The Tigers will travel to Florida (16-6, 6-3 AAC) to face South Florida (6-14, 0-9 AAC) Thursday and play Central Florida (14-7, 5-4 AAC) Saturday.
The USF Bulls are playing under interim Head Coach Murry Bartow after firing Orlando Antigua January 3. Memphis beat South Florida 62-56 during the holiday break. USF is coming off of a losing streak of nine games.
Guard Markel Crawford led the team in scoring with 30 points in the first matchup with USF. The forced their will and caused the Bulls to foul 21 times, and the Tigers were able to shoot 72 percent from the free throw line.
Memphis beat Central Florida on January 22, 70-65. Memphis shot 78 percent from the free throw line and outscored the Knights by seven from the line. They also kept their turnovers down only giving the ball up six times.
Areas for improvement
The Tigers have struggled from the three point line. Memphis lost last week to Temple where they shot for 26 percent from the three point line. In the Tigers win over East Carolina Sunday, they were only 18.8 percent from the three-point line.
The Tigers have relied on their starters to play heavy minutes all season. As a result, the Tigers have struggled to close out on three-point shooters. In their loss against Temple, the owls hit 11 three-point shots on 29 attempts.
Players to watch
The Lawson Brothers
Last week K.J. struggled in the two conference games. He had just four points, all in the first half, and had four fouls in the second half against Temple. He then went 5-23 from the field against East Carolina University. The week before he was playing at a high level, leading the Tigers in points in wins over Houston and UCF.
Dedric has scored below his season average in his last five games. As the team’s leading scorer, they rely on him and have struggled when he does not score. The team is 7-5 this season when he scores under 20 points and 9-1 when he reaches 20.
USF’s Guard Geno Thorpe
The Bull’s current leading scorer has had to step up after Jahmal McMurray was granted a release in December. He averages 13.4 points per game and is 84.6 percent from the free throw line. As the reams leading scorer, he shoots the ball 12.4 times per game and the number of shots continue to rise since McMurray’s release. Thorpe has the ability to score in bunches when he is playing well.
UCF’s B.J. Taylor
Guard B.J. Taylor has averaged 16.9 points per game this season. When the Tigers faced the Knights earlier this year, Taylor scored 16 points and went 4-7 from the three-point line. He has the potential to knock down shots in bunches when he is playing well, and the Tigers have struggle to guard beyond the arch.
Jimario Rivers takes the jump shot against ECU. He led the team with 15 points in the win.
Markel Crawford rises for the contested jumper against UCF. He is second on the team averaging almost 15 points per game.
