No. 18 Memphis to bring 47-game CUSA win streak to Minges

East Carolina is 7-3 at Williams Arena-Minges Coliseum this season

There aren’t many programs throughout the country that can lose three players—Derrick Rose, Chris Douglas-Roberts and Joey Dorsey—to the NBA and still manage to start the next season 16-3.

However, No. 18 Memphis (16-3, 5-0) probably progressed to the “reload rather than rebuild” phase a few years ago under now ninth-year head coach John Calipari. The Tigers, who won a school record 38 games and lost an overtime heartbreaker to Kansas in the national title game last season, are 235-68 under “ Coach Cal” and have won 30-plus games in each of the last three years.

While there were some early season struggles like you would anticipate after suffering such critical losses, Memphis has since found its stride. The Tigers have since managed to reel off ten straight wins, which gives them the third longest active winning streak in the country.

Since we’re talking streaks, an even more impressive one is the current 47-game win streak that the Tigers have compiled in Conference USA. Their last league loss suffered came way back on March 2, 2006 when they fell at UAB.

Two of Memphis’ five league wins have been away from the FedEx Forum, but those were easily the toughest tests the team has faced. In fact, the streak was less than a second from being broken at Tulsa, but Antonio Anderson’s lay-up as time expired gave Memphis a narrow 55-54 win and moved the streak to 45. The Tigers also faced an eight-point deficit with just over 11 minutes to play at UCF before rallying for a seven-point victory.

As you’d expect, Memphis has matured as the season has progressed and that has been largely a result of the influence of freshman point guard Tyreke Evans. He has done a solid job of replacing last year’s rookie point guard Derrick Rose, who was chosen first in last year’s NBA Draft. Evans, who was widely regarded as the nation’s top high school prospect in the Class of ’08, is averaging a team-high 16.6 points per game in his rookie season and garnered CUSA Rookie-of-the-Week honors for an eye-popping sixth time after his performance in the Tigers’ 54-52 win at in-state rival Tennessee. The 6’6” frosh also averages 2.6 steals and 3.8 assists. He has shot a team-high 101 free throws.

Forwards Robert Dozier (6’9”) and Shawn Taggart (6’10”) also score in double figures. Dozier averages 11.4 points and 6.9 rebounds while also swatting 1.5 shots. Taggart, who has come off the bench in ten games, produces 10.2 points and a team-high 7.4 rebounds. He leads the team with 1.8 blocks per contest.

In the backcourt, Antonio Anderson provides excellent senior leadership. The 6’6” veteran averages 9.5 points and 4.7 rebounds. He leads the club with 4.3 assists.

The third guard in the line-up is junior Doneal Mack. Mack, who also has good length at 6’5”, averages 9.6 points and has shot a team-high 113 three-pointers. He is only shooting 30 percent behind the arc.

Juniors Willie Kemp (6’2”) and Pierre Henderson-Niles (6’8”, 300) also see significant minutes for Calipari’s club.

While Memphis is certainly more than capable offensively, the Tigers’ defensive tenacity has been what has set the tone for them. East Carolina coach Mack McCarthy feels Calipari’s squad is defending even better than it did a season ago.

The Tigers are allowing a scant 60 points per game and create all kinds of problems with their man-to-man defense. Their athleticism and length has helped them force nearly 10 steals per game while holding opponents to only 29 percent from three-point range. Memphis also hits the glass very well as they outrebound the opposition by nearly five boards per game.

East Carolina (10-8, 2-3) is coming off a much-needed momentum producing win at SMU on Saturday. Prior to the hard-fought victory over the Ponies, the Pirates had dropped seven of their last eight. Now, Coach McCarthy’s young club should have a much higher confidence level as it heads into one of its most challenging contests of the season.

The young Bucs were able to collect the rare road CUSA victory because of an improved offensive output. ECU’s offense, which topped 70 points for the first time in eight games, was the most efficient it has been since its December 13 blowout of UNC-Greensboro. It sank 10-of-20 attempts from long range.

The Pirates placed five players in double figures and freshman forward Darrius Morrow led all scorers with 21. Morrow, who made his third career start against the Mustangs, is now averaging 10.4 points and 7.3 rebounds per contest. Point guard Brock Young had his fifth double double game, finishing with 16 points and 11 assists. Young, who leads the nation in total assists and assists per game (8.2), had 23 assists compared to only three turnovers in his team’s Texas road trip.

The senior backcourt of James Legan and Sam Hinnant came through in the clutch in Dallas. Legan, who has made 56 trifectas while shooting 46 percent from deep, had 14 points and made a couple of huge three-pointers in the final ten minutes. Hinnant concluded the contest with 12 and made a crucial pull-up jumper from the free throw line, which extended his team’s lead to four with just over a minute to play.

Sophomore swing man Jamar Abrams came off the bench for the first time against SMU and delivered a stellar 14 point, seven rebound effort.

Defensively, East Carolina continued to struggle. It is surrendering 77 points per game in league play after allowing 74 points to one of the worst offensive clubs in Conference USA. However, the Pirates did come through with some clutch stops down the stretch against SMU.

Final ECU v Memphis Analysis & Prediction

East Carolina has never beaten Memphis on the hardwood. The Pirates are 0-6 all-time against the Tigers—including 0-3 at Williams Arena-Minges Coliseum. However, John Calipari is well aware of the potential challenge his club faces in one of the league’s most hostile road environments against a much improved East Carolina team. While Memphis has never lost in Greenville, it has been forced to win two of its three contests there in the final minute from the charity stripe.

While East Carolina has made significant improvement under second-year coach Mack McCarthy, they are very vulnerable due to size and depth deficiencies. With such a small margin for error, the Pirates will likely have to hit ten or more three’s to have any shot at pulling off one of the biggest wins in school history. Sam Hinnant and James Legan will need to reach, if not exceed, their averages of 15.1 and 13.1 points. Morrow will need to provide a low-post threat to free up looks for the backcourt.

When Memphis turns up the heat defensively, the Pirates must handle the pressure much better than they did against UTEP.

Defensively, East Carolina will mix it up. It will likely benefit the most from an active zone because of Memphis being at best an average jump-shooting team. The Pirates will need to cut off the gaps and rebound the basketball in order to prevent an abundance of easy baskets inside, which has been a serious issue of late.

East Carolina’s best win to date was a 93-90 home victory over VCU, who is No. 55 in the RPI, back in late November. Memphis’ athleticism and length are similar to that of Wake Forest and UTEP, who presented the Pirates with a variety of problems. ECU competed for a little over a half against the Deacons while the Miners pulled away in the game’s final ten minutes.

For the Pirates to win, they’ll have to score 75-plus points because they’ve not shown any consistency on the defensive end. This won’t happen against a tall Tiger team whose length will make it very difficult to get quality shots.

Memphis extends its streak to 48.

Memphis 77 - East Carolina 61