UH seemingly had all the ingredients needed for an upset of Associated Press No. 1 Memphis on Wednesday night. The Cougars had a loud, supportive sold-out crowd at Hofheinz Pavilion, a healthy lineup and the desperation of a team fighting for an NCAA Tournament berth.
The problem was, they didn’t quite have enough offense for the task.
UH hung tough with the Tigers for a good portion of the matchup, but was overwhelmed down the stretch en route to a 89-77 loss before 8,918, the largest crowd at Hofheinz since the venue was reconfigured in 1998.
The defeat undoubtedly leaves a sour taste in the Cougars’ mouths. It doesn’t quite kill their chances of receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, but it does make the path to the postseason a lot tougher.
UH (15-4, 4-1 Conference USA) entered the game with a Ratings Percentage Index of 75 and strength of schedule rating of 207, with its best win coming over Marist (RPI of 86). A win over Memphis would have greatly improved the Cougars’ resume.
UH’s undoing against Memphis (20-0, 6-0) came by way of poor shooting. The Cougars shot only 35.3 percent from the field, including a meager 25 percent from behind the arc. That was a sharp contrast from Memphis’ 58.5 shooting percentage from the field.
Still, UH made things interesting. Senior forward Dion Dowell (23 points) made a layup with just over eight minutes remaining in the game to cut the Cougars’ deficit to 62-70, but Memphis would dominate the rest of the way.
Memphis junior guard Chris Douglas-Roberts supplied most of the damage. He torched the Cougars’ defense all night, finishing with a game-high 30 points on 9-of-13 shooting.
While Douglas-Roberts beat the Cougars with his shooting, senior forward Joey Dorsey did the same with his rebounding and defense. Dorsey pulled down a game-high 22 rebounds and made life miserable for any Cougar brave enough to drive into the lane.
UH senior guard Robert "Fluff" McKiver, the team’s leading scorer of the season, finished with 20 points.
