Memphis basketball experienced a heartbreaking loss to FAU in the NCAA tournament’s first round. Kendric Davis reinjured his ankle and lost his cool, and the team erupted in chaos, losing the game by one point. DeAndre Williams, who picked up his third and fourth fouls, played almost the entire rest of the game, making every big play down the stretch. Despite the remarkable response from Memphis, FAU made the biggest play of the game, and the Tigers lost the game.
Role players like Elijah McCadden, Damaria Franklin, and Jayden Hardaway made significant contributions to steady Memphis until Davis found his bearings late in the first half. This trio scored 19 points, and their contributions proved crucial to Memphis.
At the beginning of the game, Memphis struggled to keep up, settling for too many 3-pointers, and Davis and Williams looked tentative and out of sync against FAU’s half-court defense. After a 14-2 FAU run, the Tigers were shooting 27.7 percent, and their dynamic duo was a combined 2 for 10 from the field.
The loss was indeed a dramatic finish to the game, and FAU advanced to the next round to face No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson on Sunday.
Memphis basketball experienced an agonizing loss to Florida Atlantic (FAU) in the NCAA Tournament’s round of 64 on Friday night. The Tigers’ star player, Kendric Davis, reinjured his ankle while landing on an FAU defender’s foot. Davis was yelling in pain and then at Malcolm Dandridge, losing his cool in the emotions of his first March Madness. The situation became worse when Davis made a poor pass with 14 seconds left, and the Tigers were up by one. FAU advanced when Nick Boyd scored the game-winning layup, and the Tigers’ season ended.
Memphis had an opportunity to go to the Sweet 16, but the chance slipped away. Penny Hardaway threw his water bottle to the court in disgust, DeAndre Williams flung his headband into the stands with anger, and Davis sat on the bench, staring into nowhere, as his career ended in the most heartbreaking of finishes.
The decision to re-insert Williams back into the game with four fouls and 14 minutes to go was incredibly daring or incredibly too dicey. There was no in-between when coach Penny Hardaway made the decision.
The Tigers had mostly avoided this type of drama throughout the season, but the team was suddenly erupting in chaos, and their season was hanging in the balance. Unfortunately, this became a defining moment for the team.
The loss was indeed a dramatic finish to the game, and FAU advanced to the next round to face No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson on Sunday. The referees did not grant the Tigers a timeout, even though they thought they had called one in the scramble for the loose ball. As a result, the Tigers lost the game by one point, ending their journey in the NCAA tournament’s first round.
DeAndre Williams, a Memphis basketball player, picked up his third and fourth fouls less than 50 seconds apart in the opening three minutes of the second half, leading to FAU tying the game with him on the bench. However, coach Penny Hardaway chose to trust Williams, and he made every big play down the stretch, including two putbacks in the final 90 seconds that put Memphis in a position to win until FAU made the biggest play of all.
Unusual players like Elijah McCadden, Damaria Franklin, and Jayden Hardaway made significant contributions to steady Memphis until Kendric Davis found his bearings late in the first half. McCadden had timely buckets and rebounds, Franklin had a sequence where he had a chasedown block and a 3-pointer, and Hardaway hit the 3-pointer that tied the game at 29. This trio scored 19 points, and their contributions proved crucial to Memphis.
At the beginning of the game, Memphis was struggling to keep up, settling for too many 3-pointers, and Davis and Williams looked tentative and out of sync against FAU’s half-court defense. After a 14-2 FAU run, the Tigers were shooting 27.7 percent, and their dynamic duo was a combined 2 for 10 from the field. However, the team’s resiliency surfaced through the supporting cast that’s often in the background when Davis and Williams are thriving.
Despite the remarkable response from Memphis, FAU made the biggest play of the game, and the Tigers lost the game by one point, ending their journey in the NCAA tournament’s first round.
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