The Memphis Tigers (18-11, 9-7 American Athletic Conference) have two home games remaining before traveling to Orlando for the AAC Championship. The Tigers will play South Florida (8-21, 1-15 AAC) on Thursday before taking on East Carolina (10-17, 4-12 AAC) on Friday.
Earlier this season, the Tigers beat the Bulls 86-74. The Tigers are on a four-game winning streak. In preseason polls, the Tigers were predicted to finish ninth in the conference, but they are looking to earn a fourth seed and first-round bye in the AAC tournament.
“They can keep doubting us,” Jimario Rivers said about the preseason polls. “We are going to just keep proving them wrong.”
Areas of improvement
The Tigers have won two of their last four games without Jeremiah Martin. Martin was also out the second half of the Houston game but the Tigers pulled out the victory from behind without him.
In the recent win over UConn, the Tigers were up by as many as 23 but only won by four points. The Tigers have struggled to maintain leads in games this season. The team will have to learn to maintain their lead and limit turnovers that allow their opponents to score.
“There were a couple chances there we could’ve just iced it, and we didn’t,” Head Coach Tubby Smith said.
A look at the opponent
South Florida is on an eight-game losing streak. The Bulls have won one conference game against Tulane and are last in the AAC.
They allow more turnovers than any other team in the conference and shoot at just 39.3 percent, last in the conference. They have allowed AAC opponents to shoot at 48.5 percent. If Memphis can capitalize off turnovers, they could win the game.
The Bulls shoot at 72.1 percent from the free throw line, the third best in the conference. If the Tigers get into foul trouble, the Bulls could rack up points at the line.
Players to watch
USF forward Payton Banks
Banks is the highest scorer for the Bulls this season. The 6-foot-6 forward averages 9.4 points in conference play. He saw his second-best performance in AAC play against Memphis and scored 16 points.
Memphis forward Raynere Thornton
“He’s been phenomenal,” Smith said of the 6-foot-7 junior. He said he did not recruit Thornton to be a shooter, but the Tigers have benefited from his performance. Rivers also said he has seen Thornton step up as a leader in Martin’s absence.
In the back-to-back wins against Houston and UConn, Thornton shot more than 80 percent from deep. In the upset against Houston, he saw a career-high 21 points.
“Every time I throw to him — every time he gets it, I feel like he’s going to shoot it and make it,” Kareem Brewton, Jr. said.
Mike Parks, Jr. goes up for a layup against Wichita State. Parks averaged 8.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in the 2017-18 season.
Tubby talks to his assistant coaches during a game. The head coach is in his second season with the Tigers.
