Memphis has to get confidence back in a hurry
Memphis survived a trap game, barely.
The 23rd-ranked Tigers lost on the road in overtime to nationally-ranked Georgetown last Saturday. They have No. 11 Syracuse coming in this weekend. They beat Arkansas-Little Rock 59-51 on Wednesday night, avoiding the upset trap.
"We just weren't prepared," said Robert Dozier, who led Memphis (6-2) with 15 points. "Guys came in during the warmups and the layup line, and you could kind of see it. Guys were just going through the motions or weren't going hard. We just all around weren't prepared. We played sloppy."
UALR (7-3) got within five points on several occasions late, but Memphis was able to hold on down the stretch, despite not scoring from the field over the final 8:07.
"Guys are tentative," Tigers coach John Calipari said. "They're not confident enough that they can finish the play. Why? Because they just missed three layups."
Both teams shot 33.3 percent from the field and Memphis was 3-of-20 from 3-point range.
"If we weren't this good defensively," Calipari said. "This would be scary."
In other games involving ranked teams on Wednesday, it was: No. 3 Pittsburgh 79, Siena 66; No. 6 Duke 99, North Carolina-Asheville 56; No. 11 Syracuse 82, Canisius 60; No. 14 UCLA 75, Loyola Marymount 44; No. 17 Ohio State 81, Jacksonville 68; and No. 19 Michigan State 79, The Citadel 65.
In Memphis, Tenn., the Tigers appeared to be in control, leading by 18 points with just under 10 minutes left. But a rally by the Trojans that included 3-pointers from Curtis Jackson, Matt Mouzy and Steven Moore cut the deficit to 51-45 with 2:26 left.
"I thought we had a little bit more poise," Trojans coach Steve Shields said. "I was proud of our guys from a tenacity standpoint. We were down 18 at one point and continued to fight through a very talented and well-coached team."
Moore led UALR with 16 points.
"I thought we did a good job of staying with our goal of keeping them off the offensive glass and closing gaps," Shields said. "You know there is little margin for error.
"Early in the second half, we turned the ball over."
