The Memphis Tigers have been off a few days – time enough to recover from some minor injuries to various players and just get some rest.
But tonight, it’s back into action as the Tigers take on the University of Tulsa and the zone defense that the Tulsa Hurricanes run under Frank Haith.
Tigers coach Penny Hardaway said his team must be wary of how active the Hurricanes are on defense, but added that Memphis can and will make the necessary adjustments to be successful against the Tulsa defense.
Tulsa is led by Brandon Rachal, who is averaging 15 points per game. Rachal is a 6 feet 6 inche junior guard who is playing in his first year at Tulsa. The Hurricanes are averaging 70 points per game and like to score from three-point range.
This is another key game for the Tigers in the American Athletic Conference. If the Tigers can get a win in a very hostile environment it will vault them into first place in the AAC standings. If the Tigers happen to lose, they will fall into a tie for fifth place in the standings.
Here are some keys to the game for Memphis to be successful at Tulsa.
Ball security
Turnover, turnover and more turnovers.
The Tigers have been making too many turnovers in recent games. In the win over Cincinnati the Tigers turned the basketball over 16 times – which is both an improvement over the USF game (22) and Wichita State and Georgia (18 each), and still WAY too many turnovers.
Had the Tigers had fewer turnovers against Cincinnati – there were four late in the game – Memphis wouldn’t have had to hold off the Bearcats and the final score likely would not have been so close. Tiger turnovers could give Tulsa life.
Patience against the zone
The Hurricanes’ defense can create many deflections, because of how active they play their zone defense. Memphis must show some patience and make some crisp passes and try not to anticipate what the defense shows. The Tigers will need to stick to the fundamentals.
On the fast break, that will mean not forcing spectacular passes. It means running the offense and sticking to the game plan. When Memphis sticks to the game plan and respect the zone, it should lead to better execution on offense.
Share the basketball
Don’t be so excited to go one-on-one against the zone defense. Memphis should strive for a two-to-one assist-to-turnover ratio or better. One of the biggest issues for the Tigers is to few assists on made baskets.
Make the right pass, but don’t overpass. This has also been an issue with the Tigers. Sometimes they make too many passes and don’t trust the right shot at the right time. Share the basketball, but don’t overshare.
Memphis has moved up in the latest polls to No. 19 in both the Associated Press and the USA Today Top 25 polls this week. The Tigers are also moving up in most of the statistical measures that the NCAA used to rank teams in the tournament.
For the Tigers to continue to climb in the rankings, they’ll need to improve their offensive numbers, cut their turnovers and improve a couple more offensive statistics.
Odds and ends
D.J. Jeffries was name AAC Freshman of the Week. This is the first honor for Jeffries who scored 18 points in the win over Cincinnati. Precious Achuiwa was named to the league’s Honor Roll for the week.
Memphis and Tulsa is a late game, tipping off at 8 p.m. CT. The game can be seen on ESPNU. This will be the first of two games in the Coaches vs Cancer contests for the Tigers. The shoes wore by both coaches staff will be auctioned off and the proceeds will be donated to fight against cancer.
