What went wrong in Tigers loss at Tulsa

Memphis Tigers head coach Penny Hardaway’s mantra to his team this entire season has been “punch first.†He expressed why it is important for the Tigers to get off to a fast start against their opponents, especially on the road. That must have went in one ear and out the other as Memphis played atrocious basketball the entire first half.

To make matters worse, Memphis’ self-inflicting wounds consisted of poor shooting, turning the ball over and fouling, which all contribute to the embarrassing loss to the Tulsa.

“It just seems like we’re too laid back when the game starts,†Hardaway said after the loss to Tulsa. “You can’t have all five guys laid back, and I see that being the problem every time.â€

Regardless of Tyler Harris’s single-handed performance and efforts to get Memphis back into this game during the final 10 minutes of the second half, it was too little too late as the Tigers fell 13-8 on the season and 5-3 in conference play and a horrid 1-4 on the road.

First half woes for Tigers

Everything that could go wrong for Memphis did go wrong. The team shot collectively 10-for-33 from the field and only knocked down one of their nine three-point attempts. Raynere Thornton was the only Tiger that seemed to find the bottom of the basket more often than not in the first half, as he was 4-for-5 from the field, shooting roughly 80 percent. Kyvon Davenport struggled shooting the ball as he was only able to complete 2 of his 11 field goal attempts.

Not only were the Tigers struggling to buy a basket, but they turned the ball over nine times during the first half.

If shooting horribly and turning the ball over was not enough, Memphis continued to hack Tulsa and found themselves in foul trouble. Isaiah Maurice, who started against Tulsa, had to sit down early as he picked up two quick fouls. 

While Memphis’ struggled, Tulsa prospered. The Golden Hurricane shot 51.5 percent from the field and were 4-for-11 from behind the arc. Tulsa had a 48-31 lead over Memphis going into the half and did not look back.

DaQuan Jeffries owned the Tigers

Standing at 6-foot 5 and weighing in at 230 pounds, senior guard/forward DaQuan Jeffries dominated Memphis in every way possible. Jeffries finished the night with a career high 25 points, knocking down 8 of his 12 shots from the field and going 3-for-5 from downtown. 

Memphis had no answers for Jeffries as he led all scorers on the court. In addition to the his elite shooting, he was a bonus at the free throw line as he shot 75 percent from the charity strike. 

Overall, the Golden Hurricane had five players in double figures, including Jeffries. When the final buzzer sounded, Tulsa collective shot 54.5 percent and made 9 of their 20 three-pointer attempts.

Tyler Harris excels in losing effort

Similar to the game at Temple on Jan. 24, Memphis can look back at the efforts made late in the second half. Just like then, the results are still the same, another loss to add to the column. This time it was freshman guard Tyler Harris who put his team on the back and tried to turn things around. Middway through the second half, the Tigers went on a 7-0 run. 

Harris was unguardable as he got all of his 18 points during this stretch. The young man out of Cordova High School went 6-for-10 from the field and was hot from downtown netting in four of his seven three point attempts. 

Memphis cut into Tulsa’s lead and brought the game within single digits by swarming them with oppressive defense causing the Golden Hurricane to turn the ball over.

But when it mattered the most, Memphis could not bounce back and lost to Tulsa.

What’s to come

Memphis must find a way to win games on the road if they want to be successful this season. They will have another opportunity this coming weekend when they travel to Tampa to face off with Southern Florida. It is getting to the point where Memphis must win games or they can kiss their chances of making it to the NCAA Tournament goodbye.