In the waning minutes of Memphis’ 75-53 dissection of Tulsa, it came time for the Tigers to salute their seniors and let them sub out of the game one last time at FedExForum.

The first senior to say goodbye was Doneal Mack. But it wasn’t just the crowd of 17,238 who cheered and thanked Mack — Mack wanted to show some appreciation, too.

The buzzer sounded, public address announcer Chuck Roberts called his name, and Mack walked to center court where he bent down and kissed the Tiger logo.

“To me, it was a way of showing appreciation to the fans, the city and the program, and how much I enjoy them, their encouragement, their support and everything,” Mack said. “It was my way of saying, ‘Thank you.’”

It was that kind of day for the Tigers. A day of appreciation, final hurrahs and complete domination of the preseason favorite of the league Memphis wasn’t supposed to win. But more importantly, it was yet another day when the Tigers did everything they could to keep their names in the conversation for an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament.

With only the conference tournament ahead of them (they'll be the No. 2 seed), the Tigers (23-8, 13-3 Conference USA) are teetering on the bubble. Games like Saturday — when Mack finished with 14 points, senior point guard Willie Kemp with a career-high 10 assists and big man Will Coleman with 15 points and nine rebounds — make the Tigers think they’ve got a shot.

“Let me say this — I think right now we’re one of the 65 best teams in the country,” coach Josh Pastner said. “I believe that.”

Coleman v. Jordan II

Reference back to a Will Coleman tweet (@m3mphisman2011, which no longer exists) dated Oct. 24, 2009, at 6:08 p.m.

“Put that on my momma Jerome Jordan get shut down when he see Memphis..Coleman ain’t havin it”

Hey, at least he backed it up.

Coleman had seven points, seven rebounds, a steal and three blocks in Memphis’ 93-86 win at Tulsa on Feb. 13. Saturday he finished with an even more impressive line: 15 points, nine boards, a steal and a block in just 26 minutes.

Jordan was nowhere to be found until the Tigers were up by 20 and the game was out of hand. He had three points and two rebounds in the first half when even the likes of 6-foot-5 DJ Stephens was checking him.

Jordan upped his stats in garbage time and finished with 19 points, six boards and a block.

‘We want Aaron!’

Mack and Kemp weren’t the only Tiger seniors who did it big Saturday. Give some love to 6-foot-6 walk-on Aaron Jacques.

Memphis was way ahead with less than two minutes to play, and the student section started chanting.

“We want Aaron! We want Aaron! We want Aaron!”

Do you really think Pastner had a choice?

Jacques, who joined the team in October as Pastner was scrambling to add bodies to the depleted roster, had three points and a rebound in one minute of play. That’s efficiency for you.

You had to be there

Remember all those cheesy promotions and on-screen games at Tiger games? Well, Memphis just about screwed one up pretty bad. Luckily, someone caught it at the last second — and I mean at the LAST second.

The on-screen game when Chuck Roberts lists a player’s stats and fans have to guess the Super Tiger” came on during the first half. Roberts was reading former Tiger Kelly Wise’s stat line, but after the first fourth of the photo was unveiled and you could see a portion of the “Super Tiger’s” head, the photo changed.

One the whole photo was unveiled, it was indeed Wise. The original photo, though, was definitely someone else.

Dunk counter

Not the best night for dunks, but the Tigers will take that when they shoot 7-of-15 from 3-point range and 48 percent from the field.

The best of the two dunks went to Williams amid an 8-0 Memphis run. After Kemp stole a Tulsa pass at the wing, he pushed the ball up the floor and dished it to Williams, who jammed it home.

Tulsa’s Justin Hurtt tried his hand at blocking the shot, but he, um, whiffed. The dunk increased Memphis’ lead to 16-11, and the Tigers never looked back.

Dunk count: 2 — Coleman 1, Williams 1.

Quotable

You’ve absolutely got to love this.

“I’m going to go home tonight and celebrate with a nice cold glass of lemonade over ice.”

— Josh Pastner on his post-game festivities.

Twitter watch

It was that kind of game for Memphis. Shortly before the end of the first half, walk-on Drew Barham buried an open 3-pointer to put Memphis up 27-17. After Tulsa’s Steven Idlet scored on the other end, DJ Stephens drilled a 3-pointer of his own on the next possession to give Memphis a 30-19 lead at the break.

Naturally, a fake Twitter personality had to chime in with a doozy.

“I’m putting DJ Stephens out for attempting a 3 pointer. Forget the fact that he made it. It’s the principle of the matter.” — @FakePeteGillen

Brandon Harris covers Tiger basketball for Memphis Sport. You can follow him via Twitter @bharris901.

Kobe Bryant.

Kobe freakin’ Bryant.

The Black Mamba did what the Black Mamba does on Wednesday. As for the Grizzlies, well, not so much.

A slew of bad things for Memphis led to the Lakers’ eventual 99-98 victory in one of the more exciting Grizzlies games of the season. A technical foul, a pair of missed free throws from OJ Mayo, Bryant’s game-winning 3-pointer with 4.3 seconds left and a missed would-be game winner at the buzzer for Mayo.

Had just one of those gone the other way, odds are Memphis takes the season series over the defending NBA champions. Instead, the Grizzlies are losers of five consecutive home games and six of their last eight games overall.

“That’s just basketball,” Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said.

A team that just weeks ago was among the middle of the pack in playoff seeding is now 3.5 games out of the eighth and final spot in the Western Conference with an upcoming schedule chock full of dreaded back-to-backs.

Au contraire, Lionel

With the Grizzlies clinging to a four-point lead with 1:40 left in regulation, Marc Gasol was whistled for a moving screen. Hollins yelled and walked a few feet onto the court, drawing a technical foul.

Hollins said he was yelling at Gasol, not the officials, and that he had no problem with the call. Regardless, the tech gave Lakers a free throw they used to cut the deficit to three.

But when WMC TV-5’s Jarvis Greer wanted to ask him about the technical, Hollins quickly went on the defensive:


Greer: “Could you tell us what happened on the tech and why you think they teched you?”

::Hollins interrupts.::

Hollins: “That was not the play that won or lost the game. If you want to talk about the tech, go ahead and talk about the tech to yourself.”

Greer: “It seems like with that little amount of time...”

::Hollins interrupts again, slightly raising his voice.::

Hollins: “It doesn't matter! I'm trying to tell you, Jarvis, it doesn't matter!”

Here’s the thing: the tech isn’t the play that lost the game for the Grizzlies or won the game for the Lakers. Mayo’s missed free throws and attempt at a game-winner and Bryant’s go-ahead 3-pointer are what decided it.

But the tech and subsequent free throw did cut Memphis’ lead to one possession. And in the final 1:40 of a close NBA game, any points — any points — one way or the other can have an impact on the outcome of the game. They may not decide the game, but it’s downright foolish and irresponsible to completely dismiss them.

Not to mention, you look like a butthead in the process.

High and low for OJ

For three quarters, Mayo matched Kobe point-for-point. After the Lakers built a 32-18 first-quarter lead, it was Mayo who got the Grizzlies back in it by way of fast-break dunks and wide-open 3-pointers.

The Grizzlies called his number once again when the game was on the line, first by inbounding the ball to him when the Lakers were forced to start fouling with less than 24 seconds left. But Mayo missed the foul shots. Both of them. Then after Bryant did his thing, he missed an open look at a game-winner.

Mayo was beside himself in the locker room. As other players took showers and got dressed, Mayo sat in front of his locker, looking at the ground. After several minutes, he finally faced reporters and took full blame for missing the free throws. Had he hit one, Bryant’s 3-pointer would have sent the game into overtime. Had he made both, Memphis probably would have won.

But here’s the question through all of this: why didn’t the Grizzlies put the ball in his hands in the fourth quarter? He was on the bench for a portion of it, but even down the stretch, it didn’t appear Memphis made a concerted effort to get him the ball. I’m just sayin’, but if I had a guy who was matching Kobe Bryant point-for-point (Mayo had 23 after the third), why only give him two shots in the final quarter?

You had to be there

There’s one quarter of basketball left, and the Grizzlies are in a tight one with the defending NBA champion Lakers. Who better to give a microphone and hype up the crowd than Jerry “The King” Lawler himself?

Well, that happened.

As Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” blared over the PA system, Lawler took the mic. I had to write this down:

“Do we wanna see the Griz lay the smack down on the Lakers or what?” Lawer said. “We’re gonna piledrive the Lakers tonight!”

I’m just sad he was decked out in Affliction and the sell-out crowd of 18,119 (third sell-out of the season) had to witness it.

The Iranian Situation

Hollins announced Iranian center Hamed Haddadi would supplant rookie Hasheem Thabeet as the back-up center in Memphis’ rotation, and Haddadi didn’t disappoint. Upon entering the game in the second quarter, Haddadi recorded a block, an assist, an offensive rebound and a put-back on which he drew a foul. All within minutes of one another.

He finished 2-of-3 from the field with six points and two boards. He wasn’t credited with his block.

Dunk counter

Kobe had too many to count. Mayo’s one came after a steal amid the Grizzlies’ huge 15-3 third-quarter run.

Dunk count: 1 — Mayo, 1.

Hollins makes Deadspin

In case you haven't noticed, Hollins' fingers are a little out-of-wack.

Twitter watch

“LTrain's list of things not to do: don't pound fist on scorer's table next time. Don't skip next anger management class.” — @johnkoski

Brandon Harris covers Tiger basketball (and we suppose a little Grizzlies, too) for Memphis Sport. You can follow him via Twitter @bharris901.

That’s more like what should happen when Memphis plays SMU.

It’s difficult to imagine the Tigers ever losing to the same team they beat 76-63 on Saturday night. That said, it’s difficult to imagine the Tigers losing to anyone when they shoot like they did.

Memphis hit 15-of-30 shots from beyond the arc against SMU — just one shy of the school record — and reached the 20-win mark in a game that was never really close.

“Back in April when I took over the job, if you said we’d be at 20 wins and 10-2 in conference, people would be doing somersaults and doing jumping jacks up and down Beale Street,” coach Josh Pastner said.

The Tigers had four players in double figures, masking a relatively poor defensive effort where SMU shot 46.9 percent from the field. Elliot Williams led Memphis with 16 points, while Wesley Witherspoon and Roburt Sallie had 15 each.

“People tried to label this as a revenge game, but it wasn’t,” Sallie said. “We knew we were going to take care of business tonight. We’re playing with a lot of swagger now.”

Oh, coach D’oh!

SMU coach Matt Doherty had a nice back-and-forth with Memphis fans behind his bench during the second half. Doherty yelled “They ought to call it Memphis Tech,” and “I went to a real school.” He was referring to North Carolina, where Doherty also coached.

Bobby Byrd replied, “Yeah, and they fired you.”

Bahahahahahaha!

Pastner shrugged it off. Doherty was asked about it after the game.

“Memphis’ fans are really good,” Doherty said. “Memphis is a basketball town, and anytime I land in Memphis, people know basketball. People talk basketball whether you are in a cab or getting your bags at the airport. This is a basketball town and the fans are good.

“It’s give and take, and they give me a hard time, so I gave them a hard time.”

Sounds like he realized he probably shouldn’t have done that.

Oh, and just because I can: Robo Doh!

Post-game altercation

SMU forward Mouhammed Faye had to be restrained as the teams walked through the tunnel toward the locker room after the game.

The altercation came about when SMU’s Derek Williams hit an inconsequential layup with 3 seconds left in regulation. Several Memphis players, including Sallie, took offense.

“I was a little upset the guy decided to be a little unsportsmanlike and go down there and shoot the ball,” Sallie said. “I told him that was very unselfish and very unsportsmanlike. We’re taught whether we’re losing or winning, you’re supposed to be sportsmanlike. It was about the individual at that time, and I felt very insulted.”

New identity

Sallie sounds like he’s starting to embrace his role of coming off the bench for Memphis. Or at least he made it sound that way.

“I have a whole new identity coming off the bench,” Sallie said. “I just try to bring a spark. I’ve been watching a lot of (Atlanta Hawks sixth man) Jamaal Crawford lately. I’ve watched the way he carries himself. He doesn’t pout about how many minutes he plays, even though he deserves to play. I’m not saying I deserve to be a starter, but he comes in and provides them with the extra spark they need.”

Either way, it’s been nice to see Sallie succeed in his bench role. The Tigers don’t have any depth to speak of, but with an offensive weapon — and I’m using that term loosely because when he’s off, he’s usually invisible — coming off the bench, it at least gives Memphis the illusion of depth.

You had to be there

The crowd of 17,047 observed a moment of silence for former Tiger coach Dana Kirk prior to the player introductions. Kirk, who coached Memphis to its second Final Four appearance (also vacated) in 1985, died Feb. 15.

The Tigers wore black and white patches on their jerseys to commemorate the former coach.

Witherspoon also had an energizing hustle play late in the second half.

At the 6:04 mark after Sallie missed a 3-pointer, Witherspoon ran after the ball out of bounds, jumped over a row of cheerleaders, stepped on one empty seat, dove into a fan’s lap in the next row and subsequently flipped face-first over the chair onto the ground.

Witherspoon was fine. He got up and walked back to the court to a round of applause.

Dunk counter

The sweetest dunk of the night didn’t even count, so it’s not even part of the dunk counter. But at any rate, in the middle of the second half, Witherspoon drove to the basket and floated a high lob to Will Coleman, who jumped so high he had to duck his head as he dunked the ball. The play electrified the crowd, but only until they realized Witherspoon had been called for a charge.

Dunk count: 3 — Witherspoon 1, Coleman 1, Williams 1.

Quotable

You had to know something like this was coming when Commercial Appeal columnist Geoff Calkins asked Pastner about Forbes Magazine ranking Memphis the No. 3 most miserable city in the country.

"I think Forbes should be boycotted by everybody in Memphis. ... Forbes can take a hike. Tell them I said that. I dont' know if there's a Mr. Forbes or Ms. Forbes, but tell them I said to take a hike."

— Josh Pastner

Twitter watch

Couldn’t have said it any better.

“Does Matt Doherty, the man who found a way to screw up North Carolina, have room to say anything to anybody?” — @DanWolken

Brandon Harris covers Tiger basketball for Memphis Sport. You can follow him via Twitter @bharris901 for in-game updates.

Yuck, yuck, yuck.

Against perhaps any other team, Memphis’ 76-70 victory over Central Florida on Wednesday might have been a lot uglier than it was.

The Tigers (17-7, 7-2 Conference USA) probably wouldn’t have out-rebounded — yes! — their opponent 34-20, survived the greater part of the second half without their only true post presence or had such an easy time getting into the lane down the stretch when it came time to just straight-up out-score an inferior opponent.

But the Golden Knights (11-12, 3-6 C-USA) are dreadfully small, their post players drift toward the perimeter and they don’t have an answer for Elliot Williams. Oh, and they thought it’d be a good idea to foul Doneal Mack as he shot a 3-pointer.

It all helped Memphis survive its worst defensive effort of the season and very little production from Williams and Wesley Witherspoon. But again, things are possible when the opposing point guard — UCF’s AJ Rompza — is 5-foot-9. It was Romza who fouled Mack as she shot a 3-pointer with 6:36 left in the second half. After the shot went in, Mack hit the free throw to put Memphis ahead for good, 63-62.

“The four-point play was the game because it gave us the one-point lead and gave us the momentum,” coach Josh Pastner said. “We deserved a break.”

UCF shot 53.1 percent from the field and hit 6-of-13 shots from beyond the arc. AJ Tyler — a slender 6-foot-8, 230-pound forward — blistered Memphis for 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting, several of which came when he drifted away from the post, got away from his defender and hit an open jumper.

Mack and junior guard Roburt Sallie — neither of whom started because of what Pastner called “minor” issues — stepped in for Williams and Witherspoon and carried the load for Memphis with 15 points each.

“Our margin for error is none,” Pastner said. “Not slim — none. That’s just the bottom line. We can play hard and everything else, which we’ll do every game, but if you don’t have production on the stat line, that’s the recipe for an ‘L.’”

There aren’t many nights when Mack and Sallie are both on like that, either.

A few different looks

In the wake of Pierre Henderson-Niles’ dismissal from the team, the Tigers must be more creative than ever with their lineups. Coleman can’t play 40 minutes, and sometimes because of foul trouble like he ran into Wednesday, he’ll barely be able to play half of that. DJ Stephens is going to play more, Angel Garcia is needed in the worst way and Witherspoon will see a lot more time at center than he ever imagined.

“I could see on the bench, [Paster] was getting in some binds,” Coleman said. “He wouldn’t know, so he’d have to strategize and play this guy here and this guy here.”

Feeling-out processes aren’t ideal in February. Tulsa and 7-footer Jerome Jordan could bring about a whole new set of scenarios.

‘Produce or sit down’

That’s the message Paster is trying to convey to Garcia, who saw action in just the second game of his Memphis career on Wednesday. He played just 3 minutes, finishing with three points, a block and two turnovers.

Garcia is the Tigers’ best shooter, but on numerous occasions when he received passes at the top of the perimeter, he dribbled around instead of looking for a shot. Paster was visibly frustrated with Garcia when he came back to the bench after a brief stint in the game.

“I was mad at Angel at halftime,” Pastner said. “I said, “Angel, I want you to shoot the ball or pass and go to the post. I don’t want you to dribble all over the floor. I want you to play with freedom and confidence like you have in practice. When you start doing all this dribbling and fancy-dancy, that’s a turnover. I’m not worried if you don’t know the plays. If you’re open, shoot it. If not, pass it, and that’s it.’”

Having been out so long, Garcia is noticeably unfamiliar with the Tigers’ offense. But Pastner isn’t letting that be an excuse.

“I told Angel, ‘We don’t have time for you to get comfortable. If you produce, I’ll play you. If not, I won’t. ... That’s the way it is.’”

You had to be there

Shortly before the 6 p.m. tipoff after many fans had already made their way to their seats, a car struck a water pipe in a parking garage adjacent to FedExForum, causing the building’s fire alarm to go off, which forced an evacuation. The start of the game was delayed 21 minutes.

The junior guard said it threw off Memphis’ rhythm.

“The start of the game really messed up our rhythm,” Sallie said. “We were warmed up, but then we had to go sit on the bus for like 30 minutes.”

The arena had to be evacuated once already this year during the third quarter of a Grizzlies-Clippers game on Jan. 12.

Dunk counter

Stephens deserved this one, but not as much as the Tigers needed it.

After falling behind 58-54 midway through the second half, Memphis went on a run and took a slim lead. As the Tigers held on to a 67-66 advantage, Williams found Stephens wide open under the basket. Stephens caught the pass, rose up and sent in a two-handed slam that helped spark Memphis down the stretch.

Stephens’ role is going to increase on this team in a big way. He played 17 minutes against the Golden Knights, finishing with two points, seven rebounds, an assist and a turnover. For a guy who hasn’t seen much playing time at all this season, that state line was huge, especially the rebounds.

The 6-foot-5 forward is in a bit of a Jeff Robinson situation. He’s unbelievably athletic, but he doesn’t quit have the skill set to play a wing position, so he spends his time in the post.

But unlike with Robinson, who spent most of his time on the bench, the Tigers have no choice but to play Stephens. And if Memphis wants to keep competing for the Conference USA title, he’s got to produce like he did against UCF. It’ll be interesting to see what he does against Tulsa on Saturday.

Dunk count: 5 — Witherspoon 2, Coleman 2, Stephens 1.

Quotable

“It’s not really surprising. We’ve always had it. I don’t know why we’ve just had off nights on the boards, I guess you could say. I don’t see why we can’t do this every night.”

— Will Coleman on the Tigers winning the rebounding battle.

Twitter watch

Frankly, George nailed this one.

“Tigers look sloppy. Like a spud-au-broc from Jason’s Deli. Two locations in FedExFourm.” — @fantasylapides

Brandon Harris covers Tiger basketball for Memphis Sport. You can follow him via Twitter @bharris901 for in-game updates.

So, Will Coleman, 40 minutes a game sounds reasonable, right?

Senior big man Pierre Henderson-Niles was dismissed from the Memphis basketball team Wednesday, rendering an already-undermanned roster even thinner and putting even more strain on an unusually rocky season for the Tigers.

Niles was a regular part of the Memphis frontcourt, starting in 16 of 23 games, but he was largely ineffective in doing much more than giving the Tigers a big body in the middle.

Defensively, he was a liability at best — prone to committing cheap fouls and giving away the baseline more often than not. His offensive arsenal included ill-advised 18-foot jump shots, reverse layups and spin moves that often came to a stop when the ball left his hands and landed out of bounds.

It may seem harsh, but that’s happens when a lower-level player is asked to start for a high-level basketball program.

After battling weight problems and dropping to 280 pounds before the start of this season, it seemed Niles was at least poised to do his best to take advantage of his situation. He’d never played like a starter, but then again, Memphis wasn’t in a position to pick and choose. The Tigers needed bodies, and Niles’ size alone was enough to make him a big part of the rotation.

But instead of embracing the opportunity for what it was, Niles sometimes acted selfishly. Reference back to his Facebook status update shortly before noon on Jan. 31 — the day after Memphis lost 70-60 at SMU: “wana give dis shit up after yesterday..”

That’s not just frustration, that’s selfishness. In his first three seasons as a Tiger, Niles went 33-4, 32-8 and 33-4, respectively. Here he was, 15-6 and 6-2 in Conference USA in the middle of his senior season — numbers some players have never seen before — and he was so upset that he shared it via Facebook.

Memphis coach Josh Pastner released a statement regarding the dismissal on Wednesday night:

“As I told the team, I have a soft spot for Pierre, and I really want to see him do well. He’s a fine young man, and I am proud of how hard we worked to get in shape to play this season and also how hard he worked in the classroom so that he can graduate in May. Moving forward, we will do all we can for Pierre as he finishes up the academic work toward completing his degree. We wish Pierre nothing but the best.”

Basketball aside, here’s to hoping Niles handles this opportunity with a little less selfishness and a lot more responsibility.

Twitter watch

“The train must keep rolling.” — @palaird (Tigers guard Preston Laird)

Brandon Harris covers Tiger basketball for Memphis Sport. You can follow him via Twitter @bharris901 for in-game updates.

Even in a season where Memphis is noticeably better at free-throw shooting, struggles at the line still managed to come back and haunt the Tigers. Go figure.

After a remarkable second-half comeback and a dazzling individual performance by surging sophomore Wesley Witherspoon, Memphis went cold at the free-throw line in a 66-58 loss to Gonzaga.

“Free throws, man, it killed us,” junior big man Will Coleman said. “It hurt us bad.”

So bad that it lost the Tigers the game.

After cutting Gonzaga’s lead to 49-48 with 6:58 left, Memphis converted just 3-of-8 shots from the line and finished the game 14-of-26. That includes and air-balled attempt from DJ Stephens and back-to-back misses from Witherspoon that would have given Memphis the lead.

Witherspoon, who carried the Tigers back from a nine-point deficit in the second half, finished with 26 points on 8-of-11 shooting, but was just 6-of-12 from the free-throw line. Visibly upset, he also ducked out of the locker room before speaking with reporters. Elliot Williams, Memphis’ go-to player, went 4-of-8.

Memphis cannot afford to have its two best players not play like it — or act like it for that matter. Witherspoon entered the game a 77.9 percent free-throw shooter. Williams was right ahead of him at 78.1 percent. When they’re both shooting 50 percent, the Tigers aren’t winning tough games.

“We’re good enough to beat anyone on a given night if we play hard for 40 minutes — but we’re also not talented enough to show up and win, either,” coach Josh Pastner said. “We can get beaten by anyone on any given night. We’re not talented enough. It takes us to have an unbelievable effort for 40 minutes. If we’re just playing for 28 minutes or 30 minutes, we can take an ‘L.’”

That’s exactly what happened.

NCAA Tournament?

Pastner said he still thinks the Tigers have a shot at an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament, but it’s difficult to think that he believes 100 percent of what he’s saying. He said if the Tigers finish the regular season 8-0 or even 7-1 and do a little damage in the conference tournament, “it’ll be hard to keep us out.”

The whole time, he had a bit of a hopeful grin on his face. But who could blame him? This is a team that lost on the road to SMU. He’s got to take the same team to Tulsa on Feb. 13, Houston Feb. 24 and UAB March 3.

Let’s worry about Central Florida for right now, coach.

Oh, Stephen...

ESPN2 color analyst Stephen Bardo (a former Illinois star who had a very short stint in the NBA) chimed in with this doozy late in the second half of the broadcast: “If I was Memphis, Willie Kemp would touch the ball every time down the court.”

Really?

Witherspoon was 8-of-11 from the field with 26 points and almost single-handedly got Memphis back in the game.. Williams, though he played poorly, is the best on the team at creating his own shot. Bardo might want to re-think that one.

You had to be there

This was special. Or maybe hilarious is the right word. Either way, it seemed to make a difference. Witherspoon and Williams were called for charges on two possessions midway through the first half as Gonzaga pushed its lead to 49-40, drawing a chorus of boos from the 17,037 at FedExForum.

Once the media timeout at 7:54 hit, Pastner nearly had to be restrained as he charged toward the officials, screaming, waving his hands and stomping his feet. After being pulled away from one official, he turned toward another and started walking toward mid-court with both arms in the air.

The crowd roared in support, grew more energized than it had been all game, and the Tigers responded with a 7-0 run to tie the game, 49-49.

Twitter watch

Will Foster, the 7-foot-5 Gonzaga back-up center, finished with 13 points, all of which came on point-blank, uncontested layups when the Tigers failed to switch back after high ball screens. Such shenanigans drew the ire of one fan in particular.

“TIGERS. STOP LEAVING THESE DUDES WHO LOOK LIKE KINGS OF LEON WIDE OPEN UNDER THE BASKET.” — @caulkthewagon

Dunk counter

Witherspoon’s vicious one-handed jam on Robert Sacre in the first half was magical. It was pretty inconsequential — it only gave Memphis a 5-4 lead — but it was posterization at its finest. Witherspoon has picked up his aggression as of late. If he keeps it up, Saturday’s dunk won’t be the last one.

Dunk count: 3 — Witherspoon 2, Coleman 1.

Brandon Harris covers Tiger basketball for Memphis Sport. You can follow him via Twitter @bharris901 for in-game updates.

Can anyone explain how those Memphis Tigers lost to SMU on Saturday? The Memphis team that beat UAB 85-75 on Wednesday was different.

These weren't the Memphis Tigers who — for lack of a better word — whined publicly via Facebook when things got tough, who let a guy named Papa Dia turn into Dwight Howard for a night or who let their big men shoot 18-foot air-balls with plenty of time left on the shot clock.

These Tigers shot well. They got aggressive, game-changing play from their two most talented players. They mixed up defenses that confused the opposition into bad passes, stagnant offense and poor shot selection. They got nine rebounds, seven blocks and a vicious put-back slam from the 6-foot-9, part-time freak athlete, part-time Houdini in the middle.

The things that needed to happen for this painfully under-manned Tiger team to compete at a high level happened against the Blazers.

Spooooooooooon!

Why, hello, Wesley Witherspoon.

When he's that aggressive and plays that well, Memphis won't lose to SMUs of the world, and it can beat teams like UAB, UTEP and maybe even Gonzaga.

A 6-foot-8 guard-forward who finishes with 29 points on 8-of-12 shooting, goes 12-of-14 from the free-throw line and tosses in three rebounds, two blocks and two steals is the kind of player who gets NBA scouts buzzing. If he can go on the rest of the season not necessarily with those numbers, but with that kind of effort, and stay away from Facebook while he's at it, Memphis can compete for a conference title.

Little bit of everything

John Calipari would turn in his grave if he watched Memphis last night.

Coach Josh Pastner threw everything at UAB, and it worked. After starting the game in a triangle-and-2, the Tigers also spent time playing man-to-man, zone and a box-and-1.

Confusing to watch, yes, but even more confusing to play against. UAB's Jamarr Sanders wasn't quite ready for it and managed just one 3-point attempt after hitting 4-of-6 and blistering Memphis in the first half.

It proves even further what the Tigers' recipe for winning or at least being competitive against equal or better competition this season is — aggressive, relentless and attacking defense.

Twitter watch

Couldn't have said it better myself.

"UAB has to be seriously confused right now. They're supposed to be playing Memphis but these guys are in a zone and playing a white guy." — bucsbaseball17

Hide your eyes

This happened. Midway through the first half, Pierre Henderson-Niles jumped and attempted to grab a rebound at the rim.

Instead of grabbing the ball, he tipped it in, which is all fine and dandy except that, um, he was trying to grab a defensive rebound and he tipped the ball in UAB's basket. Just like that, UAB's lead was 16-10. Yikes.

Dunk counter

All Memphis dunks were pretty emphatic, but none brought the house down like Doneal Mack's in the waning seconds. As Elliot Williams pushed the ball up in transition, he dished the ball behind his back to a streaking Mack. Mack caught it right below the free-throw line, took two steps and jammed it home. It made Memphis' lead 81-71 and effectively put the game out of reach.

Dunk count: 4 — Mack 1, Coleman 1, Williams 1, Witherspoon 1.

You had to be there

Pastner has it in him, it just takes more than horrible officiating to get it out of him — it takes tremendously horrible officiating.

UAB took a 52-50 lead with 11:1 left in the second half, forcing the Tigers to take a timeout. As the players walked to the sideline, Pastner walked out toward center court pointing and barking at the referees as the fans booed them louder than they had all game. One can bet Paster was referring to the five fouls called on Memphis that half and the zero that were called on the Blazers.

Tigers assistant Glynn Cyprien tugged Pastner away and calmed him down a bit. This was nothing big, but it sure was a change of pace from the Pastner everyone is used to seeing.

Brandon Harris covers Tiger basketball for Memphis Sport. You can follow him via Twitter @bharris901 for in-game updates.