The Memphis Tigers program has spent most of this season stuck in the gray area — neither bad enough to quit on nor consistent enough to trust. Then, Thursday night in Birmingham, the Tigers looked like the team everyone thought they could be for a couple of hours. Now the question hanging over Super Bowl Sunday at FedExForum is simple: was UAB the start of something real, or just another tease in a season full of almost nothing?
Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. Sunday at FedExForum, with Memphis sitting at 11–11 overall and 6–4 in league play, staring up at a Charlotte squad that has muscled its way into a tie for second at 13–10 and 7–3.
Memphis Finally Finds a Spark
Memphis’ 90–80 win at UAB was one of the more encouraging performances of the season because it looked repeatable rather than fluky. The Tigers shot better than 52 percent from the field, held the Blazers under 38 percent, and, maybe most importantly, controlled the game for more than 34 minutes without the familiar second‑half wobble.
The headline, of course, was Sincere Parker’s eruption. The senior guard hung 40 points in just 26 minutes, going 14-of-20 from the field, 6-of-8 from three, and 6-of-6 at the line, adding six boards and four assists in what was easily his defining Memphis moment to date. That wasn’t a one‑off hot night for a role player; it extended a trend. In conference play, Parker is averaging 14.4 points per game on 56.1 percent shooting, with three 20‑plus outings in his last four full games and a ridiculous 11-of-17 clip from deep and 19-of-21 at the stripe in that span.
For a team that has spent much of the year searching for a crunch‑time identity, Parker’s shot‑making and swagger give Memphis something real to lean on.
McDaniel’s Engine, Bradshaw’s Efficiency
As explosive as Parker was, the Tigers still go as Dug McDaniel goes. The sophomore guard continues to set the tone, leading Memphis with 13.5 points, 4.8 assists, and an American‑best 2.2 steals per game, and doing it with a level of control that has been hard to replicate when he sits. He’s one of only three Division I players this season with at least 275 points, 100 assists, 45 steals and 30 made threes, joining Vanderbilt’s Tyler Tanner and SMU’s B.J. Edwards is in that allaround club, and he’s logged at least three assists and a steal in 13 straight contests — the longest such streak by a Tiger in the last 30 seasons.
Up front, Aaron Bradshaw has quietly become Memphis’ most reliable source of efficient offense. The 7‑foot‑1 big man is shooting 55.9 percent from the floor and 76.7 percent at the line for 9.2 points per game; he’s the only player in the league hitting both of those marks with at least 100 field‑goal attempts. In conference play, he’s been even sharper, leading the league at 61.9 percent from the field and averaging 7.2 rebounds over the last five games as Memphis has tried to steady itself on the glass.
If Thursday night is any indication, the Tigers’ best version features McDaniel controlling pace, Bradshaw cleaning up and finishing around the rim, and Parker flying in and out of action as the designated problem‑solver.
Charlotte’s Rise and the Three‑Point Threat
Charlotte arrives in Memphis with something this Tigers team can’t fake: confidence. Picked to finish last in the American in the preseason coaches poll, the 49ers have opened 2026 with seven wins in nine games to climb into that tie for second, riding a mix of toughness, shot‑making, and belief that has carried over to the road. They recently strung together four straight league wins away from home for the first time since 2010 before finally getting clipped at Wichita State.
The biggest concern for Memphis is Charlotte’s perimeter shooting. In conference play, the 49ers own the second‑best three‑point percentage in the league at 37.7 percent, averaging 8.4 made threes per game after hitting just 32.8 percent from deep last season. GuardsDamoni Harrison and Arden Conyers have been central to that transformation, each knocking down 21 threes in conference games while hovering right around 10 points per night, with Harrison drilling 47.7 percent from beyond the arc and recording at least three triples in four of his last five outings.
At the point of attack, Dezayne Mingo has taken a clear leap in league play. He’s averaging 15.8 points in conference games, has three 20‑plus performances in AAC action alone, and leads the league in assists during that stretch with 53, all while maintaining a 2.5 assist‑to‑turnover ratio. Add in leading scorer Ben Bradford at roughly 13 points per game and center Anton Bonke’s 8.2 boards a night, and Memphis is staring at a backcourt that can punish late closeouts and a frontcourt that can make you pay if you get careless on the glass.
Battle of Pace and the Glass
Stylistically, this sets up as a clash of preferences that should be obvious from the opening tip. Memphis wants to live in chaos — get stops, force turnovers, run in transition, and turn five‑point leads into 12‑point cushions in a couple of bursts. Charlotte is far more comfortable grinding possessions, operating at one of the slowest tempos in the country, and leaning into half‑court execution.
That contrast puts extra pressure on the first 10 minutes of each half. If Memphis is locked in defensively, turning Mingo over, blowing up dribble handoffs, and running shooters off the line, it can get the game closer to its pace and put Charlotte in chase mode. If the Tigers are sloppy with their switches and late closing to shooters, the 49ers have enough shooting and ball movement to drag this into a possession‑by‑possession affair that plays right into their hands.
Rebounding will be the other swing point. Charlotte has made a point of responding on the boards after a lull, outrebounding three of its last five opponents by an average of 13 per game, including a plus‑17 hammering of Tulane. Memphis, meanwhile, is coming off a game in which it got 59 points from the bench at UAB — its most since 2010 — but still needs Bradshaw and the rest of the front line to finish possessions with two hands on the ball.
What’s Really at Stake
On paper, this is a mid‑February league game between a .500 Memphis team and a Charlotte program still fighting for broad respect. In reality, it feels bigger than that. Penny Hardaway has built a 155–68 record at Memphis, with seven straight 20‑win seasons, three NCAA Tournament trips, an NIT title, and a sweep of the AAC regular‑season and tournament crowns just last year, but this season’s uneven first half has shrunk the margin for error.
Memphis doesn’t have to be perfect from here, but it does need to be honest. Thursday night at UAB showed a version of this group — Parker hunting shots, McDaniel dictating, Bradshaw efficient and active, role players embracing their lanes — that can still matter in March if it shows up more often than not. Charlotte, with its newfound confidence and three‑point firepower, is exactly the kind of opponent that exposes whether that performance was a turning point or a one‑night high.
For a Sunday matinee on Super Bowl weekend, FedExForum should feel it. If the Tigers can drag this game into their tempo, protect the arc, and win the rebounding battle, they’ll give themselves a real chance to turn a promising road win into the start of something more. If they don’t, Charlotte is good enough — and fearless enough — to walk out with another statement road scalp.
Either way, we’ll learn a lot more about who this Memphis team really is by late Sunday afternoon.
