A lopsided defeat in its last game could result in Memphis dropping out of the Top 25 for the first time this season.
The No. 21 Tigers get a chance to make their case for staying ranked when they open Conference USA play against East Carolina on Saturday.
Memphis (11-3) needed a late surge to put away unheralded Tennessee State 91-86 on Sunday, and its struggles carried over to a 104-84 loss at Tennessee on Wednesday.
The Tigers allowed both opponents to shoot at least 50.0 percent and make 12 attempts from 3-point range apiece. Tennessee connected at a 53.7 percent clip while handing Memphis its worst loss since an 84-61 defeat to Maryland on Nov. 26, 2004.
While freshmen make up half of the Tigers' 14-man roster, lone senior Will Coleman refused to point to that as a reason for his team's woes.
"Youth is no longer a crutch," he said. "It's out the window. We can't use that anymore. That's not an excuse."
Coleman was a bright spot in the loss with a team-best 17 points, but Wesley Witherspoon continued to struggle following right knee surgery.
In his fourth game since returning, Witherspoon missed six of seven shots and finished with four points. He had 28 points, shot 10 of 14 and grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds in a win over Lipscomb on Dec. 30, but has scored a combined 10 points on 3-of-14 shooting with eight boards in the other three contests.
Facing East Carolina might help the junior forward bounce back. He scored 22 points to lead the Tigers to a 77-57 win in last season's lone matchup Jan. 13.
Memphis begins its league schedule looking to return to the top of the conference. The Tigers finished second in coach Josh Pastner's first season after winning the previous four regular-season and tournament titles under John Calipari.
Memphis is 8-0 against East Carolina, taking the last four meetings by an average of 24.7 points.
The Tigers will face a Pirates team that's off to an 8-6 start. East Carolina beat North Carolina Central 58-50 on Monday to snap a four-game skid.
Jontae Sherrod, averaging a team-best 13.8 points, scored 17 while Jamar Adams added 16 to help East Carolina overcome another poor shooting performance.
The Pirates made 33.3 percent from the field in their fourth of five straight games away from home. East Carolina hit a season-low 32.7 percent in a 71-59 loss to Clemson on Dec. 29.
"We obviously have to shoot the ball better," coach Jeff Lebo said. "Rebounding is going to be key, and we have to be able to keep (Memphis) out of the paint."
Darrius Morrow, averaging 10.5 points and a team-high 6.5 boards, missed last season's matchup with Memphis after being suspended for a violation of team rules.
Brock Young helped pick up the slack with 21 points, but he's averaging 9.6 this season after leading the team with 15.5 per game in 2009-10.
