Tigers, UCF set for 6 p.m. tip in Orlando

Wednesday, January 29

Orlando, Fla.

6 PM

University of Memphis

UCF

Tickets

The Tigers are 14-5 overall and 3-3 in the American Athletic Conference.

Photo by: Matthew A. Smith

Jan 28, 2020 | Men's Basketball

Memphis Notes (vs. UCF)UCF Notes (vs. Memphis)

UofM playing last road game until mid-February

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis will attempt to snap a two-game losing streak when it plays UCF Wednesday night in Orlando

The Tigers have dropped back-to-back American Athletic Conference games to Tulsa (on the road) and SMU (at home) to drop out of the Associated Press Top 25 Poll for the first time this season.

Memphis (14-5 overall, 3-3 AAC) will begin a four-game stretch that includes Wednesday's game at UCF, followed by home games against UConn, Temple and USF. Tipoff is 6 p.m. and the game will be carried by ESPNU.

Tigers coach Penny Hardaway will face a UCF team that has lost six of its past eight games, but been competitive in recent losses. The Knights (11-8, 2-5 AAC) only turned the ball over seven times and made 23 of 26 free throws in an 87-79 loss at Wichita State.

Dazon Ingram, a 6-foot-6 graduate transfer from the University of Alabama, leads the Knights in assists (75), steals (19) and rebounds (7.6 average).

Hardaway knows what the Tigers need to do to break out of their slump. The Tigers led 68-56 with seven minutes remaining against SMU on Saturday, but were outscored 18-2 the remaining of the game.

"In the second half, the ball got stagnant," Hardaway said. "We have to get the ball to certain people. We keep missing (getting the ball to) people who need the ball for us to be successful.

"The games we've lost, we haven't been able to find those whose hands the ball needs to be in."

There is no panic in Hardaway. He said the Tigers are 14-5 with more than a month of the regular-season remaining.

"At the end of the day it's basketball," he said. "And it can be fixed."

Tiger guard Boogie Ellis bounced back from a difficult shooting streak to start the conference season. He scored 14 points in 23 minutes in last weekend's loss to SMU. He had only scored three points in team's previous four games.

"If I have a slump or I'm shooting good, I'm still going to come back to the gym and keep working," Ellis said.

As for the team, Ellis said "from here on out we've got to play with a smile; have fun with it."

NOTES

Coach Penny Hardaway, who played against Kobe Bryant in the NBA, spoke about Bryant's tragic passing Sunday in a helicopter crash in California. Hardaway discussed Bryant's impact on the game around the world and how he had reached out to the younger generation following his retirement from the game. "Kobe was going into the best part of his life (post NBA) even though he did a phenomenal job (on the court) with five NBA Championships and 18 All-Star (game appearances), one MVP and two gold medals."
Tiger Basketball binge-watching anyone? Before Wednesday's 6 p.m. tipoff, ESPNU will replay a series of Tigers' classic basketball games through the years, including the 2008 matchup between Memphis and Tennessee when they were ranked 1-2 nationally. The schedule: 6-8 a.m. vs. Cincinnati from Dec. 19, 2007; 10 a.m.-noon vs. Gonzaga from Feb. 17, 2007; Noon to 2 p.m. vs. Tennessee from Feb. 23, 2008; 2 to 4 p.m. vs. Georgetown from Dec. 22, 2007 and 4 to 6 p.m. vs. Cincinnati from Dec. 17, 2007.