Tigers’ backs against the wall with just ten games left in the regular season

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Penny Hardaway and the Memphis Tigers will be back at FedExForum Saturday.

The Wichita State game is one of ten games left in the regular season, and after losing four in a row, Memphis has very little room for error. As a matter of fact, after that ugly Quad four loss to Rice on Wednesday night, most bracketologists have the Tigers currently on the outside looking in for this year’s NCAA Tournament.

The wrong side of the bubble.

A scenario not lost on Hardaway, who knows what his team has to do to make it back to the Big Dance for a third straight season.

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“You got to finish the season strong. You gotta do that, first of all and then you’ve got to get into the (AAC) tournament and you’ve got to win it. That’s the position we put ourselves into right now. There’s nothing else that we can do,” Hardaway said. “I mean, you go and you play FAU and you play at SMU and at North Texas, you probably can make some noise there. The pride in me is going to be for the guys that want to play. For the guys that want to quit because they think we’re not going to make it. They can quit. If that happens.”

Hardaway also wants to see his team… answer the bell.  Something that’s been lacking during the losing streak.

“I just want guys to go fight, man. That’s it, go fight,” added Hardaway. “Everything that’s happening to us right now, we deserving it. You got to want it more than the next team if you want to get out of a slump and right now, every team that we’re playing wants it more than us.”

Tigers and Shockers tip off at noon.

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