The Memphis basketball team hit rock bottom Wednesday.
Rice, which came into the game next-to-last in the AAC standings, beat Memphis 74-71 at FedExForum, the Tigers’ home court. The losing streak for Memphis (15-6, 4-4 AAC) is now at four games following a 10-game winning streak that saw the Tigers jump as high as No. 12 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
Memphis led 65-62 with under two minutes left in the game. Then, Rice (8-13, 2-6) went on an 8-0 run sparked by Travis Evee’s 3-pointer with 1:32 remaining. Nae’Qwan Tomlin’s half-court prayer at the buzzer would have sent the game into overtime, but it bounced off the rim.
The close finish was in stark contrast to the first half. Memphis scored just 22 points and trailed 33-22 at the break.
Memphis lost to South Florida on Jan. 18 after blowing a 20-point second-half lead. Three days later, the Tigers squandered a 7-point second-half lead at Tulane. On Jan. 28, Penny Hardaway’s team gave up 97 points in a defeat at UAB.
“Everything that’s happening to us right now, we’re deserving it,” Hardaway said. “You’ve got to want it more than the next team if you want to get out of a slump. And, right now, every team that we’re playing wants it more than us, at this moment.”
Memphis hosts Wichita State on Saturday (noon, CBS).
Here are five observations from Wednesday’s game.
Free throws help Memphis but not enough
One of the few advantages Memphis enjoyed Wednesday was at the free throw line, where it went 18-for-21 (86%).
Rice struggled at the stripe, converting 14 of 24 (58%).
Four Memphis players score in double figures
Memphis was balanced offensively against Rice.
Led by David Jones’ 18 points, four Tigers scored at least 10, including Malcolm Dandridge (14), Jaykwon Walton (12) and Nae’Qwan Tomlin (11).
Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers
A season-high 22 turnovers was a big reason why Memphis lost at UAB last week.
Against Rice, Memphis committed 16 turnovers but only allowed nine points off the miscues. Still, the errors kept the Tigers from establishing much of a rhythm and cut down their scoring opportunities.
3-point shooting shows up too late for Memphis
For as much as the Tigers have struggled, scoring has not been the issue.
But it was against Rice, especially beyond the 3-point line.
Memphis entered Wednesday shooting 35.8% from beyond the arc, the 82nd-best clip in the country. But that kind of long-range accuracy was missing for much of the game versus Rice. The Tigers started 0-for-13 from deep, playing a major role in one of their lowest point totals of the season.
Walton’s 3-pointer with 7:25 to play broke the ice, cutting the deficit to 55-49. Twenty-three seconds later, Tomlin’s 3-pointer got the Tigers within three points. And Jones’ triple with 4:16 left put Memphis ahead for the first time since the opening minute of the game.
Starting lineup shakeup
Hoping to snap the Tigers out of their funk, Hardaway used a new starting five for the first time since Dec. 16.
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Jones, Walton and Dandridge remained in the lineup. But Hardaway called upon Tomlin and Jonathan Pierre to make their first starts in a Memphis uniform.
The idea, Hardaway said during a pregame radio interview, was the longer lineup in terms of height might help with rebounding. He also thought it would give the Tigers more versatility on defense.
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