Needing a win in the worst way possible, the Memphis Tigers would take their 9-9 record on the road to Wichita State to face a dangerous Shockers team looking to add another nail in the Memphis season. 

There’s no way around it: this season has been a disappointment for the Memphis Tigers, who come into another conference game with very little hope of reaching the postseason without a complete 180 from where they are as a program at the end of January. Memphis came into the game with the Shockers at 4-2 in American Conference play, with an overall 9-9 record. The Tigers need wins to keep the season going. With a team that has this much talent on the roster, it’s hard to comprehend just how bad this season has been for Coach Hardaway and the Tigers, but the truth is, there’s been very little change from game to game, and the Wichita State game on Saturday was the best way for Coach Hardaway and his staff still had a team worth supporting as they try to turn the page for the second half of the conference slate. 

Once again this season, despite Coach Hardaway saying this team had gotten back to playing Memphis basketball, they allowed the Shockers to build a large first-half lead and made a mockery of Tigers basketball. Memphis was held under ten points in the first half until the 5:15 mark when a corner three-pointer was scored for the 11th game point. 

Wichita State dominated the first half, taking a 40-22 lead at the break. 

Memphis showed a little more fight in the second half, but the deficit was too much for the Tigers to overcome, as they fell 74-59, dropping to 9-10 on the season and 4-3 in American play. 

There will be people who will make excuses about the current state of the program under Coach Hardaway, since he’s a Memphis guy and decided to take over the program he played for. However, it doesn’t matter who the coach is; the standard is the standard, and the standard of simply winning basketball games and having success in the postseason is not being met at this current time. Sure, Memphis won the American last season, but that celebration was short-lived, as they lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, leaving Memphis fans with a hole in their hearts once again. 

Memphis will have two home games this week, with the first on Thursday against Florida Atlantic, followed by the Green Wave of Tulane at FedExForum on Sunday. 

Photo Credits – Memphis Basketball on X