In a tight contest the No.16 Memphis Tigers (25-5,15-2) beat out the UTSA Roadrunners (11-18,5-12) to clinch at least a share of the American Athletic Conference regular season title.
One aspect has plagued the Tigers' starts to games all year, and it was especially present tonight; turning the ball over, and doing it quite a bit. Heading into this game UTSA led the American conference in forcing turnovers at 15.2 a game and Memphis led the other end of that spectrum in having the most turnovers at 13.6 a game. This led to a match made in hell for the Tigers giving up 22 turnovers, which is 9 up on their average.
The turnovers made it a closer game than what it should’ve been in an otherwise clean offensive performance from the Memphis Tigers, shooting 46/41/74 percent from the field, 3-point line, and the free throw line respectively. The rebounding was a major advantage in this game for Memphis with 4 players having 6 or more, and 7 players having 3 or more. Sharing the wealth was a theme not just in the rebounds department however, as 4 of the 5 starters had 10+ points. Dain Dainja led the way with 19 points and 8 rebounds, and the Tigers had great supporting performances from PJ Haggerty and Nicholas Jourdain.
The first half started off rough with several early turnovers and Dante Harris hitting the deck with an apparent left leg injury. This moment, however, ignited the Tigers to go on an 11-1 run following Harris’ exit and this lead wouldn’t dissipate the rest of the game. The Tigers maintained a steady advantage with the largest lead being 13 at 2 different points in the second half.
All signs past the half-time break pointed to a decisive win for Memphis but down the stretch, turnovers combined with bad fouls got the Roadrunners right back in the game. From 59-46 for the Tigers to 69-67 with 2:30 to go, Haggerty moved it to 71-67 after two clutch free throws, and with the game on the line, Smurf Millender for UTSA caught the inbound and stepped out of bounds effectively icing the game. Haggerty would go on to hit 2 more FT’s to close it out. Millender would hit a last second 3, bringing it to 73-70 with .8 to go, necessitating two more free throws, making the final score 75-70 Memphis.
What did the Tigers do right?
The Tigers had a beautiful rebounding showcase with 45 to UTSA’s 25 dominating the glass on both sides of the ball. This is a big factor in how they’re goanna contend with a potential top seeded opponent. Memphis showed up on the boards and it wasn’t entirely dependent on the big men with Haggerty and Hunter both having six of their own.
The Tigers shot exceptionally well from the field and had great shot selection all night. There wasn’t a player with more than 3 shots that shot less than 30% from the field, and Dainja continues to look incredible as a genuine showstopper around the rim.
What could the Tigers do better?
Turnovers,Turnovers,Turnovers: 22 turnovers is not going to fly in the AAC tournament and it’s especially not going to fly in the NCAA tournament. If the Tigers continue to get off to a bad start and give the ball away like they did against UTSA, they’ll run into a team that keeps the tempo up all game, and Memphis might not be able to play comeback hero ball.
The Tiger’s interior defense left something to be desired with UTSA going 15/31 inside the arc. Against a team that shoots better than 9/31 from 3 this could be a real issue and they’re fortunate it wasn’t one in this contest.
Tournament Takeaway
Memphis needs to be better about playing from the first whistle, not the first time they’re smacked in the mouth by the competition and woken up. Against top Power-5 teams this simply will not work, they can’t start the race foot off the gas.
