The Memphis Tigers were routed by the Villanova Wildcats 79-63. The Wildcats were crowned victors of the Battle for Atlantis. After an impressive two game stretch, Memphis is handed their first loss of the season by a well coached Villanova team. This game got out of hand early, and the Tigers could not find their footing.
This game could not have gone worse for the Tigers. They only managed 16 points in 20 minutes of play. Jaykwon Walton scored 8 of the team's points, and 6 of those were free throws. At 10:12 remaining in the first half, Memphis was down 7-19. Five minutes later, the Tigers had only scored 3 points, and the score changed to 10-29. Then with 26 seconds remaining in the half, Walton made two free throws to bring the score to 14-44.
One of the Tigers many problems in the first half was their inability to beat Villanova's zone. When a team is shooting 1-12, 8%, from three, they have to be able to drive the basketball. Memphis could not get in the driving lanes. Even when they could, they couldn't finish. Another glaring problem was the absence of the Tigers physicality. A team that prides itself on tough defense and hustle was out-toughed and out-hustled in the first half.
For the first ten minutes of the second half, Memphis looked like the same team from the first twenty minutes. Missed open shots, lazy defense, sloppy turnovers, all things the Tigers struggled with. The Tigers never held the lead in this game, they trailed by double figures since the 14:57 mark. At 9:12, Memphis fell behind by 35 points, and the Wildcats led 32-67.
Over the next five and a half minutes, the Tigers went on a 24-2 run. They took advantage of the cold streak of Villanova, and their soft-zone. A run started by an Ashton Hardaway 3, was paired with a burst of physicality from the Tigers to cut the lead to 13. Despite a quiet showing, Jahvon Quinerly was the driving force of the run, scoring 9 of the 24 points for the Tigers.
After the run was over, the score still remained 69-56 with 3:42 left to play. After a made three by Villanova, it seemed too little and too late for the Tigers. After some more traded baskets, the time clock hit zero. Villanova, despite a strong second half effort from Memphis, won the tournament 79-63.
The leading scorer for the Tigers was once again David Jones, who had 13. Jones recorded 7 rebounds and 2 assists. Guards Caleb Mills and Jahvon Quinerly scored in double digits, Mills with 10 and Quinerly with 12. The Tigers shot 35.1% from the field and 28% from beyond-the-arc. Despite inefficient plays, Memphis only turned it over 11 times.
The Tigers did not look like themselves tonight. With their first loss of the season, Memphis drops to 5-1. The Tigers get a much needed week break; On December 2nd they will travel to Oxford to take on the unbeaten Ole Miss Rebels, the squads 3rd game vs SEC opponents. The game starts at 2pm on ESPN2, as Memphis looks to get back on track.
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