Tigers collapse in second half at Connecticut
Memphis loses double-digit lead in second half
HARTFORD, Conn. — The collapse ended fittingly with an air ball as the shot clock expired and a couple 3-pointers that hit nothing but rim.
This, after all, was how much of the second half went for Memphis when it watched a double-digit lead turn into a 65-62 Connecticut victory Thursday night.
The Tigers led by as much as 15 with less than 10 minutes remaining in regulation, but their offense went stagnant just as UConn began to catch fire. Initially, Memphis seemed capable of answering, even as Huskies point guard Jalen Adams began stroking shots from all around the perimeter.
But then the Tigers started committing turnovers, finishing with 17 for the game, and soon the entire UConn crowd
had risen to its feet. When Memphis wasn’t giving the ball away, its shots came as the shot clock was about to expire. A first half that had come together so seamlessly, with Memphis attacking the home team at will, had given way to a finish when nothing seemed to go right.
By the time Adams knifed into the lane for a short jumper with less than two minutes remaining to give Connecticut its first lead since the opening moments of the first half, the Tigers’ first two-game losing skid of the season seemed inevitable.
Memphis still had a chance to salvage a win on the road. Coming out of a timeout and trailing 61-60, sophomore Dedric Lawson received the ball along the baseline and lofted a jumper at the rim. But it soared over the basket for another shot clock violation.
Redshirt junior Markel Crawford and point guard Jeremiah Martin each had 3point attempts with a chance to send the game into overtime in the closing seconds. Neither came close.
Memphis connected on just one of its final eight field goal attempts and shot just 33.3 percent from the field after halftime.
Memphis began the game on its heels when UConn’s first two baskets were thunderous dunks by center Amida Brimah off pick-and-roll sets. But after missing five of their first six shots, the Tigers found a groove when redshirt junior Markel Crawford hit a 3-pointer, point guard Jeremiah Martin followed with a three-point play and sophomore Craig Randall drilled a 3-pointer right in front of Huskies Coach Kevin Ollie.
A forced turnover then led to a Dedric Lawson fastbreak lay-in, and suddenly Memphis had surged ahead early thanks to an 8-0 run.
Some of its best work before halftime came on the defensive end, where the Tigers turned to a matchup zone they had rarely used previously to great effect. After its fast start, UConn went 3 of 20 from the floor over a 13-minute sequence, and Memphis steadily built its lead with each stop.
But on a night when 6-foot-11 forward Chad Rykhoek was in uniform for the first time since suffering a dislocated ankle on Dec. 17, it was Randall who proved to be the key cog off the bench. He scored 11 first-half points by knocking down three 3-pointers, his best showing in either category since Nov. 26.
Randall punctuated his third shot from the beyond the arc, part of a 13-1 run that pushed the Tigers’ advantage to 36-19, with a primal scream as his teammates rose from the bench in celebration. Memphis was rolling into halftime, a far cry from the inexplicable scoring drought that marred its last outing against Temple.
The momentum stalled to start the second half. The Tigers settled for three quick 3-pointers on their opening possessions and watched their lead dwindle to single digits again. When Dedric Lawson launched a second-consecutive ill-advised jumper from the top of the key, Smith yelled, ‘C’mon man,” to him as he ran back down the floor.
Memphis did not wilt initially because of its effective zone defense and pushed its lead back to 15 after Lawson finally knocked down a 3-pointer. When Connecticut cut its deficit to nine less than two minutes later, Randall came through again.
Having just re-entered the contest for the first time since his blistering first half, he dribbled around the perimeter before knifing into the lane for an acrobatic lay-up as the shot clock buzzer sounded. It was the sort of clutch moment he’d been waiting on for weeks.
But the rest of the team soon went cold and Memphis went home searching for answers yet again.