The whistle for a ten-second violation came and Memphis coach Tubby Smith stood up from his seat to yell. On the court, his players were screaming at one another, each trying to assign blame for a game that was getting away from them.
Only a few minutes earlier, the Tigers had FedExForum rocking and Wichita State sweating. But it all slipped away quickly on Tuesday night, as Memphis wilted late in an 85-65 loss to No. 22 Wichita State.
The Tigers have now lost four of their past five games, and the body language from coaches and players alike suggested this skid is fast becoming similar to the late-season swoon Smith endured last year.
Junior Jeremiah Martin led Memphis with 13 points and the bench contributed 34 points. But the Tigers were dominated on the glass and allowed Wichita State to hit 11 3-pointers.
Things weren't trending well when Martin picked up his third foul with less than 13 minutes to go and had to leave the game. Wichita State's Austin Reaves promptly hit a 3-pointer and the Tigers trailed, 51-40.
But using a lineup featuring four reserves and three freshmen, Memphis put together a surge. A dunk by freshman Victor Enoh and a nifty lay-in by classmate David Nickelberry brought the crowd to life, forcing Shockers coach Gregg Marshall to call timeout with his lead down to five points.
That, however, would be the Tigers' final charge, particularly once Smith went back to several of his starters.
Wichita State proceeded to score 19 of the game's next 22 points, as point guard Landry Shamet (20 points) and Reaves (22 points) began to dissect the Memphis defense.
By the time the final buzzer sounded, the Tigers' fans in attendance had mostly left their seats. Many of those remaining were wearing Wichita State yellow.
Bench support
Though Memphis entered halftime trailing by double-digits, it could have been a lot worse had the Tigers not gotten a huge boost from their bench in the first half.
Of the first 23 points Memphis scored on Tuesday night, 21 came from reserves and it allowed the Tigers to initially climb out of an early 12-2 hole. They proved effective after halftime as well, keeping Memphis within striking distance until late.
Forward Raynere Thornton, who had seen his playing time diminish in recent weeks, had nine of his 11 points before halftime. Junior Kareem Brewton, Jr. added 12 points and four assists while providing valuable minutes at point guard.
Freshman David Nickelberry also played a career-high 28 minutes and had his most productive outing (8 points, 4 rebounds) in more than a month. Sophomore Karim Sameh Azab set a new career-high for playing time and contributed quality minutes for the third-straight game.
Leading scorers neutralized
Wichita State's defense hasn't been up to its traditional standards this season, but the Shockers were able to keep the Tigers' top scorers in check on Tuesday night.
Their best work came against Martin, who shot just 2 of 10 from the field and got most of his points via the free throw line. He didn't score his first field goal until 5:04 remained in the first half.
Wichita State frequently used 6-foot-6 forward Zach Brown to defend Martin and did a great job keeping the Memphis native out of lane. Martin was forced to settle for five 3-pointers and didn't make any.
Davenport, meanwhile, picked up two fouls in the opening three minutes of action and sat the remainder of the first half. He started after halftime, but was quickly removed from the game by Smith after a failed defensive assignment.
He had only four points and one rebound after registering double-doubles in three of the past four games.