BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Memphis basketball team is unwell.

The team that two weeks ago was riding a 10-game winning streak, ranked No. 12 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll and playing like a Sweet 16 contender is suddenly unrecognizable — infected by what coach Penny Hardaway and others are diagnosing as selfishness and dysfunction, misguided priorities and apathy.

“Just a bunch of blank faces in there,” Hardaway said Sunday of the Tigers’ locker room at Bartow Arena.

UAB defeated Memphis 97-88, the Tigers' third straight loss and the latest in what has been a string of defensive debacles. Eight Blazers (versus 11 Tigers) never tired, dictating the pace for most of the game. Especially when it counted, taking the lead with 19:19 remaining and never letting it go.

And now, a season once brimming with promise could be on the brink of a full-on meltdown. Not because the Tigers (15-5, 4-3 AAC) aren’t talented enough to bounce back from this. But because by all accounts, none of the evidence being presented — both in front of and behind closed doors — inspires an ounce of confidence that they will.

Memphis basketball has a disconnect

Senior center Malcolm Dandridge spent 15 minutes after the loss at UAB trying to explain to reporters all that has gone wrong. He led with the notion that too much of the roster either can’t or refuses to grasp the defensive concepts Hardaway has always leaned on. When the sixth-year coach couldn’t count on anything else, defense seldom abandoned him.

That simply is not the case this season, especially lately. Memphis is allowing 87.8 points per game its past five times out. It gave up 87 points or more just five times all season in 2022-23.

But Dandridge, who scored a career-best 19 points after a 13-point, eight-rebound, eight-block performance at Tulane last week, didn’t stop there.

“I think we disconnected somewhere, where people’s goals are different,” he said. “If your goal isn’t for the team to win the game, then you’re thinking about self. When guys aren’t locked in on the ultimate assignment, they’re focused on what they want to focus on because they think we’re going to win the game regardless, that’s what happens.”

Hardaway, without naming names and refusing to single out leading scorers David Jones and Jahvon Quinerly (who have combined for 22 of the Tigers’ 36 turnovers the past two games), echoed Dandridge’s sentiments.

“I don’t think everyone’s pulling the rope in the same direction,” he said. “Guys are feeling like they can do it individually, by themselves, because they’ve done it where they’ve been. Obviously, we see that’s not true.”

Bring back ‘The Goon Squad’

As the Tigers bused back to Memphis late Sunday, Dandridge’s mind was wandering toward the future. Specifically, the former East High star was pondering the first order of business for the team once it reconvenes for practice Monday.

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out right now: Where do we go from here?” he said.

The answer, in his mind, is simple. The team has no issues scoring points. Dandridge is no coach, but he knows a solution when he sees it.

“I don’t make those decisions. But if I did, I’m riding with the guts of the team,” he said. “What Penny likes to call ‘The Goon Squad.’ We’ve done lost three games in a row, we’re not walking on eggshells anymore. It’s time to make some changes.

“Just making sure, at all times, it’s five dogs on the court. We need more dogs on the court. People that understand defense, that’s what we’re lacking right now.”

Dandridge said that right now, there is no "Goon Squad."

“(But) that should be the word of the year for the rest of the year, man. ‘Goon Squad,’ ” he said. “Fighters. Dogs. Nothing else.”

Can the Tigers fix it?

While Memphis’ confidence may be shaken, it has not been broken.

Home games with Rice and Wichita State, along with a road date versus Temple — each team with one conference win apiece — populate the next couple of weeks on the schedule.

MEMPHIS BASKETBALL: Tigers' misery continues in loss at UAB. Here are 5 takeaways

But if there is a turnaround in store, something must change. Everyone can agree on that.

“I’m not a loser,” Hardaway said. “I’ve been down before. We’ve just got to stop making excuses, man. I have to coach better, and they have to play harder.”

“It’s not to say we’re not fighting,” Dandridge said. “I don’t want to turn it into that because we’re on a three-game losing streak. We have some fighters. We’re not giving up. Once we have everybody copying and repeating exactly what Penny is saying, then we’ll take off in a different direction.”

Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or follow him @munzly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: How Memphis basketball can bring back its identity as defense-first