Memphis Eliminated in 2nd Round vs Wichita State: 71-65
The reigning AAC champions have been eliminated by the Wichita State Shockers, 71-65. Despite a 24-point performance from David Jones, the Tigers could not get out of their own way. With this loss, Memphis's 8-game win streak against the Shockers was snapped.
Just two players, Nae'Qwan Tomlin(18) and David Jones(24), scored in the double figures. Outside of a few players, Memphis looked lost throughout a majority of the game. Mental mistakes and missed rotations riddles the Tigers and made their attempted comeback an even harder feat to overcome.
Offensively, Memphis could not find a rhythm. They finished with 14 assists, but the stat sheet does not tell the full story. There were a lot of missed passes or shots put up that should have been passes. The Tigers have been improving in the recent weeks in that facet of the game, but today looked like they regressed.
Jahvon Quinerly finished with 8-points off 3-15 shooting, 7 rebounds and 3 assists.
Memphis shot 36.2% from the field and 8-29(27.6%) from three, half of which belonged to David Jones. The bench for Memphis contributed just 8-points.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Tigers could not be consistent enough to build a lead. Memphis played physical defense when they decided to press and double, but often forgot to rotate, leaving the Shockers open.
Wichita State shot 34% from beyond the arc and 46.7% from the field. Even when their three-pointers weren't falling, the Shockers penetrated the lane and finished at the rim. They scored 36-points in the paint and went 9-13 on layups attempted.
The Shockers set and controlled the pace for the game. They wanted to play a slow and patient game, especially when they obtained their 14-point lead. Memphis would try to speed things up, but they continued to hold the game in their hands.
Not only has the absence of Malcolm Daindridge hurt the Tigers in paint defense, but also in rebounding. While Jordan Brown finished with 0 rebounds, Tomlin contributed 12 of the Tiger's 37.
The Shockers finished with 42 rebounds, 9 coming from the offensive glass.
David Jones got off to a hot start, scoring 7 of the Tiger's 9 in the opening minutes and giving Memphis a 9-8 lead.
After falling behind 5, Memphis went on a 9-0 run that was capped off by a posterizing dunk from Nae'Qwan Tomlin and gave the Tigers their lead back, 18-14, with 12:36 to play.
Jaykwon Walton made a layup at 5:37 to put Memphis up 2. The Shockers put together a solid remaining minutes and held a 35-33 lead at halftime.
Wichita State made good of their 2-point lead and turned it into an 11-point advantage in just under 4 minutes. Memphis did not have anything going their way offensively or defensively and the momentum belonged to the Shockers.
The following minutes saw the Tigers string together rewarding defensive possessions, but they could not make significant cuts into the deficit. By the 10 minute mark, Wichita State held a 55-41 lead.
Memphis was in desperate need of a run and Jordan Brown started one. Brown went to work down low and scored from under the basket. The center then found the basket again on a fast break.
After a forced turnover, Tomlin sunk a three that slashed the lead in half. Memphis trailed by just 7 after just 1 minute from trailing 14. Following a couple empty possessions, David Jones took over the game.
The leading scorer hit two threes and made a pair of free throws to give Memphis their first lead of the half at 58-57 with 3:30 to play.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, it did not last long. The following two minutes were scoreless for Memphis and they found themselves down 6 with 1:30 remaining.
Despite his quiet day so far, Jahvon Quinerly got the Tigers a quick basket to reduce the lead. Defensively, they could not keep up and fell behind 6 again. with 40 seconds left.
The Tigers then missed three straight three-pointers until Tomlin made his with just 12 seconds on the clock. Memphis trailed 69-65.
Made free throws from the Shockers ended the game at 71-65.
Despite turning the ball over only 9 times, they came at the worst possible moments and proved to be too costly for the struggling Tigers.
Memphis was beat by an inferior opponent, physically, that looked like they wanted the game more.
After a roller coaster season, the Tigers finish at 22-10. With a team full of graduating seniors, head coach Penny Hardaway will have a full offseason ahead of him. As the Tigers will not be participating in March Madness, this might be the last game the squad plays together.