Tuesday night’s Conference USA match-up between Memphis and visiting South Florida before 13,685 at The Pyramid was more than just a battle for the early-season lead in C-USA’s National Division.
The game also served as a stage for several NBA prospects, as evidenced by the nine NBA scouts in attendance who saw the Tigers cruise to an 81-62 victory over the Bulls.
C-USA Co-Player of the Week and potential NBA lottery pick Kelly Wise finished the contest with his record-breaking 37th career double-double (10 points and 13 rebounds) while Tiger forward Chris Massie, an NBA prospect as well because of his size and quickness, added nine points and nine rebounds.
Freshman guard Dajuan Wagner chipped in with 15 points and four assists while Scooter McFadgon continued his steady play with 14 points in 35 minutes.
But the star of the night had to be Memphis point guard Antonio Burks.
Burks’ display of speed and timely shooting impressed his head coach.
“Antonio Burks was unbelievable,” John Calipari said. “His speed and quickness just does things to teams they really can’t stop.”
With the Tigers off to a slow start, Burks scored inside on his own offensive rebound and drew a foul for a three-point play with 17:08 remaining to get Memphis on the board in the first half.
Burks had 10 points at the half and finished the contest with a season-high 16 points to go along with his eight assists, leading the Tigers (14-4, 4-0 in C-USA) to a 38-27 halftime advantage.
According to Calipari, Burks and the rest of the team answered his challenge before the game.
“Before the game I told my team, ‘This is a big game. This is for first place. This sets the stage for what goes on and who wants it the most,’” Calipari said.
“This is the best game we have played.”
Throughout the game the Tigers managed to answer South Florida’s challenge.
When the Tigers jumped out to a 43-27 lead, the Bulls answered with a 7-0 run of their own to close the gap to 34-43 four minutes into the second half. USF center Will McDonald, who finished the contest with 23 points and eight rebounds, led the charge.
South Florida All-America candidate Altron Jackson did plenty of damage as well, scoring 24 points while pulling down 12 rebounds, his sixth double-double of the season. Jackson also became C-USA’s second all-time leading scorer with 1,711 points, surpassing former Marquette standout Brian Wardle’s 1,690 points. Only former Charlotte bigman DeMarco Johnson, with 1,763 career points, has scored more than Jackson, who now needs just 53 points to be the all-time leading scorer in C-USA history.
However, Jackson, a constant force for USF (12-4, 3-1 in C-USA) throughout the game, seemed to miss his sidekick, fellow All-America candidate B.B. Waldon.
With Wise defending him, Waldon, who had averaged just under 17 points in seven career games against Memphis, went 0-of-8 from the field to finish with a goose egg in the scoring column.
According to Wise, the plan of guarding Waldon was simple. The execution was difficult.
“I tried to take away a lot of the things he like to do — just be there and mainly not let him catch the ball,” Wise said.
Wise said the win is a confidence booster for the rest of the season.
“This was a big win for us because mentally it moves us in the right direction and it puts us one step ahead of them.”
