Memphis coach Penny Hardaway views this season as a play in two parts.The first act — in which the Tigers captured the American Athletic Conference regular-season title — was a resounding success.”We did something special,” Hardaway said.As for the second act, well, that is about to begin.The No. 1 seed Tigers (26-5) will take on eighth-seeded Wichita State (19-13) in the quarterfinals of the AAC tournament on Friday afternoon in Fort Worth, Texas. The winner will advance to the semifinals on Saturday, and the final is set for Sunday.Hardaway said his team — which is ranked No. 16 in the country and has won five games in a row — needed to rise to the moment after a great regular season.”A successful season for me with this team would be Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four moving forward,” Hardaway said. “For me, first stage, very successful. Now, next stage happens.”The Tigers will face a hungry Wichita State team that is coming off a 73-68 win over South Florida on Thursday in the second round of the tournament. It marked the second win in the past three games for the Shockers.Corey Washington will try to stay hot for Wichita State after scoring a team-high 21 points in the win over the Bulls. Bijan Cortes added 20 points.This will be the third meeting of the season between Memphis and Wichita State.Memphis won the first matchup 61-53 on its home court on Jan. 23. In the rematch, Wichita State got revenge on its own court with an 84-79 overtime upset of the then-No. 14-ranked Tigers on Feb. 16.Wichita State coach Paul Mills said he expects another difficult test.