How Tigers explained crunch-time failures in loss
Penny Hardaway dropped the packet of final stats on the table, sat down in front of a microphone and asked himself what might have been the most appropriate question of the nine-minute press conference.
“Where can I start?” the very hoarse Memphis basketball coach wondered aloud.
The question, rhetorical as it may have been, was no less relevant. That’s because the number of self-inflicted wounds in Saturday’s 90-89 home overtime loss to Tulane was inordinate, and the amount of self-destruction it led to is almost incalculable.
Pick a problem, any problem: The Tigers
(17-6, 7-3 AAC) missed 10 free throws, but eight of them came after the 4:45 mark in the second half and three were in overtime. There was the defensive lapse that gave the Green Wave (15-7, 8-3) the cleanest look at one of the highest-percentage shots in basketball on the game-winning bucket. There were Memphis’ season-high 22 turnovers, which led to 30 Tulane points. There was Keonte Kennedy’s 3-point attempt with 11 seconds left in regulation of a tie game. There was Kendric Davis’ 3-point attempt at the end of overtime when the Tigers were trailing by just one point.
“We made 1,000 mistakes and still was in the game,” said senior Deandre Williams, who put up 19 points with a career-high 17 rebounds. “We let ‘em off the hook.”
And, so, Hardaway and his Memphis team walked off the court inside Fedexforum struggling to ignore the mountain of “what ifs” when their NCAA Tournament outlook was already on somewhat thin ice.
Here is what they said about some of the more critical letdowns from Saturday’s loss:
On Kendric Davis’ 3-point attempt at the end of OT
Hardaway: “I drew it up to go to the basket. He just decided to pull it back and shoot the three.”
Davis: “I trusted my work and my instinct. (But Hardaway) was right. Looking at it on film, I still could’ve probably