It might as well have been on Sunday.
Emphasis on power.
In the first half, UAB dominated Memphis basketball, leading by 22 points. But if the Tigers wanted a shot at the NCAA Tournament as a whole, they had to have this game. So they took it.
In front of an electric and insanely loud FedExForum crowd, the Tigers (22-8, 11-6 AAC) used a 46-9 run (highlighted by 20 straight points) to regain control and claim a 106-87 victory , her fourth straight. That keeps them in the running for a double-bye at the AAC tournament in Fort Worth, Texas, which begins March 13. They are in fourth place in the league standings with one regular season game remaining.
“For me, the movement, I thank God for the movement,” Hardaway said. “The movement is in motion right now. I can just feel the momentum of this team, even though we had a bad first half, I just feel like God has a plan for this team. For the things we went through. “To come out of it with a 19-point win, I never gave up.”
Many of the same fans who raved about the Tigers' atrocious play in the first half raved about their dominant play in the second half.
Memphis is just the second team in college basketball since 2010 to trail by more than 20 points and win the same game by more than 15 points.
“I’m not sure if I should be proud of that or not,” Hardaway said jokingly.
“They had us under control in the first half, that's not going to lie,” said Nae'Qwan Tomlin, who scored a career-high 28 points.
“Personally, I didn’t want to go out like that,” said David Jones after 32 points.
“The team is really coming together,” Jahvon Quinerly said. “Even with the 10-game winning streak that we had at the start of the season, I feel like the momentum we have now is a little bit more because we're shutting down opponents the way I think we should. The boys are smiling out there, having fun.”
The stunning win was revenge for January's disappointing loss to the Blazers (18-11, 10-6) in Birmingham.
Here are five observations from Sunday's win.
Points, points and more points
Memphis was powered by the three-headed monster of Jones, Tomlin and Jahvon Quinerly.
Jones was only held to eight points in the first half. But like other games where he got off to a slow start, he came alive in the second half. He scored 24 of his game-high 32 points in the final 20 minutes.
Tomlin, the midseason transfer who has become a force on both ends of the court, dropped 28 points, seven rebounds and two steals.
Quinerly finished with 25 points.
The sales battle
UAB handled the lack of defensive pressure Memphis applied relatively well in the first half. The Blazers committed just seven turnovers before halftime, compared to Memphis' eight turnovers.
The second half was a completely different story. UAB turned the ball over 11 times in its disastrous half, while the Tigers passed it just once.
Andy Kennedy's short day
The Tigers came out of the locker room like fireworks after halftime.
Trailing 61-46 at halftime, they made two field goals in the first minute and four in the first two minutes to cut the deficit to just seven points. UAB coach Andy Kennedy became restless, shook his head, looked down and sighed deeply.
Two minutes later, the Tigers had fought back to 61-59 and Kennedy burst. He was given a technical foul by referee Jeb Hartness, which Kennedy didn't like. When he continued to protest, he was sent off by Byron Jarrett. This excited Kennedy even more. Players and coaches alike had to hold him back.
Where is the defense?
Two weeks ago, the Tigers allowed SMU 58 points in the first half of a game they lost 106-79.
And whatever SMU had done, UAB did it better. The Blazers annihilated the Tigers in the first half, putting up 61 points without scoring in the first 1:19 or the final 1:35.
UAB shot 67.6% from the floor and hit eight 3-pointers. It took advantage of Memphis' interior defense and scored 30 points in the first 20 minutes.
Help at the free throw line
When things picked up for the Tigers in the first half, they buoyed themselves with consistent performance at the free throw line.
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They arrived early and often, making 16 shots on 18 attempts. Their 16 makes were twice as many as UAB even attempted in the first half.
All that time spent at the free throw line also helped lay the foundation for the foul trouble UAB faced as the game progressed. Six Blazers finished with three or more fouls.
Quinerly and Jones each made 10 free throws.
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at [email protected] or on Twitter @munzly.