Memphis basketball(14-4, 4-1) salvaged a split in their two-game American Athletic Conference (AAC) road trip with a 77-68 victory at Charlotte(7-12, 0-6).
After seeing Temple storm the court against them last week in a game where the Owls dominated Memphis on the boards, the Tigers responded with a comfortable victory over Charlotte.
PJ Haggerty led the way with 18 points and 8 rebounds. His running mate, Tyrese Hunter, added 15 points and 5 assists.
While a Memphis win was never in doubt, there were still lingering causes for concerns.
Here's the good, the bad, and the big picture:
Good
The Rotation
In AAC play, Penny Hardaway has experimented with his rotations. While the concept of further developing players like Baraka Okojie and Jared Harris against inferior opponents makes sense, Memphis has seemed disjointed at times as a result.
Against the 49ers, Memphis stuck to an 8-man rotation of PJ Haggerty, Tyrese Hunter, Colby Rogers, Nick Jourdain, Moussa Cisse, Dain Dainja, PJ Carter, and Dante Harris. Okojie and Jared Harris did not see action.
Bench
Sticking to 8 guys was encouraging, but the distribution of minutes was arguably more encouraging. While the Tigers have played 8-10 guys in most games, the bench pieces have typically seen less than 10 minutes a game.
In this contest, however, PJ Carter and Dante Harris played 20 and 13 minutes respectively. Getting more consistency from these two players should take some of the minutes load off PJ Haggerty and Tyrese Hunter as the season progresses.
Dain Dainja continued to shine in his role, putting up 14 points and 9 rebounds. In this game, Carter and Harris also contributed on the offensive side of the ball, combining for 11 points. If the Tigers can make this a pattern, Memphis' NCAA tournament ambitions become much more attainable.
Bad
Turnovers
Entering this contest, Memphis was No. 316 in the country in turnover percentage, turning the ball over on 20% of their possessions.
Against the 49ers, the Tigers turned the ball over 16 times. While Memphis' pace plays a role in these numbers, the Tiger can ill afford to give away possession in AAC play.
Closing it Out
The Tigers resume metrics are strong thanks to their terrific non-conference slate, but their predictive metrics are lacking. Against the AAC, Memphis needs to blow out some of their opponents to bump up these numbers.
After leading by 271-49 with 5:09 to go, the Tigers allowed Charlotte to close the game on a 19-6 run. Just like the ECU game, the Tigers lost a double-digit lead in the closing minutes.
If Memphis wants these metrics to rise, they'll need to keep their foot on the gas until the final buzzer.
The Big Picture
Even with the Temple loss, Memphis is in a great position to get a top-6 seed in the NCAA tournament.
The Tigers are tied for first in the AAC standings and still possess an impressive 9-3 record against the NET's top two quadrants.
Memphis will play two home quad 3 games this week against Wichita State on Thursday night and the preseason No. 1 team in the AAC, the resurgent UAB Blazers on Sunday.
