Re: Memphis Preview

[Paul Hartkemeyer]

> All of this adds up to
>
> UC 79  Memphis 74
>
> jon b
Not bad Jon!!!



jon breiner wrote:

> <In Booming Announcer Voice:>  Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, One day Only, at the
> Shoe, Memphis and UC, Battle for the Conference Championship, Only at The
> Shoe, and on ABC, 1 PM EST. <Booming Announcer voice fades>
>
> Until the beginning of February it appeared as if this game would be for the
> championship, but on the way some crazy things happened.  Marquette made a
> valiant attempt to make the Championship go through Milwaukee, but they
> could not get through Cincinnati.  Memphis faltered, losing 3 straight
> against Charlotte, UAB, and Houston.  It did not help when senior forward
> Kelly Wise was either out injured, or playing few ineffective minutes due to
> the injury in those games.  And suddenly after a great shot by Donald Little
> on a Friday night at the Shoe, it appeared as if UC had all but locked up
> their 7th straight CUSA Conference Championship.  But then a funny thing
> happened on the way to Freedom Hall and now the Cats have another home court
> battle on Senior Day to determine the Conference Champion.
>
> Oh sure they have locked up a share of the title, but not the coveted number
> one tourney seed.  And I bet it would leave a bad taste in the mouths of
> many of these Bearcats if they end up losing their last two to share the
> title with Memphis and (likely) Marquette.  A loss to Memphis means having
> to play Marquette in the semifinals and rematch with Memphis in the Finals
> to win it.  With a win, UC must defeat Charlotte in the semi's and likely
> face either Memphis or Marquette in the finals.  I like the latter route
> better.
>
> Memphis was the pre-season conference favorite.  If you look at their
> roster, it is easy to figure out why.  They had First Team All-CUSA player
> and dominating inside presence Wise back.  They had the number one freshman
> in the country in guard DeJuan Wagner.  One of the top JUCO power forwards
> in Chris Massie, and returning players 6'11" Earl Barron and 3rd guard,
> small forward, sophomore Scooter McFadgon.  Sophomore guard Antonio Burks
> frees DeJuan Wagner from needing to be the PG.  Burks reminds me of Chris
> Garner.  Quick, smallish PG, but you can play off of him, as he does not
> shoot the ball well.
>
> On paper they have the best parts.  And it appeared in late January, the
> parts had finally figured out how to play well together, Wagner and Wise had
> become a bit more cohesive, but then Wise got hurt and they temporarily fell
> apart.  But Memphis is together again now.  Wise is the reigning CUSA player
> of the week and Wagner is the quickest guard we will have faced this year.
> Wise leads the league in rebounding with 11.0 per game.  Wagner is second to
> Logan in scoring, 22.3 to 21.2.  Wagner is very streaky.  If he gets on a
> hot streak, I do not think we can contain him, but if he goes cold, we need
> to make sure we get a good run out of it.  Memphis fell way behind in the
> Charlotte game and he single handedly brought them back, and then he single
> handedly gave the game back to Charlotte by some bad misses and a few
> turnovers.  Also, watch out for McFadgon getting hot from deep.
>
> Memphis is a very good rebounding team, leading CUSA in rebound margin.
> Barron and Massie are huge and provide Wise with support in this area.  We
> must defend the glass on our home turf.
>
> Keys for UC:
>
> 1. Wagner versus Logan.  I do not expect to see these two guard each other
> as I expect Burks and Logan to be matched up most of the time, but whichever
> of these two provides the greatest offensive production for their team could
> make the difference.
>
> 2. Wise vs. UC inside.  The best rebounder in the conference and he is
> capable of catching and scoring down low.  Coming off a 23 point 13 rebound
> game against DePaul serves notice that he is back and he has the ability to
> kill UC inside.  Wise is probably the number one key (so what if they're out
> of order!).  Memphis was at their worst when he was out, so shut him down
> and make Wagner be the offensive force that beats you.
>
> 3. Rebounding/Turnovers.  This game will be played at a quicker pace, as
> Memphis averages 80 points per game, and that usually favors UC.  Limiting
> Memphis second chances and not giving away ours will be very important.
> Wagner can turn the ball over when forced into bad situations and I am sure
> Huggins has a plan to take advantage of this.  Here's to hoping it works!
>
> This game is a "must" for both teams.  Memphis is squarely on the NCAA
> Tourney bubble, but would likely get in with a win over UC.  UC doesn't care
> about that, they do not want to share the conference title and want to
> secure a #1 or #2 NCAA seed.  As much as Memphis scares me, the fact that we
> have never lost to a National Division team means I will not pick this as a
> loss.  Besides, I have a feeling that UC will come out with more fire than
> they did against Louisville and Stokes is playing at home and it is Senior
> Day.  All of this adds up to
>
> UC 79  Memphis 74
>
> jon b
>
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