Memphis basketball isn't losing, but the Tigers seem a little lost right now | Giannotto

At least Memphis basketball is still winning, and maybe the players are learning from all the ways in which they’ve nearly given their fans a heart attack the past five games.

That was the premise laid out to forward Nick Jourdain after the Tigers needed overtime to beat the worst team in the American Athletic Conference Wednesday. That was what triggered an admission of guilt.

“We’ve worked so hard for the way we positioned ourselves for … how we’re seeded as a team,” Jourdain responded, “and it’s scary because we’re almost throwing it out the window.”

Almost, but not yet. Not after the Tigers salvaged a 107-101 win over UTSA at FedExForum.

It’s an important caveat considering so many other ranked teams have not been so lucky and fallen prey to the upset bug.

But it also can’t be overlooked anymore. The pattern of playing down to opponents is officially fear-inducing for a group that less than a month ago appeared well on its way to becoming the best Memphis basketball team since John Calipari was roaming the sidelines.

These Tigers aren’t losing. Indeed, they're now on a nine-game winning streak. But it feels like they’ve lost their way for the time being.

Because this latest close call was the hardest to stomach.

The near-loss to Vanderbilt and the lackadaisical effort against Austin Peay made sense, sandwiched around the holiday break when college basketball teams are often at their most distracted.

The first Jahvon Quinerly game-winner at Tulsa was at least a road game featuring the emotional and gut-wrenching season-ending injury to Caleb Mills. The second Quinerly game-winner against SMU last Sunday came against arguably the only other team in the AAC aside from Memphis and Florida Atlantic with realistic NCAA Tournament aspirations, and the game took place just 48 hours after the Tigers endured a nightmarish travel experience coming home from Tulsa.

These all seemed like legitimate excuses, even though Memphis had clearly suffered a dropoff since its back-to-back-to-back wins over ranked teams.

But UTSA is in another category. Had Memphis lost Wednesday, it would have been the program’s worst setback since the debacle at ECU during former coach Tubby Smith’s final season, according to the KenPom ratings. That defeat ignited the behind-the-scenes machinations that eventually led to Smith’s firing and Hardaway’s hiring as coach at Memphis.

Consider that Memphis, with hopes of storming through the AAC and earning a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament, just played its third league game in a row decided in the closing seconds to start conference play. Now consider that Houston, as it dominated the AAC the past three years, never played more than five league games each season decided by five or less points.

Oddly enough, though, the hardest near-disaster to explain was the easiest to dissect for Hardaway. He appeared to find some clarity Wednesday.

He said the Vanderbilt, Austin Peay and Tulsa games made him mad – “like really mad,” he emphasized. But how the UTSA game played out, how Memphis trailed more than it led and had to overcome a four-point deficit in the final 1:16 of regulation, actually left him reassured he had identified the underlying reason for this swoon.

“Tonight, I see it for what it is. We’re not guarding,” Hardaway declared. “My teams guard the ball. These guys are all pretty much offensive-minded guys. That’s why we’re scoring 107 points. That’s why we’re scoring 59 points in the second half. But my teams don’t give up 57. We’ve done that way too many times this year.”

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UTSA’s 94 points in regulation were the most Memphis has given up since Hardaway’s first season as coach and, according to the advanced metrics, this is on pace to be his worst defensive team since his first team at Memphis. The Tigers aren’t forcing turnovers and steals at nearly the same rate they have traditionally under Hardaway.

“We’re just going to stop depending on so much help," Hardaway said. "We always preach being in help, being in gaps, being there for our teammate. Now, it’s just going to be mano a mano. You’ve just got to guard your yard."

But the numbers will tell you Memphis also just put together one of its best defensive showings of the season to come from behind and beat SMU. There might not be a simple answer, other than perhaps this is simply a symptom of modern college basketball, where roster turnover like Memphis endured makes finding an identity and sustaining that identity increasingly difficult.

Which doesn’t mean there aren't still encouraging developments. There were enough Wednesday to suggest this all could be remembered as a temporary speed bump en route to a conference title and a run to the Sweet 16 (or beyond).

Quinerly remained a human pacemaker, reviving the Tigers by scoring nine of his 25 points in overtime. Forward David Jones continued his pursuit of All-America honors with another 26 points. Jourdain had his first double-double at Memphis. The Tigers leaned once again on their formula of getting to the free throw line to offset UTSA’s 17 3-pointers. Even Jaykwon Walton, mired in a prolonged shooting slump, seemed to turn the corner with his most promising performance since November.

“We definitely can’t keep playing like this,” he said. “It’s going to end up catching up to us and we’re going to regret it.”

So at least they know what's at stake. At least they're still winning.

You can reach Commercial Appeal columnist Mark Giannotto via email at mgiannotto@gannett.com and follow him on X: @mgiannotto

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis basketball isn't losing, but Penny Hardaway's Tigers seem lost