Memphis became adept at winning tight games during the latter part of a 10-game winning streak that earned it a spot in the Associated Press’ Top 10.
That gift suddenly disappeared from the Tigers in consecutive setbacks to American Athletic Conference rivals South Florida and Tulane that dropped them from 10th to 19th in this week’s poll.
After a week off to iron out some weaknesses, Memphis returns to action Sunday against host UAB.
The Tigers (15-4, 4-2 AAC) squandered a 20-point first-half lead against South Florida and led by as many as seven points versus Tulane but hurt themselves with critical turnovers and inconsistent defense. Memphis committed 14 turnovers and allowed the Green Wave to hit 51 percent of their shots in the second half, often giving up straight-line drives and helping on too many occasions to leave other players open for clean looks.
The Tigers allowed Tulane to make 10 3-pointers and make more free throws (23) than they shot (22).
“We’re not in a crisis right now,” Tigers coach Penny Hardaway said, per the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “We’ve lost some leverage — a bunch of leverage. But we still have a team that can make it to the Final Four and play with anybody in the country. Our defense can go from horrible to great just from the tweaks we’re doing this week.”