Over the last five games of a 10-game winning streak that put them in the Associated Press Top 10, Memphis proved themselves as a skilled winner of close games.
The Tigers’ gift vanished overnight when they lost two straight games to rivals in the American Athletic Conference, South Florida and Tulane, dropping them from 10th to 19th in this week’s poll.
Memphis takes a week off to work out some kinks before hosting UAB on Sunday.
The Tigers (15-4, 4-2 AAC) injured themselves with crucial mistakes and erratic defense, blowing leads of up to seven points against Tulane and twenty points against South Florida in the first half. Memphis made 14 mistakes, gave up straight-line drives, and too frequently assisted in setting up other players for easy looks. As a result, the Green Wave were able to make 51% of their shots in the second half.