The No. 17 Tigers couldn’t keep pace with Connecticut down the stretch Thursday night and dropped their second consecutive home game, losing to the Huskies 83-73.
The defeat, coupled with a 69-53 home loss to Cincinnati on Jan. 4, marked the first time since 1979 that the Tigers lost consecutive home games by double digits.
‘‘I didn’t think we played very poorly,’’ Memphis coach Josh Pastner said. ‘‘I actually thought we played very well in some areas. UConn just hit some shots, especially at the end.’’
Michael Dixon led Memphis (12-4, 3-2) with 16 points and Austin Nichols scored 13. Joe Jackson had 11 on 4-of-14 shooting, and Shaq Goodwin added 10.
‘‘They hit some tough shots,’’ Tigers guard Geron Johnson said. ‘‘They were a more focused team, and they were better than us. We didn’t hit those shots down the stretch in the game. We have to focus more like they did.’’