Fresh off a massive double-digit win over UTSA on Sunday, the Tigers would head west to the great state of Oklahoma to face a hungry Tulsa Golden Hurricanes team on Wednesday night. With just one game separating the Tigers and Golden Hurricanes in the American standings, Wednesday night’s late January game between the two had a lot at stake, including potential seeding in the American Tournament in March. It was a big enough game for Tulsa Head Basketball Coach Eric Konkol to encourage student attendance by offering a fun promotion: one free beer before tipoff to qualifying students 21 or older, giving the Tigers a fun home-court advantage to talk into. 

For Coach Penny Hardaway and the Memphis Tigers, with a dismal non-conference record, the margin of error is razor thin as they travelled west to take on a Tulsa team with a 15-3 record and 3-2 in American play, eager to play spoiler. To reach the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team, the Tigers would likely need a lot of help and more than likely win out; even then, with the eight losses lingering large over the program, the reality of a razor-thin margin for error was something the Tigers had to face head-on for the remainder of the season. Yet, despite the razor-thin margin of error, the confidence in Memphis basketball seems to be an issue, as the Tigers, nearly through January, have struggled to find a true identity amid lineups that continue to change this late in the season. 

Memphis opened up an early 7-6 lead over Tulsa at the under-16 media timeout of the first half. At the under-12, following a bit of a dry spell, Tulsa shot for the Tigers, taking a 13-9 lead over Memphis. At the under-8 media timeout, it was Tulsa holding on to a 22-19 lead over the Tigers with 6:43 remaining in the first half. As the final media timeout of the first half rolled around, it was Tulsa all over Memphis 28-21, with 3:41 remaining in the half. At halftime, Tulsa held on to a 34-30 lead over the Tigers. 

As the second half rolled around, Coach Hardaway and his staff would need to make some adjustments, even breaking it into four mini-games, separated by media timeouts. Not overwhelming the comeback by trying too much at once and wasting the energy needed to close out the game on Wednesday would be the crucial second-half adjustment the Tigers need to escape Tulsa with a victory. 

At the under-16 media timeout of the second half, it was Tulsa holding on to a 47-45 lead with 14:42 to play in the game. As the under-12 second-half media timeout rolled around, so did the effort from the Tigers as Memphis retook a 55-53 lead over Tulsa with 11:02 to play in the game. At the under-8, it was Memphis 62 and Tulsa 57 with 7:59 remaining in the game. Tulsa managed a 13-0 run at the final media timeout of the game, retaking a 70-62 lead over Memphis with 3:32 to play. 

Once again, another game where Memphis had every chance to win but somehow managed to lose, there’s really no other way to put it. Tulsa wanted it more down the stretch on Wednesday, and the Tigers fell to 9-9 and 4-2 in conference play. At this point in the season, Memphis is who they are, and the season will go accordingly. There’s still hope for a run in March, but this Memphis team just isn’t the Memphis team that Memphis hope to see when basketball rolls around. Wednesday night marked Tulsa’s first win over Memphis in five years. 

Memphis will remain on the road, facing the Wichita State Shockers on either Friday or Saturday, depending on the weather. 

Photo Credits- Memphis basketball on X