MEMPHIS – Kendric Davis in.

Keonte Kennedy out.

Despite one injury after another, all the Memphis Tigers keep doing is winning.

Thursday night, the U of M won at the Roundhouse, outlasting Wichita State to beat the Shockers for a sixth straight time.

During the telecast, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi said Memphis probably only needed to go 2 and 2 over its last four regular season games to clinch a second straight bid to the NCAA Tournament.

That sounds good but not something the Tigers can bank on.

They also can’t just assume teams like Cincinnati and SMU will be easy wins.

“I keep saying the same thing over and over again.  The way that we’re judged, I have to say that our conference is more than a one bid conference. We have so many good teams in this conference and we don’t get the credit for it,” said Tigers coach Penny Hardaway.  “We got great coaches, and it seems like we’re under a microscope.  Outside of Houston, everybody else is under a microscope. Every game, we can’t overlook one team trying to get to the next thing.  We just can’t do it.”

Hardaway does like his team’s focus, despite the injuries with March, right around the corner.

“I feel really good. I feel really good because we’re ending with some really good games. This game, at home against Cincinnati, go to SMU and at home against Houston. So to me, that’s getting us prepared for the conference tournament.  Putting us in the right mindset right before we go.” 

The Tigers host Cincinnati on Sunday.