|
Welcome to this week’s Tigers Basketball Insider. Below you’ll find the latest news and analysis from The Daily Memphian’s Parth Upadhyaya, John Martin, Tim Buckley and Geoff Calkins.
Losses almost always negatively impact a team’s NCAA Tournament fate.
And it makes sense, too.
Generally speaking, a loss is looked at as a hit to a team’s postseason resume in the eyes of bracketologists and other national college basketball pundits. Well, at least most of the time.
Memphis’ 72-64 road defeat to then-No. 2 Houston on Sunday actually helped its case. The Tigers have moved further to the right side of the bubble in at least one NCAA Tournament bracketology projection since their loss to the Cougars.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has Memphis as a No. 9 seed and the first team among the “last four byes” in his latest projection released Tuesday morning, which essentially means the Tigers are the best team in the group of 16 teams he deems to be on the bubble. As it stands now, they could move off the bubble with a little more work or with a team solidly in the field having a set-back.
CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm is a little less high on coach Penny Hardaway’s squad, pegging Memphis as a No. 10 seed in his updated projection released Monday. But Palm didn’t have the Tigers’ stock cratering either after their recent loss.
Despite preseason All-American guard and leading scorer Kendric Davis being sidelined with a right-ankle injury, Memphis put up a more than respectable fight against now-top-ranked Houston. The Tigers trailed by 11 at halftime but rallied back to be down just five points with less than two minutes left in the contest before the Cougars pulled away.
“I feel like we’ve done a lot to show who we are,” Hardaway said Sunday. “And if they were watching the game today, they saw we had no Kendric Davis and still outscored the No. 1 team in the country in the second half. I’m not trying to put a campaign out there.
“I just hope they don’t judge us (like), ‘Oh, they lost to Houston and now we’ve gotta drop them so many spots.’”
Looks like Hardaway got his wish.
More from your Insider:
The Memphis Tigers put up a gallant fight in losing to the Houston Cougars Sunday. The good news? The Cougars should be No. 1 in the country when they come to FedExForum for the rematch on March 5. And a healthy Kendric Davis should be waiting for them.
Without star point guard Kendric Davis, the Tigers battled the Cougars and had an opportunity to get within one score late in the contest.
The NCAA men’s basketball box score for the Sunday, Feb. 19, game between the Memphis Tigers and Houston Cougars played in Houston.
Memphis veterans Alex Lomax and Malcolm Dandridge are expected to make their returns from injury on Sunday versus No. 2 Houston.
The former Houston High star helps the University of Memphis beat Tulsa on the road, for a fourth straight win.
Go ahead, take the loss, and wait for brighter days. Most importantly: Show Houston nothing in the process.
The Memphis Tigers lost Kendric Davis to injury, lost 24 turnovers and somehow still managed to beat Central Florida Thursday night. It may not have been the most important win in Memphis history. But it was unlike any that have come before.
Davis injured his right ankle with 4:25 left in the first half of Memphis’ 64-63 win over UCF at FedExForum on Thursday.
Davis became the AAC’s all-time scoring leader Thursday night, but left game with an injury shortly after.
..... |
