The knock on Penny Hardaway early in the season was that he could recruit talent to Memphis, just not win with it.
The Tigers seem to be rounding into form — finally.
Shaking off some ugly early-season losses, Memphis put itself on the NCAA Tournament bubble with a marquee win over No. 6 Houston last Saturday, then went on to beat Cincinnati on the road. The Tigers beat Tulane earlier last week and have won six straight as all those talented young players have begun to find their way.
Memphis won its first five games, including a victory over Virginia Tech, before a stretch of five losses in six games. Then the Tigers lost three straight last month, digging a deeper hole as injuries mounted.
Things have started to change over the past three weeks. Memphis (16-8, 9-4 American Athletic Conference) has played more cohesively and picked up a huge Quadrant 1 win, beating Houston 69-59 to end the Cougars' 37-game home winning streak.
There's still work to do, but the Tigers have put themselves in the NCAA Tournament conversation.
