Memphis defends home court and beats Central Florida in the process

If there is anything consistent about the University of Memphis men’s basketball team, it is their ability to take care of the home court. The Tigers knew coming into the matinee match-up against UCF the Golden Knights have weapons on both ends of the floor. Nevertheless, that meant nothing as Memphis controlled the tempo of the game, never trailed and defeated UCF, 77-57. 

UCF is now 2-3 on the road, and head coach Johnny Dawkins credits that to the steep competition within the American Athletic Conference.

“The conference is one of the best conferences in the country,†Dawkins said. “I think everyone realizes that now. It’s just the depth of talent that you have here, coaches and players. It’s going to be very competitive always, and road wins are tough.â€

The UCF guards were no-shows

Golden Knights’ guard and leading scorer this season BJ Taylor struggled and could not get going offensively. The 6-foot-2 senior ended the first half with a measly two points, shooting one-of-four from the field and did not connect any of his two, of his three-pointer attempts.

Additionally, the Golden Knights’ second option Aubrey Dawkins shot just as bad in the first half. He only knocked down one of his six field goal attempts and could not find the bottom of the net for any of his three shooting attempts from beyond the arc.

By halftime, Memphis forced UCF to collectively shoot 12 of 26 from the field and 30 percent from downtown. It is worth mentioning that UCF only attempted three free throws the entire first half.

A combination of poor shooting, playing from behind and not taking care of the ball allowed Memphis to have its biggest lead of the game, 23, with fewer than four minutes to go in the second half.

Tacko Fall was a non-factor

UCF’s most prized possession is 7-foot-6 Tacko Fall. He came into the game averaging 9.9 points per game this season accompanied with 7.2 rebounds, yet against Memphis, the tallest player in the conference was in foul trouble early on and had only four points and two rebounds.

Because Fall had two fouls, he was not in the paint long enough to be a problem for Memphis guards or the bigs trying to score or get rebounds.

In the end, Fall had a total of seven points and six rebounds for the night. 

Everybody ate collectively for Memphis

There was no shortage of scoring for the Tigers in this battle against UCF. By the end of the game, everyone who stepped on the court scored with the exception of Antwann Jones. This does not include Evin Olds, who came in for garbage time. Memphis had five players total in double-figures, led by Tyler Harris with 14 points shooting five-of-10 from the field.

Additionally, Memphis got a spark off the bench from the big man out of Cleveland, Ohio, Mike Parks, who shot five-of-nine from the field for 13 points accompanied by eight rebounds. The senior forward said regardless of what is going on, he leaves it all on the floor.

“I just go out and play hard,†Parks said. “I’ve been through adversity this season, but they just kept telling me to be ready.â€

Parks was ready, as he was the second leading scorer of all players on the floor.

Looking ahead

Memphis will go on the road over the next week to play at Tulsa on Jan 30. and in Tampa against USF on Feb 2. Memphis has struggled on the road, most notably at Houston and Temple. Currently, the Tigers are 1-3 in away games, and head coach Penny Hardaway said it is imperative for his team to play elite on opposing teams’ floors if they want to be successful.

“We just have to take the same mentality we had today on the road,†Hardaway said. “We did it in the second half against Temple. We just had to use just so much energy, and we couldn’t close the deal. If we start off the way we did today and how we ended against Temple, we’ll be OK on the road.

Hardaway said if the Tigers play like this consistently, they can compete against anyone in the country. They will have their first test at Tulsa on Jan. 30.

Alex Lomax urging the crowd onto their feet as Memphis continued to build their lead in the second half vs UCF. Lomax ended the game with 8 points, 3 assists and 2 steals.