defend the three.
   Monmouth made 11 three-pointers to the Tigers’ three in an 82-79 loss, and SMU beat Memphis 58-54 while holding them to 3-15 from deep.
   There were ups and downs for the Tigers in the 7-4 break, but the biggest loss was when Rykhoek got carted off the floor in the December 17 win against Oklahoma.
   The loss of Rykhoek has shortened the regular rotation to seven players, but the Tigers can continue to win games if Dedric and Crawford continue to play well.
Dedric Lawson drives to the basket against UTRGV in 94-75 win. Dedric leads the AAC in points and rebounds per game.
