East Carolina @ Memphis preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 13, 2019 ) Memphis 79, East Carolina 69

Memphis hopes to recover from three consecutive heartbreaking defeats and move forward again when it hosts East Carolina on Wednesday night for an American Athletic Conference battle. The Tigers were beaten by two points against South Florida at home before losing in overtime at Cincinnati last Thursday and dropping a 64-61 decision at Connecticut on Sunday.

“We’ve just got to learn how to finish,” Memphis coach Penny Hardaway told reporters after coughing up a second-half lead Sunday. “We’re a young team. We had our opportunities. We just didn’t seize the moment.” The Tigers, who are 5-7 in their last 12 contests, saw highly-touted freshman James Wiseman leave the team early on and have faced several tough injuries - the latest being freshman forward D.J. Jeffries (10.8 points), out since late December with a knee injury - but have beaten East Carolina in five of the last six meetings. The Pirates have had a tough time of late as well, losing five of their last six overall, although they gave co-AAC leader Cincinnati all it could handle Sunday in a 70-67 overtime setback. “I guess the only way to view this as a positive is like what we’ve been doing all year,” East Carolina sophomore forward Jayden Gardner, the AAC’s leading scorer, told reporters. “We can play with anybody in this league, and we’ve got to build on it and get ready for Memphis. We fought extremely hard tonight, it’s just disappointing.”

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: CBS Sports Network

ABOUT EAST CAROLINA (10-16, 4-9 AAC): Gardner has connected on just 11-of-32 from the field the last two games, but the 6-7 standout is the only Pirate averaging in double figures scoring (20.0) and is third in the league in rebounds (9.6). Freshman guard Tristen Newton is averaging 14.4 points the last five games to boost his season mark to 9.7 with a team-high 3.7 assists per game while Brandon Suggs averages 9.2 points. Junior J.J. Miles matched his season high with 21 points in the loss at Tulsa last Wednesday before scoring 12 against Cincinnati, and the 6-7 guard averages 7.6 overall.

ABOUT MEMPHIS (17-8, 6-6): Since Wiseman left the team after playing in just three games, freshman Precious Achiuwa has been the primary go-to player and the 6-9 forward is not disappointing while averaging team highs of 15.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks. Freshman guard Lester Quinones is the third active player averaging double-figure scoring (10.8) despite managing five versus UConn. Tyler Harris has picked it up of late, averaging 14.7 points over his last three games to push his season mark to 8.8, and fellow sophomore guard Alex Lomax leads the team in assists (4.3) but was scoreless against UConn.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Gardner averaged 15.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in two losses against Memphis last season.

2. Memphis freshman G Boogie Ellis is averaging 13 points the last seven games after managing three total the previous four.

3. The Pirates forced 22 turnovers against Cincinnati, matching their season high against Navy on Nov. 8.

PREDICTION: Memphis 80, East Carolina 66