Memphis defeated South Florida 80-65 in Tampa Thursday night for Penny Hardaway’s 150th win as the University of Memphis Head Coach. The 14th ranked Tigers (21-4, 11-1 AAC) have won eight in a row and maintain their two game lead for first place in the AAC over North Texas with six games left in the regular season.
The Tigers were led by Dain Dainja’s 20 points and 7 rebounds and P.J. Haggerty’s 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists.
Here are three things to know about the game:
Energetic Performance
One of the themes of conference play for Memphis has been a lack of energy against inferior teams. However, that was not a problem today.
Memphis outrebounded South Florida 51-34 and quadrupled the Bulls 16-4 on the offensive glass. Defensively, the Tigers turned in one of their better performances of conference play, holding USF to 38.3% shooting from the field, 24.1% shooting from deep, and forced 15 turnovers.
Additionally, after going into halftime up 15 points, the Tigers kept their foot on the gas coming out of the break, building their lead to as much as 24 points before South Florida went on a late run when the game had already been decided.
Impact of Turnovers
Once again, Memphis opened the game sloppy on offense, turning it over eight times in the first 12:24 of the game. Much like their game against Temple though, the Tigers tightened it up and did not turn the ball over the rest of the half, and only turned it over four times the rest of the game.
The turnovers had a clear impact on the game, as when Memphis cleaned it up, they immediately created separation, turning a 17-15 South Florida lead with 10:21 left in the half into a 42-27 Memphis advantage at halftime.
During this run, there was a nearly eight minute stretch where the South Florida did not make a basket, which was no coincidence. The South Florida offense struggled mightily to score in the half court due to Memphis’ length and athleticism, so once Memphis stopped gifting them fastbreak opportunities with careless turnovers, the well dried up quickly for the Bulls.
Tyrese Hunter’s Return
Starting guard and second leading scorer Tyrese Hunter returned to the court after sitting out against Temple on Thursday due to a lingering kneecap injury that worsened before the game. It was the first game he missed in his eight year high school and college basketball career.
Fortunately for Memphis, the injury does not seem serious, and he looked like his usual self against South Florida, tallying 15 points and 6 rebounds in 33 minutes of play.
What’s Next
On Saturday at 11:30 a.m. on CBS, the NCAA Selection Committee will reveal their top 16 seeds, which will give a clearer picture on where the Tigers stand for the NCAA Tournament. Memphis will then close their two game road trip against Wichita St. on Sunday at 11 a.m. on ESPN.
