Tulsa stumbles against Memphis
In a predictable outcome against Memphis, Tulsa looked to clearly be playing for the future down the stretch.
Freshmen B.B. Knight and Jesaiah McWright got extended playing time in the second half, and for the last part of the game when Tulsa was trying to stay in the game and mount a comeback.
The 80-68 loss to Memphis was, as expected, before an announced crowd of 3,602 at the Reynolds Center on Sunday afternoon where only a few handfuls of TU students showed up on a cold and blustery day.
McWright and Knight, who both signed with La. Tech before Eric Konkol took the TU coaching job last spring, followed Konkol to TU, and have seen spot duty for most of the year. And almost never down the stretch, although Knight has started 8 games.
"Both of those guys give us a length and athleticism out there to help us with matchups," Konkol said of the 6-foot-6 Knight and the 6-4 Wright. "It's taken some time for those freshmen to find the areas they can help us with."
Both McWright and Knight played important minutes all throughout the game. With Tulsa down 12 with 5:29 left, McWright and Knight came back into the game and finished.
Although in the end they couldn't close the margin, they more than held their own against a talented Memphis team.
"B.B.'s been starting games and he's done a nice job of finding his spots and being a floor spacer," Konkol said. "I'm really happy for him. He's a tremendous shooter. He just hasn't found that rhythm yet."
Knight was 2 of 4 on three-pointers, 3 of 6 overall, and scored 8 points with a steal and rebound with a plus/minus ratio of minus 5 in 20 plus minutes.
Although McWright didn't score, his plus/minus ratio of plus 2 in 19 plus minutes was the only TU player in the plus of guys who played 10 minutes or more. Even though he didn't score and had 1 assist and no rebounds, the team was clearly playing better with him in the lineup.
"Jesaiah is really developing into one of our better defenders. He's got length, he's got speed, and he's learning," Konkol said. "Shots will fall for him eventually. I thought he gave us a good lift. To finish as a plus 2 in the minutes he played is important."
Knight was averaging 10.3 minutes per game coming into Sunday's contest, while McWright had averaged 8.4 minutes, with Knight and McWright averaging 1.5 and 1.6 points, respectively.
Tulsa (5-15, 1-8 AAC) played well for much of the game, leading by as many as four at 43-39 two-and-a-half minutes into the second half. The Golden Hurricane's last lead was at 50-49 at the 13:40 mark.
But Memphis (17-5, 7-2) showed why it is better. Especially in the case of SMU transfer Kendric Davis, who scored 26 points in over 39 minutes with 2 steals, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 6 turnovers.
Davis was held to only 7 points and turned the ball over 4 times in the first half. But the 6-0 Davis lived up to and surpassed his 21.3 scoring average in the second half with 19 points in the final half.
It was Davis who got Memphis going when it looked like Tulsa might be able to pull off the upset. It was Davis, and clearly only Davis, who was the difference in the game for the Tigers. Without him, they would have been lost.
"Kendric woke us up," said Memphis coach Penny Hardaway.
DeAndre Williams had a nice game for Memphis. The 6-9 senior transfer from Evansville had 17 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, two turnovers, and a steal.
Memphis was able to pull out to a 12-point lead with under 10 minutes left. A three-pointer by Knight with 3:43 left gave Tulsa hope, cutting the margin to 9 at 74-65, and a two-plus-one traditional three-pointer by Bryant Selebangue had Tulsa trailing by 9 again at 76-67 with 2:47 remaining.
But the Tigers were able to close it out from there without having to sweat, leading by as many as 13.
Tim Dalger led TU with 17 points, and Sam Griffin finished with 15 points. But Griffin was out of the lineup for the last 5:29 despite playing almost 29 minutes.
"I think Tim has really found a great niche of what he can help us with. He's making hustle plays, he's keeping balls alive," Konkol said. "He got out in transition and did some really nice things."
Anthony Pritchard, who along with Selebangue, Dalger, McWright and Knight formed the lineup for Tulsa the last 5:29, played well. He made some dazzling passes, and scored 9 points, making 4 of 8 from the field to go along with 3 steals, and 5 assists with 3 turnovers.
The game marked the homecoming for former Tulsa coach Frank Haith, who is an assistant for Hardaway after spending the last 8 years as Tulsa's head coach.
"Coach Haith has brought a calming experience to me because he knows so much," Hardaway said. "I'm happy to have him."
Konkol has been trying to to find the right combination of players that Haith left him and newcomers he brought in.
Overall, although it is clear Tulsa needs a major talent upgrade next season, Konkol knows there are some players currently on Tulsa's roster that can help TU get back to the high level of basketball that was at TU when Konkol was a graduate assistant at Tulsa in 2000-2001. Konkol is busy trying to build and find the right players for the future.
"I told our guys that this is all about competition, always," Konkol said. "It's us versus our opponent, but every day, it's us versus us. There's always opportunities for guys to earn more playing time, and for guys to earn less playing time. And that's what competition is."
Tulsa next plays at Cincinnati at 6 p.m. Wednesday night befor its next home game Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. against Wichita State.