Consistency, turnovers and defensive lapses are what worry head coach James Dickey going into today’s matchup against Memphis.
The Cougars (12-13, 4-8 Conference USA) will travel to take on Memphis (20-7, 8-4), and are looking to end their two-game losing streak.
“We have got to play more consistently,” Dickey said. “Defensively, we have to quit giving easy baskets and make people earn them. We didn’t do that against SMU or UTEP.”
The Tigers’ fast pace is another of Dickey’s concerns.
“Transition defense and one-on-one containment is going to be key, as well as not giving easy baskets in the transition or in the half court,” Dickey said.
The Tigers are a young team led by leading scorer freshman Will Barton. His 13.2 points per game are also the second- best mark for a freshman in C-USA.
The Cougars have lost seven of their last eight games, and Dickey has considered making changes to his rotation to find a combination that works.
“We think about making changes everyday and we’re going to continue to look at that,” Dickey said. “We’ve talked about changing our defense as well.”
Senior Adam Brown said he has to hold himself accountable before he can hold his teammates accountable.
“You can’t talk about others doing something without you doing it yourself,” Brown said.
“I just got to go out there and lead by example and if it means that I need to yell at some players or whatever I need to do out on the court.”