The mood inside the Memphis practice facility is beginning to turn anxious. 

How could it not? Thursday’s home game against SMU was called off Wednesday due to COVID-19 issues with the Mustangs, and what was supposed to be the Tigers’ first game since Dec. 29 instead became their third postponement this month. 

Thursday’s Memphis-SMU game postponed due to COVID-19

“It’s been really tough, especially at this point in the season,” guard Lester Quinones said. “I feel like we all been in the gym these past couple of weeks just waiting and waiting. And it kind of hurt us all. But I feel like it’s just going to give us more effort to go into the next game.” 

The first postponement, Jan. 2 at Temple, was a nuisance. 

The second, within three days of the first, was disappointing and occurred when the Tigers were already in Orlando. 

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But after news of the third postponement was handed down Wednesday morning, all the Tigers can do is look ahead to the next game on the schedule, Sunday at Tulsa, and cross their fingers. 

“The beginning was, OK, we understand,” coach Penny Hardaway said. “At UCF, we kind of had some rumblings that when they went to Tulane, that they had somebody that tested positive, so it was kind of a question mark on that one. This one came out of nowhere. So it’s been, it’s disappointment today.

“And we understand that this is we’re in a pandemic and this is happening and this is what you have to ride with. But we just didn’t think that it was going to be three games in a row.” 

What happens when a game is postponed? 

After SMU notified Memphis athletic director Laird Veatch of the problem, the athletic office passed word to Hardaway. Step one for the coach was informing the players via group text and setting a revised practice schedule. 

Then, Memphis reached out to the American Athletic Conference to start the process of finding a makeup date that works for both programs (that date hasn’t been determined yet). 

In the meantime, Hardaway reached out to teams outside the conference in search of possible opponents. If he can find one, the AAC will need to rubber stamp a nonconference game, but most likely will approve it. “We just need games,” Hardaway said. 

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If college basketball can get to the finish line of the regular season, Hardaway hypothesized that the postseason might be easier to manage with conference tournaments and March Madness played at singular locations. Memphis’ experience in November at the Crossover Classic in South Dakota worked, Hardaway said, because teams were tested daily and confined to their hotel rooms when games weren’t being played. 

“I definitely sympathize with all those teams because no one’s trying to get COVID. No one’s trying to go outside of their bubble,” Hardaway said. “It could just happen like a mother or father coming to visit. It’s just, it’s a fine line. It’s not like you’re out at a bar or at a nightclub . . . It’s just got to be, man, hey, just be careful and, you know, wash your hands and just try to stay in a bubble as much as possible.” 

What are the Tigers doing during this break?

Memphis’ top priority in practice has been perfecting the “lion” offense, which so far has had only one in-game trial, in the Tigers’ Dec. 29 win over South Florida. 

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The extra practice time has afforded the Tigers constant repetition of the new principles, which Quinones said is paying off. 

“We’ve spent a lot of time on this offense the past couple of weeks, and I feel like we’ve been looking real fluent these past couple of days in practice,” Quinones said. “This offense is just really like a cutting offense. So like everybody has a point and a chance to score or be on the ball, from Moussa (Cisse) to A-Lo (Alex Lomax) to everybody who’s just on the court.” 

Quinones also let slip that he has moved from point guard back to shooting guard while Lomax is back at point guard, though Hardaway clarified that lineup change isn’t necessarily permanent.

“We’ve been doing a lot of mix-ups while this little wait, this hold and wait has been going on and it’s just so happened that Lester and A-Lo have been on the same team a lot,” Hardaway said. “I’m just looking for the top five guys that really want it the most to be out there on the floor and we really haven’t decided which five we’re going to go with.” 

Looking ahead to Tulsa

Although Memphis spends the majority of time focused on self-improvement, prep has also begun for Sunday’s game at Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane stole a win at FedExForum on Dec. 21, and that loss is still fresh in the Tigers’ minds. 

“After losing that game, it kind of struck a nerve for the guys,” Hardaway said. “Even though the South Florida game kind of got out of hand for a minute, we kind of gathered ourselves and won that game. So that’s the momentum we’re going to go off of.” 

Tulsa (7-3, 4-1 AAC) has some momentum of its own. Since beating Memphis, the Golden Hurricane have won four straight and are second in the conference standings heading into Wednesday night’s game against Wichita State. 

The fact that Memphis played Tulsa so recently and can study film of that game might help to avoid a repeat embarrassment. This time around, the Tigers also will have Lomax and backup center Malcolm Dandridge, who sat out the first Tulsa game with injuries. 

But Memphis isn’t taking anything for granted. 

“That zone is tough,” Hardaway said. “Those guys play hard, play together. They’re veteran players, an older team that really want to win. And you’ve got to go down there with the right mindset. And I think with this, with the adversity that hit us the first time that we lost to them in the first conference game, guys are locked in now understanding what we really have to do.”