Tigers’ 1-3-1 defense takes away Tulane’s offense after halftime
NEW ORLEANS, La. — When University of Memphis sophomore guard Joe Jackson’s 16-foot jumper fell through the net with 3:24 left against Tulane on Wednesday, Jackson nodded his head in approval.
This was what Jackson had expected Wednesday’s game before 2,874 at Fogelman Arena to look like, with Memphis enjoying a large lead late against a Tulane team it had beaten 19 straight times coming in.
But the Tigers’ 82-64 road win over Tulane — a win that kept them tied with Southern Miss atop the Conference USA standings — hadn’t come without problems.
Tulane (15-10, 3-8 in C-USA) outhustled the Tigers (19-7, 9-2) for the game’s first 25 minutes before Memphis finally figured out it wasn’t putting forth the effort it needed to against one of the league’s weaker teams.
“They had better energy than we did for the first 30 minutes of the game, which we can’t allow to happen,” coach Josh Pastner said. “But we switched defenses, and because they missed some shots, it looked like it worked.”
Memphis’ 1-3-1 zone in the second half was far more effective than Pastner gave it credit for afterward. With sophomore guard Will Barton at the head of the zone and Jackson behind it on the baseline, Tulane couldn’t get any penetration into the lane and instead settled for 3-pointers.
But after making 3- of-6 from long range in a first half in which it led by as many as five points, the Green Wave went 4- of-12 from the 3-point line in the second half, playing right into Memphis’ hands. The zone helped Memphis force 20 Tulane turnovers that the Tigers turned into 28 points — 16 of them coming in the second half.
“We just needed to make an adjustment. We weren’t doing a good job of keeping our man in front (in the first half ),” Jackson said. “We needed to throw them off a little bit and (the 1-3-1 zone) was working for us. When it’s working it’s fun.”
Barton led an exceptionally efficient Memphis offense in the second half, scoring 16 of his team-high 20 points after the break. The Tigers scored 34 of their 50 second-half points in the paint on transition buckets and easy looks inside for sophomore forward Tarik Black. It led to a remarkable 74.1-percent shooting clip in the second half for Memphis, which used an 110 run sparked by a Black putback midway through the second half to take control.
Tulane had been ranked second in CUSA in field-goal percentage defense (39.5), but Memphis finished a sizzling 61.8 percent from the field for the game.
“We got some good points in the paint,” said Black, who was limited to five first-half minutes because of foul trouble, but scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half.
“The 3s we took, especially in the second half, were rhythm 3s. Penetration, kick. They were in rhythm and we knocked them down, and that’s why we’re leaving out of here with a W.”
Barton and Black combined to go 16- of-22 from the field. Barton added nine rebounds, seven assists and three steals in arguably his best all-around performance of the season.
“Last year, I think we would have lost a game like that . We’d fall behind early. We’d fight, but we’d come up short,” Barton said. “This time we fell behind and we came back and kind of just blew them out. It’s always good to be tested, as long as you come out with the win.”
Fortunately for Memphis, it only took the game’s last 15 minutes to earn it.