Memphis basketball uses 22-0 second-half run to take down ECU

Damaria Franklin stole the ball from ECU’s Javon Small, pushed it ahead to Kendric Davis who scored an easy two points.

“That’s Memphis basketball, man!” coach Penny Hardaway shouted as he pumped his fist and thousands inside FedExForum Saturday roared.

The play was part of a 22-0 second-half run the Tigers used to erase an 8-point halftime deficit and helped propel them to a 69-59 win. Memphis (12-4, 2-1 AAC) got 19 points from DeAndre Williams, 14 from Davis and forced the Pirates (10-7, 1-3) into 22 turnovers – the most any team has committed against the Tigers this season.

ECU got hot, especially at the 3-point line, in the first half and led by as many as 11 points when it took a 33-22 lead with 1:09 left in the first half.

But Memphis found another gear after halftime.

MEMPHIS BASKETBALL: How Penny Hardaway attempted to fix Memphis basketball’s defensive woes before ECU game

SIGN UP: Sign up for the Memphis Tigers Basketball Insider text group with Jason Munz

Here are five observations from Saturday’s game:

That 22-0 run

The Tigers were trailing 36-31 when Alex Lomax made a layup with 16:22 left in the game. That bucket was the first of 10 Memphis made out of its next 12 field goal attempts.

Elijah McCadden scored seven points during the defining stretch, while Davis contributed six to the cause.

ECU’s RJ Felton snapped the visitors’ scoring drought with 11:10 left in the game, cutting the lead to 51-38. It was just the second made field goal of the half to that point for the Pirates.

Turning defense into offense

When all else fails, turn to Lomax and tell him to turn up the heat on defense.

Memphis needed a spark – something to slow ECU down and kickstart its own offense. Little else was working. Davis, the preseason All-American who came into the game averaging more than 20 points a game, was having trouble getting going, connecting just once on his first 10 field goal attempts of the game. The 3-point shot wasn’t falling as the Tigers were just 1 for 9 in the first half.

Enter Lomax. The fifth-year senior guard – who moved into seventh place in program history with 208 career steals, passing Otis Jackson (206) – went to work early in the second half. Down 33-27, Lomax picked Small’s pocket and finished on the other end with a layup. Seventy-three seconds later, he did it again, this time against Kalib Lacount. Ten seconds after that, he intercepted a Lacount pass, then gave it up to McCadden whose layup made it a 36-33 game with 16:08 remaining.

A 3-point defense turnaround

The early trouble Memphis found itself in was primarily due to ECU’s success at the 3-point line in the first half.

The Pirates shot 7-of-14 in the first 20 minutes. Small and Felton were 2 for 3, while Brandon Johnson (the AAC’s leading rebounder) was 2-of-5.

The Tigers have had some trouble, especially lately, slowing their opponents’ 3-point efforts down. In last week’s loss to Tulane, the Green Wave made 11 and shot 42.3%. The game before that, USF shot 42.9%.

As much success as ECU had in the first half, it was the opposite in the second, when they were 2 for 13.

Winning the rebounding battle

Not since Memphis' Dec. 10 win over Auburn have the Tigers out-rebounded their opponent.

But the Tigers did just that Saturday, finishing with 32 boards to ECU's 31. It was a collective effort as no player wound up with more than four rebounds. Six players (Franklin, Kennedy, Williams, McCadden Chandler Lawson and Johnathan Lawson) grabbed four boards apiece.

That's the same number ECU's Brandon Johnson had Saturday. Johnson came into the game leading the AAC with more than nine a game.

Kendric Davis briefly leaves game

Davis has battled ankle problems for much of the season. But the Tigers’ leading scorer took a trip to the locker room during the first half for a different reason.

Chasing after a loose ball on the defensive end of the floor, Davis was hit in the mouth. The incident left him bleeding and he was forced to exit. He missed almost three minutes of game time and his absence made a difference.

The Tigers started the game shooting 5 for 13. When Davis got hurt, Memphis made just one of its next seven field goal attempts. Davis snapped that string on a layup with 6:16 left before halftime.

Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis basketball uses 22-0 second-half run to take down ECU