The Memphis Tigers beat the University of South Florida Bulls in convincing fashion on Saturday, 75-48.
Things were looking grim for Memphis coming off a loss to East Carolina on Feb. 10 and the Tigers (15-10, 7-5 American Athletic Conference) were still missing star forward Austin Nichols. But Memphis was able to use a complete team effort to power themselves to a win over the Bulls (7-19, 1-12 AAC).
Memphis only shot 33 percent in the first half, but still went into halftime with a 10-point lead. Shaq Goodwin had nine points and six rebounds to lead the blue and gray in the first half. He continues to perform in the place of Austin Nichols and nearly finished with a double-double with 18 points and nine rebounds.
A staunch Tiger zone defense held the Bulls to 31 percent shooting in the first half. This was the first game all season the Tigers consistently played zone and it paid dividends. Forcing nine turnovers in the first half and 19 for the game.
Calvin Godfrey and Markel Crawford had five points apiece in the first half, but brought the defensive intensity that helped set the tone for the rest of the game. The Tigers had 12 steals and five blocks as a team. Godfrey led the team with two blocks.
The Bulls came out fighting in the second half and cut the once 10-point lead to three early in the first five minutes of the second half. It looked like the Tigers were in for a repeat of the loss to East Carolina, but they came together and put the Bulls down.
USF ended the game shooting 37 percent from the field and failed to make a three-pointer going 0-7. Center Ruben Guerrero shot 8-10 with 17 points and 6 rebounds. The Tigers shot 45 percent for the game and 7-19 from three-point range.
Memphis used a 23-4 run in the second half to put the game away. Avery Woodson had nine second-half points (11 on the game) on three made three-pointers. Trashon Burrell bounced back after a rough game against ECU with seven points, three assists and three rebounds and Nick King contributed with nine points and four rebounds.
Pookie Powell (seven points and two assists) and D’Marnier Cunningham (five points, three assists and three steals) helped fortify the point guard position off the bench. While they were scoring and assisting they also kept their turnovers down, only having two between them.
The most impressive part of the Tigers game was the lack of turnovers. In games, past runs have been killed by several turnovers in a row, but not against USF. The Tigers only turned it over 11 times and dished out 18 assists.
Sophomore walk-on Jake McDowell started the game, but played only two minutes in the first half and only played when the game was all but decided in the second half.
The Tigers will return to action on Thursday against conference opponent UConn. The game will be at 8 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN.
There is a chance that Austin Nichols returns in this game and Memphis would welcome him back against a tough UConn team.
Guard Avery Woodson continued his strong season from the three-point line on Saturday. He made three of his six shots from long range. Photo by Chris Evans.
