Memphis returned to .500 Thursday night with a 76-69 loss on the road against North Texas. The game kicked off an important three-game road trip, and now the Tigers will travel to Utah State, which sits at 21-3 on the season, looking to avoid back-to-back losses.
It was a game of runs, and both teams went on significant runs in the first quarter, including a 13-0 run for the Mean Green to take a six-point lead. Memphis responded with a 9-0 run, but North Texas made a pair of shots in the final minute to take a one-point lead into the locker room.
The second half wasn’t much different, and the two teams combined for three different 7-0 runs. The Mean Green built an eight-point lead, but that was while they were in the midst of a nearly nine-minute span without a field goal.
Despite the struggles from the field, Daniyal Robinson’s team got to the free-throw line at will and made 10 free throws during that drought. Penny Hardaway’s team regained the lead halfway through the second half, and they led by five points with 5:12 left in the game.
North Texas responded with a 14-2 run over the final five minutes, and it held the Tigers without a field goal for the last five minutes of the game.
As a team, 43.1 percent from the field, 31.6 percent from deep and 86.7 percent from the free-throw line on 15 attempts, and three players finished in double-figures. Both big men, Aaron Bradshaw and Thierno Sylla, fouled out of the game, and Memphis lost the rebounding battle 36-to-30.
On the other side, North Texas shot 44.7 percent from the field and 20 percent from deep, and they went 31-for-41 at the charity stripe. Je’Shawn Stevenson led the team with 16 points, three rebounds and two steals.
Fouls continue to plague the Tigers
Fouling has been a story for Memphis for most of the season, but it became a massive issue Thursday night against the Mean Green.
North Texas, which doesn’t shoot the ball well from deep, played aggressively to get the ball to the basket, which led to a lot of fouls being called. Memphis was called for 23 fouls and gave up 41 free-throw attempts.
While most of the fouls were around the basket, the Tigers also ventured out and were charged with fouls behind and near mid-court. The fouling issue isn’t anything new for Memphis, but they will need to do a better job defensively without fouling over the final few weeks of the regular season.
Hardaway continues to shorten rotation
Hardaway only played eight players 10 or more minutes Sunday against Charlotte, and it looked like he was starting to figure out the shortened rotation he would use moving forward. Many wondered if this would stick, but on Thursday, Hardaway again only played eight players eight or more minutes.
After Quante Berry was ruled out before the game, Zach Davis, who hasn’t played since the loss against Tulane, was inserted back into the rotation, and Memphis rolled with a rotation that consisted of McDaniel, Givens, Bradshaw, Thedford, Sylla, Davis, Hardy and Parker. Tariq Ingraham was the only player who logged minutes outside of the eight, but he only played six minutes and recorded a rebound and a turnover.
After changing the roster nearly every game earlier in the season, it appears Hardaway has found the group that he can rely on. It will help the team to know what the pecking order is, and it will be interesting to see what it looks like when Berry returns to the rotation.
Sincere Parker led the team again in scoring
Sincere Parker led the team with 20 points, including 18 points in the second half. The guard is averaging 23.6 points per game over his last three outings, and he’s shooting 52.1 percent from the field in that span.
Parker struggled to get going early, shooting 1-for-5 from the field in nine minutes in the first half, but it was a different story in the second half. The McNeese transfer went 5-for-10 from the field in the second half, and there was a nearly three-minute span where he scored 11 of the team’s 13 points.
Parker was named the conference player of the week on Monday, and he kept the shot shooting going in Denton. It seems like Hardaway likes Parker coming off the bench, and it looks like he’ll continue to bring a spark off the bench.