As a precursor to the Super Bowl on Sunday night, the Memphis Tigers would return home after a massive win over UAB on Thursday to face a sneaky Charlotte team looking to rain on the Memphis parade on Sunday. 

After playing a difficult first half of the conference schedule, the Tigers would welcome the month of February with open arms as the Tigers entered Sunday’s game with Charlotte just a game and a half out of first place. A win over Charlotte would bring the Tigers within a half game of South Florida and Tulsa atop the American standings. Unlike in years past, if Memphis were to rally and finish in the top two of the American standings, the Tigers would earn a bye in the conference tournament and would play until Saturday in the Semifinal round of the American Tournament in Birmingham. 

Coming into the game against Charlotte on Sunday, the Tigers needed a complete game for a full forty, as they have struggled with an identity crisis all season long, unable to finish games. 

Memphis opened the first half on a vengence playing a really good defensive half of basketball while using the turnovers on the other end to build a double digit half time lead over Charlotte. 

Needing a strong second half, the Tigers would carry on with business, taking a 53-34 lead over Charlotte at the under-12 media timeout. Despite a mini from Charlotte, the Tigers would continue their dominance in the second half, keeping Charlotte under 40 points until the 7:48 mark. Memphis would see the lead reach 61-40 with 7:20 remaining in the game. From there, it was all Memphis as the Tigers put together a complete game by running Charlotte out of the gym with a final score of 77-54. 

Memphis had six guys score double digits on Sunday, with Aaron Bradshaw leading the way with sixteen points. Julius Thedford finished his day with a double-double with eleven points and eleven rebounds. 

Overall, Sunday was without question one of the best games the Tigers have played all season, now riding a two-game winning streak into a massive matchup on Thursday night at North Texas. The Tigers seem to have a little hope headingo the remainder of the season. The potential has always been there this season for the 2025-2026 Memphis team to be really good, but they just haven’t lived up to it just yet, with the defensive game they just played and two hard-fought victories over UAB on Thursday and Charlotte on Sunday , the season seems to have more hope than it did a week or two ago, all Memphis has to do is take care of business and contuine to build off each win by not letting a mistake or two crash the whole thing down. Because the Tigers are just a game out of first place and have games with South Florida remaining on the schedule, a split with the Bulls and taking care of business in the rest would all but guarantee a top four seed in the conference tournament with the likelhood of finishing in the top-two and earning a bye until the semifinals round of the American Tournament all that much more likley for Coach Hardaway and the boys. Control what you can control and let the chips fall where they will. 

Memphis will return to action on Thursday night, traveling to Denton, Texas, to take on North Texas. At 4-7 in conference play, North Texas is one of those teams that Memphis should beat, but has all the makings of being a trap game for the Tigers. Back to the saying, control what you can control and use the mometum from the last two games to continue on the winning ways while building for a late-season run back to the NCAA Tournament. 

Photo Credits- Memphis basketball on X