The struggles continued Sunday afternoon for Memphis as it dropped its sixth straight game with a road loss against East Carolina. The Tigers couldn’t get into a groove early, and the Pirates controlled most of the game, leading for nearly 35 minutes.
Prior to Sunday’s game, Aaron Bradshaw, Ashton Hardaway and Tariq Ingraham all appeared on the conference’s player availability report. Bradshaw and Hardaway were both listed as questionable, while Ingraham was listed as out with a concussion.
Bradshaw remained a game-time decision and ultimately played, but Penny Hardaway ruled his son out during his pregame interview with Dave Woloshin. Bradshaw returned to the starting lineup and scored the first points of the game, which was part of a 5-0 Memphis run to start the game.
The two teams traded baskets for most of the first part of the half before ECU went on a 14-3 run to give it a 10-point lead with 9:31 left in the half. The Pirates continued to apply pressure, and they led by as many as 17 points before settling into a 14-point lead going into the half.
ECU shot 54.8 percent from the field and made five three-pointers, and they out-rebounded the Tigers 22-to-13 over the first 20 minutes of the game. Three players ended the first half with double-digits, and Corey Caulker led the team with three three-pointers.
On the other side, Memphis shot only 31.3 percent from the field and turned the ball over eight times in the first half. Curtis Givens III and Julius Thedford both scored seven points in the first half, but most of the team struggled to make shots.
The Tigers opened the second half with a 12-5 run to make it a 7-point deficit, but Jordan Riley, who is the second-leading scorer in the country, scored 12 of the team’s next 13 points to extend the lead back to 15 points. From there, it felt like ECU was able to put the game into cruise control, and they never led by less than 12 points the rest of the game.
As a team, Memphis shot 37.3 percent from the field, 31.3 percent from deep and 65 percent from the free-throw line, and three players finished the game in double-figures. Thedford led the team with 16 points, nine rebounds and three steals, while Dug McDaniel and Sincere Parker combined for 27 points.
The Tigers were out-rebounded 38-to-30, but the big men combined for only seven rebounds. Thierno Sylla led the group with three, but Bradshaw, Majok, Arop and Whorton all grabbed one apiece.
While the bigs struggled rebounding, Memphis grabbed 13 offensive rebounds, and it recorded 20 second-chance points as a team.
Bradshaw made his return, but he struggled to get much going and only played 17 minutes. The center scored four points, on 2-for-5 shooting, and he added a rebound, a steal, a foul and three fouls.
After turning the ball over eight times in the first half, Memphis only committed four turnovers in the second half, but the Pirates took advantage and scored 17 points off the 12 turnovers.
On the other side, ECU shot 53.6 percent from the field and 50 percent from deep, and three players finished with double-digit points. Riley led the team with 31 points and 12 rebounds, and he had the play of the game with a posterizing dunk over Sylla.
The Pirates entered the game shooting 27.8 percent from deep, which ranked No. 319 in the country, but they caught fire early and knocked down nine triples, the most they’ve made in a game all season.
While they shot the ball well, the Pirates turned the ball over 15 times, but the Tigers couldn’t capitalize and scored only 11 points off turnovers.
With the loss, Memphis falls to 12-17 on the season and 7-9 in conference play, and Hardaway’s team now sits in ninth place in the conference standings. The Tigers will return home for a Thursday night rematch against USF, who improved to 21-8 with a 28-point win over Tulane earlier today.