Inside the chaotic final moments of Memphis’ season
COLUMBUS, Ohio − Nick Boyd made two shots for FAU in the second half Friday.
One was the beginning of the end for Memphis basketball and the second officially ended the Tigers’ season with a 66-65 loss to the Owls (33-3) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday at Nationwide Arena.
Boyd’s big buckets bookended a 7plus minute stretch featuring a series of unfortunate events that ultimately doomed Memphis and ended its season well short of its goal. The offseason begins now for the Tigers (26-9), who kicked it off feeling dazed and disappointed.
Here is a look at the final chaotic moments of the final chapter of the 2022-23 season.
Nick Boyd’s second-half 3-pointer
Memphis led 51-47 with 7:38 left in the game when Malcolm Dandridge blocked Bryan Greenlee’s shot. But FAU secured an offensive rebound to maintain possession.
Johnell Davis, with the shot clock nearing expiration, attempted a jump shot 20 seconds later. It, too, missed the mark, but FAU maintained possession thanks to an official’s review that resulted in 0.6 seconds put back on the shot clock.
The Owls in-bounded the ball to Boyd, who drilled a 3-pointer to make it a 51-50 Memphis lead.
Kendric Davis gets hurt
Boyd was back in the spotlight again a few minutes later. Guarding Memphis’ All-american point guard Kendric Davis – a first-team all-aac selection and the most outstanding player of the AAC Tournament – Boyd contested his 3-point attempt.
In doing so, Davis’ right foot came down on top of Boyd’s left foot, aggravating an ankle injury that has lingered for much of the season. Davis immediately yelled out before falling backwards into a heap near mid-court,
writhing in pain as play continued. The officials eventually stopped play as Davis remained helpless on the court, giving him a chance to hobble to the bench, but no foul was called on Boyd.
“I know this for a fact – teams we play, you know, gonna call the refs and say, ‘He flops,' ” Davis said. “And instead of officiating the game, they look for that.”
The play reminded Davis of a similar scenario early in the Tigers' win at Cincinnati on Jan. 22, when he landed on Mika Adams-woods' foot only to be given a flop warning and technical foul by Lee Cassell. Cassell was also on the officiating crew for Friday's game against FAU. Those are the only two Memphis games Cassell officiated this season.
“Like, I mean, at Cincinnati, dude came right under my ankle and he called a flop tech, then went and looked at it and said, ‘My bad,' ” Davis said.
“I had about five of them this year where they (are) worried about the flops instead of the play. Just unfortunate again.”
Tempers flare
When play was halted due to Davis' injury, the former SMU star limped toward the end of the team's bench and went to the floor near the pep band. Then, he limped back toward the Tigers' huddle, slamming a set of water bottles on the floor and yelling out.
That's when Davis lost his temper on Dandridge. It is unclear what exactly was said, but Davis and the senior center had to be separated by coaches and teammates. One of those teammates was Alex Lomax.
“This is the biggest game of a lot of guys' career,” said Lomax. “Some guys kinda got flared up a little bit, but everybody just wants to win.”
Davis indicated the back-and-forth was simply carryover from frustration related to his ankle injury.
“It wasn't no bickering,” he said. “I haven't got one call where they came under my ankle, so it was just frustration. Like, ‘How can you miss that at that time, in that moment?' ”
The turnover and the jump ball
Despite it all, Memphis held on to a 65-64 lead with 19 seconds remaining in the game and had possession.
With 15.4 seconds on the clock, the
Tigers got the ball into Davis' hands. Guarded by a pair of Owls as he dribbled the ball up the floor, Davis saw an open Lomax just ahead, near mid-court. But Brandon Weatherspoon closed the gap and deflected the pass, which was recovered
by Boyd who got the ball ahead to Johnell Davis.
Memphis' Davis, however, knocked the ball loose from his counterpart, which led to a wild scramble on the floor for the loose ball.
Jayden Hardaway appeared to take possession with 6.7 seconds left, but three FAU players collapsed toward the ball. Lomax tried to call a timeout with 6.3 seconds on the clock. Instead, the officials ruled a jump ball and the Owls took possession.
“From my perspective, we called like 15-20 timeouts,” said Lomax. “I know, for sure, I called timeout at least 10 times. Everybody else called it. They didn't reward it to us. It's March. Whatever for the views to go up. They wanted to keep it a game. That's exactly what they did.”
The game-winner
Trailing by one with 5.5 seconds left, FAU fed the ball to Boyd in the same spot he hit the 3-pointer that initially got the momentum rolling the Owls' way.
Elijah Mccadden closed out on Boyd and ran him off the arc. Boyd sidestepped
Mccadden, knifed toward the basket and laid the ball in with his left hand over a leaping Chandler Lawson with 2.8 on the clock. The Tigers got the ball to Lomax, who flung it over to Mccadden. But the horn blew before Mccadden could try a last-second 3pointer.
“My teammates, just basically, we talked in the huddle before,” said senior Deandre Williams. “We was like, we wasn't going to give up a layup. We was going to give up a 3 before a layup. And Elijah unfortunately ran him off the line. And I kind of wanted to help him block that, but it happened too quick. And they were locked in, and they made a huge play at the end.”
“I mean, I feel like, in that moment, we probably had our best defenders on the court,” said Lomax. “We didn't want him to drive middle. In that moment, things are just happening so fast. You know, you just want to be perfect. Sometimes, trying to be perfect, you will make a mistake or, you know, just move too fast.”
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.