MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – Jackson State coach Tevester Anderson knew his team had played well enough in the first half to be up on No. 22 Memphis.
Problem was, Memphis decided to kick its play into high gear after the break and defeated Jackson State 70-45 on Monday night.
“I was feeling pretty good at halftime,” Anderson said despite trailing 25-19. “But (Memphis) obviously was not feeling good about the first half with the way they came out and played the first five minutes of the second half.”
Jenirro Bush led Jackson State (1-7) with 11 points, the only visitor to reach double figures.
Jackson State had played Memphis close in the first half, but when Memphis opened the second half with 15 straight points, Jackson State couldn’t slow them down, particularly since it had used all but one of its timeouts in the first half.
“We couldn’t stop the momentum in the second half because we had just the one timeout remaining,” Anderson said. “.When you use four of your five timeouts in the first half, you’re kind of handicapped.”
Joe Jackson scored 15 points, Chris Crawford added 14 for Memphis to lead the attack.
But it took a hefty halftime chewing out from Memphis coach Josh Pastner to get his team’s attention.
“If there is any way to describe it, imagine a rant at halftime without cursing,” Pastner said of his halftime speech. “There were no curse words, but, yeah, I was upset. It was heated in there, no question.”
Jackson added of Pastner: “Man, he said an earful.”
Memphis was coming off a less-than-impressive performance at the Maui Invitational where they lost to Michigan and in overtime to Georgetown. It dropped the Tigers from No. 8 to No. 22 in this week’s poll. Memphis responded to the drop by struggling in the first half against Jackson State.
Jackson State had outrebounded Memphis before the break 22-14, enough of an advantage to offset the visitors’ 11 turnovers and 26 percent shooting in the first half.
That changed in the second half.
“I know Coach Pastner got on his guys pretty good at halftime,” Anderson said, “because they came out in that first five minutes and played really good basketball. Memphis forced turnovers and shot the ball really well.”
Crawford led the early rally in the second half with a dunk to open the run and then a pair of 3-pointers later in the streak.
“In the second half, we just wanted to come out with a lot of energy,” Crawford said of the team’s change. “We had no energy in the first half, so we wanted to come with a lot of intensity, pressure the ball and force a lot of turnovers.”
Pastner and Memphis players were pleased with the win, but many realized it was not the type of performance that reflected improvement. Pastner said the best thing he could say is that he knows his team hasn’t peaked based on their play against Jackson State.
“They shouldn’t feel good after the performance,” Pastner said of his team. “We need to be better. This isn’t a satisfying performance. We got the win, but no one should be happy in the locker room.
“.We have to compete better than this.”
Add A Comment