Busting Brackets
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AAC Basketball: Tournament preview and predictions

By Steven Massucci

Mar 15, 2015; Hartford, CT, USA; The Southern Methodist Mustangs celebrate after defeating the Connecticut Huskies during the final round of the American Conference Tournament at XL Center. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports at XL Center.
Mar 15, 2015; Hartford, CT, USA; The Southern Methodist Mustangs celebrate after defeating the Connecticut Huskies during the final round of the American Conference Tournament at XL Center. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports at XL Center. /
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Jan 13, 2016; Memphis, TN, USA; Memphis Tigers guard Ricky Tarrant Jr. (20) Memphis Tigers forward Shaq Goodwin (2) and Memphis Tigers forward Dedric Lawson (1) during the second half against the Temple Owls at FedExForum. Memphis Tigers beat the Temple Owls 67-65. Mandatory Credit: Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 13, 2016; Memphis, TN, USA; Memphis Tigers guard Ricky Tarrant Jr. (20) Memphis Tigers forward Shaq Goodwin (2) and Memphis Tigers forward Dedric Lawson (1) during the second half against the Temple Owls at FedExForum. Memphis Tigers beat the Temple Owls 67-65. Mandatory Credit: Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports /

6. Memphis Tigers

Memphis finished the season with a 17-14 overall record and an 8-10 record in AAC league play. It appeared that motivation was lacking for this Tigers squad in losses at home against ECU and away against Tulane and USF.

The Memphis basketball program took a few major hits this offseason. 38 year old head coach Josh Pastner watched as his most talented player, forward Austin Nichols, transferred to Virginia. They also lost Nick King to Alabama and Kuran Iverson to URI.

Forward’s Shaq Goodwin and Dedric Lawson are the two major threats for Memphis. Goodwin, a familiar face in the American Conference, is a 6’9″ senior who averages 15 points and eight rebounds per game.

Lawson is 6’8″ freshman who was a McDonald’s All American last year in high school. He was a highly touted recruit, ranked 26 overall by ESPN. He was an immediate contributor and had a solid freshman season, averaging 16 points and nine rebounds per game.

Junior Trashon Burrell rounds out this solid starting frontcourt for Memphis. This group is the best rebounding team in the AAC, leading the conference in total rebounds. Lawson and Goodwin average about two blocks per game each, placing the Tigers at the top of the AAC rankings in shots blocked.

The backcourt scoring for Memphis comes mainly from Alabama transfer Ricky Tarrant Jr. He shoots for a very poor percentage from the floor, only hitting on 30% of his 129 threes this year.

Memphis actually fares better when Tarrant takes fewer shots. In games where he’s taken six or more shots, the Tigers are 3-8. Sophomore guard Avery Woodson makes up for Tarrant’s poor shooting at a 44% clip with higher volume.

Prediction

Quarterfinals Loss to Tulsa – Tulsa is a great matchup for Memphis, as they demonstrated in a February 28th 10 point win against the Golden Hurricane.

In the contest, Goodwin and Lawson absolutely dominated the paint. Both had double doubles and scored a combined 55 points. Memphis also out rebounded Tulsa 40 to 25. However, Tulsa was missing key big man, senior Rashad Smith, who was out with a shoulder injury.

This will be a high scoring, extremely close contest, but Tulsa’s experience and motivation should push them past Memphis.

Next: 5. Connecticut Huskies