Memphis basketball returns to FedExForum with sole possession of first place in the American Athletic Conference (AAC).
The No. 17 Tigers (18-4, 8-1 AAC)—winners of five in a row and two straight on the road—host 10th-place Tulsa (9-13, 3-6 AAC) on Wednesday (7 p.m., ESPN+). The Golden Hurricane currently rank No. 284 in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET), making this a Quad 4 opportunity for Penny Hardaway’s club.
This is Memphis’ fourth Quad 4 game this season. It’s also the Tigers’ sixth consecutive outing against a Quad 3 or 4 opponent. They won’t play another projected Quad 2 foe until March 2 at UAB.
Memphis, which owns 10 combined wins in Quads 1 and 2, fully controls its destiny. It’ll be the undisputed AAC champion—regular season and conference tournament—if it wins every game it’s supposed to. It’ll get a top-7 seed in the NCAA Tournament, if not higher, by simply taking care of business.
Hardaway hasn’t achieved either milestone in his first six seasons as the Tigers’ head coach, so he knows chances like this don’t come often. To him, the best way to capitalize is taking things one step at a time.
“I’m proud right now, because we’ve never had this opportunity at Memphis to be where we are right now,” he said Sunday. “I wanna win conference for us, our city and our school, and then go and win the conference tournament. I haven’t even looked at bracketology. I feel like if we do what we’re supposed to do, then that’s gonna take care of itself.”
Here’s what to expect in PJ Haggerty’s (21.6 points per game, No. 3 in Division I) first game against Tulsa since transferring away to Memphis last April.
What’s next for PJ Carter?
The 6-foot-4 guard is enjoying his finest stretch in a Memphis uniform.
Carter has scored 47 combined points in his last three games while shooting 57% overall and 55% from the 3-point line. He averaged just 3.8 points in Memphis’ first 19 outings.
The UTSA transfer’s best performance came during Sunday’s nail-biting victory at Rice, where he recorded a season-high 19 points on 5-for-7 perimeter shooting. Memphis nearly blew an 11-point lead with less than three minutes remaining, but Carter sank two game-clinching free throws and swatted Trae Broadnax’s full-court heave as time expired.
“He’s gotten to a comfort zone of where he fits in with this team. And man, he’s an unbelievable weapon,” Hardaway said postgame. “He’s doing it on a big level. He’s not afraid of the moment.”
Carter isn’t an overnight success story, though. Not too long ago, he was merely a benchwarmer who went with the flow. He did exactly what was expected of him—nothing less, nothing more.
If practice started at 8 a.m., he’d show up at 8. And if it ended at 10, he’d leave at 10. Hardaway, however, knew Carter had potential for more. He couldn’t it let go to waste.
“I had a meeting with him—probably about two and half, maybe three months ago—and I told him I was a little disappointed in how he was handling himself around the building, because to me, he wasn’t being serious enough,” Hardaway said. “He said to me—these words—‘Coach, I’m so appreciative of this moment. I’ve never had anything this good. Don’t ever think that I don’t appreciate it, and you’ll never see that again.’”
Carter is certainly keeping his word.
Hardaway wants Memphis to ‘finish the games better.’
It’s been a reoccurring theme since AAC play began last month.
East Carolina tied things up with a minute to play after trailing Memphis by as many as 18 points, though the latter still won in the final seconds. The Tigers led Charlotte by 22 points with five minutes remaining, but the 49ers finished that game on a 19-6 run and lost by 9. And in Sunday’s aforementioned affair, Rice trimmed the Tigers’ 11-point advantage down to one with 12 seconds left.
Hardaway says he’s happy with any win, but he still wants to see Memphis keep its foot on the gas moving forward.
“When you have them down, you gotta crush ‘em,” he said. “If we have someone down 12 points with two minutes to go, you wanna sustain that. That’s the part I want—just finish the games better.”
What Tulsa brings to the table
Tulsa hasn’t filled its Haggerty-sized hole in Eric Konkol’s third season.
The Golden Hurricane have six Quad 3 losses and five Quad 4 defeats this year. They’re currently No. 241 in Bart Torvik and No. 271 in KenPom. The latter metric slots them at No. 280 in adjusted offensive efficiency and No. 235 in adjusted defensive efficiency.
Georgia State transfer Dwon Odom is Tulsa’s most productive player. The 6-foot-2 guard averages 13.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.1 assists on 54.9% shooting. Odom scored a season-high 22 points to go with 6 boards and 5 dimes in a win over Charlotte last month. He also has two double-doubles this year.
Louisiana Tech transfer Keaston Willis is another dynamic scorer. The 6-foot-3 guard puts up 13.4 points and 3.4 rebounds per game while shooting 39.8% from both the field and 3-point range. Willis sat out all but two games last year after undergoing foot surgery.
Jared Garcia was originally ruled out for the season with a knee injury, but he suddenly returned six games ago. The 6-foot-8 forward has averaged 11.8 points and 4.5 rebounds while shooting 49% overall and 44.4% on 3-pointers since his season debut. Garcia scored 22 points in just 21 minutes against Wichita State last month.
Other players to watch for are 6-foot-1 guard Tyshawn Archie (10.1 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists), 6-foot-7 forward Isaiah Barnes (9.7 points and 4.7 rebounds) and 6-foot-4 guard Braeden Carrington (8.4 points and 4.7 rebounds).
The Prediction
Memphis wins a slugfest over Tulsa.
The Golden Hurricane will get after Haggerty early and often, especially since seven of his former teammates are coming to town. The Tigers are probably in for a bigger fight than expected, but their talent should prevail as usual.
Expect Memphis’ winning streak to move to six.