Houston, we may have a problem.
For Penny Hardaway and the Memphis Tigers (18-8, 7-6 American Athletic Conference), their problem comes in the form of the No. 22 ranked Houston Cougars. Saturday afternoon, they will host Kelvin Sampson’s league leaders in a prime opportunity to pick up a quad one win late in the season.
Houston (21-6, 11-3 AAC) plays one of the most disruptive, physical styles in the country. Their offense features five versatile guards who fill a variety of roles. 6’5” shooting guard Nate Hinton leads the team in rebounding and steals. Kansas transfer Quentin Grimes is better across the board statistically on the road compared to his splits at home. Freshman Caleb Mills is their leading scorer and shoots the three at a 36% clip. The 12.6 offensive rebounds they average per-contest is the third-highest rate in the country. To put it bluntly, the Cougars are damn good.
“Houston’s going to put you in a position where you’re going to be uncomfortable the entire game,” Penny Hardaway said. “Especially if you’re out there playing nonchalant and not meeting the challenge. I think, oddly enough, they will meet that challenge. Houston is one of those teams that will bring the best out of the guys.”
Late Wednesday night after their home win over East Carolina, Tulane did Memphis a solid by dealing SMU its eighth loss of the year. Cincinnati also dropped a double-OT heartbreaker to UCF. With the American Athletic Conference tournament less than a month away, the top six teams in the standings are all jockeying for one of the top-four spots and the highly coveted first-round bye.
For Memphis, currently in sixth, they are going to need some more help from the league’s bottom half. However, if they can not handle their own business, it will be all for naught.
“Right now, I’m just focusing on us being together and winning as much as possible,” Boogie Ellis said. “We’ve got to win every game. All that matters is us winning. None of that stuff matters if we don’t win.”
Hardaway said after their win Wednesday that it did not matter to him if the margin was one point or thirty, as long as it is a win. As the pressure and scrutiny both increase nationwide, it will be key that they stick to that mentality. Survive and advance.
“I think it’s really obvious where we stand at this point as a team,” Precious Achiuwa said. “I don’t think anyone needs to motivate us as a group. We’re desperate individually and collectively because we know where we’re at. We’re trying to get into the tournament so every game going down the stretch, we’re going to play with that level of desperation.”
The key for Memphis is how they plan to combat the contrast of styles. Their weaknesses play perfectly into the strengths of the Cougars. After all the adversity they have faced since October, a win would truly be a season-defining moment for Hardaway and company.
Tip-off it set for 1 p.m. at FedExForum.
