by Don Mooney 2-16-2023
Memphis, TENN—Right out of a Hollywood script. Team making a strong push as the playoffs near. Then star transfer point guard, whose abilities a successful season hangs on is injured in 1st half with 4:25 minutes to go. The capable backup guard, injured earlier in the season is still out. And the opponents smell blood in the basketball waters. “Oh what to do!” Thus the gut-wrenching scenario last evening for fans at FEDxFORUM as the Memphis Tigers won a thriller against Knights of the University of Central Florida 64-63.
Fifth-year senior guard Kendric Davis was feeling it early,hitting four of his first five shots giving Tigers a 10-1 early and quickly grew to 19-4 by the 10:43 mark after Keonte Kennedy drilled the Tigers’ first long ball of the night for a 9-0 run.
UCF The Knights drained four triples over the next five-plus minutes to get all the way back to within four points at 29-25. Just when it looked like the Tigers were about to route the Knights Davis went down and the Forum went silent except the screams coming from Davis as he loudly writhed in what seemed excruciating pain.
The Knights’ turned up the defense which played a tremendous role in helping mount the comeback. Memphis turned the ball over eight times in the first half and saw UCF’s defense double that in the second, forcing 16 turnovers.
Memphis made a layup with 5:47 to go to make it 62-56, and then the Knight comeback was on. Two Tiger turnovers and a missed shot led to a Johnson three ball, cutting the deficit to three. Another Memphis turnover immediately led to two more UCF points as Brandon Suggs sunk a fastbreak layup to make it 62-61. The Knights took their first and only lead of the game after yet another Tiger giveaway led to a chance for UCF. Taylor Hendricks was fouled in the act of shooting and sunk both of his free throws from the charity stripe, putting the Black and Gold in front with 3:10 to play.
UCF’s defense was suffocating in the final minutes of the game. The Knights earned a steal with 27 seconds left. With the shot clock turned off, the Knights advanced the ball to half court, where they proceeded to turn it over in an attempt to get it in the hands of a high free throw percentage shooter. Memphis snatched the ball and laid it up and in at the other end with seven second on the clock. Out of timeouts, UCF rushed up the floor to try and get a buzzer beating bucket, but couldn’t sink it on a driving layup before Demaria Franklin sealed the Tiger victory 64-63.
Game Note: Prior to the game-winning layup, Memphis hadn’t scored a point in the last 5:40 minutes