If ever there was the right opponent at the right time, ECU might just be it for Memphis basketball.
While March Madness is essentially a pipe dream this season, the free-falling Tigers (12-16, 7-8 American Conference), losers of five in a row – the program’s longest such streak in 26 years – get a chance to start the most exciting month in sports on the right foot.
The next-to-last place Pirates (10-18, 5-10), who are 12th in the 13-team league in scoring offense and 11th in scoring defense – host the Tigers at Minges Coliseum in Greenville, North Carolina, on March 1 (1 p.m., ESPN+).
Memphis has three games left in the regular season. It is currently tied for eighth in the league standings. Only the top 10 teams advance to the conference tournament, which begins March 11 in Birmingham, Alabama.
The Tigers feel like all they need is to build a little momentum before then.
“My message to the team is we’ve got to find a way to just get one and then use that rhythm to go take that into the tournament,” Memphis coach Penny Hardaway said.
Memphis basketball going small?
Memphis’ starting forward, 7-footer Aaron Bradshaw, has missed all but 48 seconds of the past two games with a left elbow injury he suffered Feb. 19 at USF.
It’s anybody’s guess when or if he will play again this season.
“(Bradshaw’s return) could be any day. It could be a week. It could be two weeks,” Hardaway said Feb. 26, noting he is leaving it up to Bradshaw’s pain tolerance.
As long as the team’s second-leading rebounder is out, the Tigers will avoid playing two bigs together as much as possible, instead running out four-guard lineups almost exclusively.
“We don’t have a choice. That’s our skill,” said Hardaway. “The guards are doing most of the rebounding.”
Hardaway had been pairing Bradshaw with 6-11 center Thierno Sylla (while also mixing in others like Tariq Ingraham and Simon Majok) in recent weeks. Doing that without Bradshaw, though, hurts Memphis’ already weak rebounding. Sylla, Ingraham, Majok and William Whorton are four of the bottom five rebounders on the team among players averaging more than three minutes a game.
“I’m very confident the guards can continue to – especially while (Bradshaw) is out – rebound the ball and then try to make plays on the other end for one another,” Hardaway said.
Forward Ashton Hardaway (calf) was sidelined in the loss against Wichita State on Feb. 26. Hardaway said it’s unclear when he will return.
ECU basketball scouting report
Jordan Riley isn’t the only player the Pirates have. But he is by far their best.
The 6-5 guard is second in the nation in scoring at 23.7 points per game. In American Conference play, Riley has been even more prolific, averaging 26 points a game.
Giovanni Emejuru, a hulking 6-10, 260-pound center, provides ECU with a capable secondary option. He is putting up 13.3 points and 9.4 rebounds per game.
But, on the whole, ECU has not played well. The Pirates’ 41.7% field goal percentage ranks 330th in the country. Their 28.3% hit rate at the 3-point line is 358th in Division I (out of 365 teams).
ECU is a better offensive rebounding team than it is on the defensive boards, which could pose a problem for Memphis. The Tigers’ four-guard lineup allowed 18 offensive rebounds (and 19 second-chance points) to Wichita State.
Memphis basketball score prediction vs. ECU
Memphis 75, ECU 70: Slump-buster, thy name is Pirates. The five-game losing streak ends here.
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at [email protected], follow him @munzly on X.
