Just before the introduction of starting lineups Wednesday, public address announcer Chuck Roberts offered his standard opening line.
"Welcome to an evening of Tiger basketball."
Typically, it generates plenty of applause from University of Memphis fans. This time, however, Roberts got no response from the announced crowd of 16,097, most of whom were still filing into their seats at FedExForum. So Roberts gave it another go, finally coaxing the reaction he was looking for on the second attempt.
"It was like everyone was half-asleep," Roberts said later.
Though the fans may have started slow, the Tigers needed only one try to get it right against Montana State in a 76-51 victory. After scoring the game's first six points, Memphis (6-1) never trailed and let the energy dip for only a short segment in the second half before sprinting away to its fifth straight win.
"We came out well in the first five minutes of the game, which was a good sign," coach Josh Pastner said.
Though it may not seem like much, understand that the first five minutes has not been a strong point for the Tigers during their home stand. Since coming within an Elliot Williams 3-pointer of upsetting No. 1-ranked Kansas three weeks ago, Memphis has faced five of the most overmatched nonconference opponents that have come to FedExForum in recent years, and the Tigers' emotional level has reflected it at times.
But instead of easing into this game, as they did Saturday against Arkansas State, the Tigers used their foot speed right away against Montana State to build leads of 12-5 after eight minutes, 21-7 after 12 minutes and 39-17 at halftime.
"We just wanted to try and control the tempo," Montana State coach Brad Huse said. "Their defensive pressure makes it very difficult to control tempo. You struggle to get a 4-0 or 5-0 run and they answer with a 10-0 run in a matter of minutes."
Beating Montana State effectively concluded the first chapter of Memphis' season, with consecutive road games at Arkansas-Little Rock and UMass coming up over the next two Saturdays.
Though the Tigers' performances have not been perfect through the first seven games, some key themes have emerged.
The most important is their defense, which was stellar again Wednesday. The Tigers came into the game wary of Montana State's ability to shoot the 3-pointer, but they effectively shut it down, limiting the Bobcats to 5-of-18 for the game and just 1-of-7 in the first half. Montana State had just one player score in double-figures — Branden Johnson with 12 points — and shot 34.5 percent.
The other constant for Memphis has been the production of Williams, who scored 22 points on 8-of-15 field goals and has reached 20 or more points in six straight games.
Though the Tigers struggled from the free-throw line (16-for-31) against Montana State, their ball movement improved against the zone and they were able to get good looks by penetrating the gaps. Memphis shot 45 percent from the field and had 17 assists on 27 field goals.
Still, the Tigers aren't satisfied heading into a key stretch of the nonconference schedule.
"On a scale of 1-to-10, we're about a seven or eight," said senior forward Pierre Henderson-Niles, who had 8 points and 8 rebounds. "We have a lot of improvement to do right now. We're nowhere near where we should be, but it's just the (seventh) game."
Despite the quick start, the Tigers were generally disappointed in their performance Wednesday because they let Montana State close the 22-point halftime deficit to 14 with 12:20 left. Though they quickly recovered — sophomore Wesley Witherspoon's tip-in sparked a 9-0 run — failing to bury the Bobcats at the start of the second half was a missed opportunity.
"We didn't do what we're supposed to do tonight," senior point guard Willie Kemp said. "We came out, we were lackadaisical."
Though the parade of bottom-tier opponents is almost at an end, Pastner said the Tigers' ability to execute shouldn't depend on who they're playing.
"It was a win. I was happy," Pastner said. "Great teams are able to stay at a high level because you're not playing against the opponent, you're challenging yourself. That's what we have to learn. We still have a long way to go."
