Despite their impressive record and first-place standing in the American Athletic Conference, the Memphis Tigers find their NCAA Tournament resume weakening in the eyes of many prognosticators.
The 22nd-ranked Tigers will try to get back on track when they host Florida Atlantic on Sunday in Memphis.
The Tigers (21-5, 11-2 AAC) had an eight-game winning streak snapped in an 84-79 overtime loss at Wichita State on Feb. 16.
Coincidentally, Florida Atlantic (15-11, 8-5) also is coming off a loss to the Shockers in its most recent game, on Thursday.
Memphis, although still projected to make the NCAA Tournament, has seen its projected seeding slip a few spots in multiple brackets. The Tigers will need to avoid additional damaging losses to solidify their postseason status over the final two weeks of the regular season and the AAC tournament.
However, Memphis’ tough nonconference slate, against which it went 10-3, and the fact that the Tigers have a 6-2 record in Quad 1 games lead coach Penny Hardaway to believe his side is undervalued.
“I feel like we could be 26-0 and still be a No. 6 seed,” Hardaway said on Friday. “It’s almost deflating to the guys probably, because they’re going, ‘Man, how does this work?’
“We did all that work in the nonconference, and we’ve only lost two games in conference. I love our conference. It’s harder than people give it credit for, but the nation and the voters won’t let you get past a certain point.”
The Tigers have five regular-season games left to play, starting with their second clash against Florida Atlantic. Memphis routed the Owls 90-62 on Jan. 2 in Boca Raton, Fla.
Tyrese Hunter had 20 points in that game and the Tigers went a staggering 10 of 18 from 3-point range. Memphis shot 55.9 percent from the field overall while holding the Owls to just 32.4 percent field-goal shooting and 5 of 31 (16.1 percent) from long distance.
PJ Haggerty, who had 19 points in that contest, leads Memphis with averages of 21.2 points and 3.8 assists per game. Haggerty and Hunter are each shooting better than 40 percent from 3-point range.
As with Memphis, the Owls were playing well until they ran into surging Wichita State.
Florida Atlantic had won five in a row, but its problems with perimeter defense resurfaced as the Shockers shot 6 of 10 from 3-point range.
The Owls cannot afford to experience another letdown against Memphis.
“I thought there was some frustrated shots taken by us, which is pretty disappointing,” Florida Atlantic coach John Jakus said after the defeat. “We had 12 assists on 25 (field goals). That’s not even 50 percent of assist ratio, which is disappointing because we’ve been hovering between 60 and 70 while we’ve been winning.”
The Owls possess a balanced-scoring offense, led by Kelb Glenn at 12.9 points per game, Tre Carroll at 12.2 ppg and Baba Miller at 10.7 ppg. Florida Atlantic has three more players averaging nine-plus points per contest.
–Field Level Media
