With two scheduled games remaining in the regular season, the Memphis Tigers are in Tampa, Fla., to face USF Tuesday night. The 8 p.m. CT tip-off can be seen on ESPNU.
Memphis (14-6, 10-3 AAC) won its fifth-straight game and eighth in the last nine outings Sunday afternoon, winning at Cincinnati for the first time since 2007, 80-74.
The Tigers, with a 10-3 conference record and a .769 winning percentage, currently sit third in the American Athletic Conference standings. Memphis trails league-leading Wichita State (9-2, .818) and second-place Houston (13-3, .813).
Since finishing third in the conference in 2013-14, Memphis has not finished a season higher than fifth.
After helping Memphis to a pair of wins last week, Boogie Ellis was named to the AAC Weekly Honor Roll, and Moussa Cisse earned his third Freshman of the Week award. Ellis started both games last week and averaged 15.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per outing. He connected on 7-of-15 3-point tries (.467) and made 7-of-8 free throws (.875). Two of his free throws came in the final seconds to help seal Sunday's win at Cincinnati.
Cisse contributed 8.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game last week, including 11 and seven at Cincinnati. He shot 53.8 percent from the floor (7-13), and he also added three blocks and a steal.
The Bulls enter Tuesday's game with an 8-10 overall record and a 4-8 mark in conference play. USF has scuffled a bit lately, losing five of its last six games after a win at East Carolina Jan. 9.
After Tuesday's game, the regular season wraps up on Sunday at No. 9/7 Houston, which was moved from being played at FedExForum in Memphis. Tip-off at Houston is scheduled for 11 a.m., and the game will be televised on CBS.
Following that, the 2021 Air Force Reserve AAC Men's Basketball Championship is scheduled for March 11-14 in Fort Worth, Texas.
Tuesday's game is sponsored by Conway Services.
Game Details
Memphis (14-6, 10-3 AAC) at USF (8-10, 4-8 AAC)
Tuesday, March 2, 2021 | 8 p.m. CT
Yuengling Center; Tampa, Fla.
Television: ESPNU (John Schriffen, pxp; Brooke Weisbrod, analysis)
Radio: 102.7 FM/600 AM (Dave Woloshin, pxp; Matt Dillon, analysis)
By The Numbers
- 7-0: Memphis' record when Boogie Ellis starts this season, including 5-0 since he moved back into the starting lineup Feb. 1 after 10 games coming off the bench where Memphis went 6-4.
- 4: Players in the nation, including Memphis' DeAndre Williams, are averaging at least 10 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2.0 steals per game this season (Isaiah Miller, UNC Greensboro; Grayson Murphy, Belmont; Anthony Tarke, Coppin State).
- 4: Defensive categories in which Memphis ranks in the top-10 in the nation (3-point defense, 3rd; field goal defense, 5th; steals per game, 10th; blocked shots per game, 10th).
- 1: More conference win for Memphis, an 11th this season, would match the 2018-19 team for the most in league play in a season since winning 12 in 2013-14.
The Last Time Out
- Five Tigers were in double figures, and despite being tested down the stretch the team never trailed in picking up their fifth-straight win and eighth in the last nine, 80-74, at Cincinnati Sunday afternoon in Cincinnati, Ohio.
- The win snapped Memphis' seven-game losing streak in games played in Cincinnati.
- The Tigers' last win in The Queen City was on Dec. 19, 2007.
- With the victory, Memphis secured its fourth-straight 10-win season in conference play.
- The Tigers have won at least 10 American Athletic Conference games in all three seasons under head coach Penny Hardaway.
- Memphis has now won 10-plus conference games 18 times in the 2000s.
- Boogie Ellis led the Tigers with 17 points, and Landers Nolley II had 14.
- DeAndre Williams jammed the stat sheet with 10 points, a career-high 10 assists, and seven rebounds, and Malcolm Dandridge had a career-high 14 points in 18 big minutes off the bench.
- Moussa Cisse added 11 points and seven rebounds.
- Leading 73-63 with 45 seconds to play, the Tigers fended off a furious Cincinnati rally to secure the win.
- The Bearcats rattled off eight-straight points in 28 seconds to come within two at 73-71.
- But Damion Baugh hit two free throws to put Memphis back up two possessions, and after two Cincinnati free throws brought it within two again, Ellis split a pair from the charity stripe to make it 76-73 with 14 ticks left.
- On the next possession Cincinnati's Keith Williams was fouled, and he missed the first but made the second to pull the Bearcats within two once again, 76-74, with 14 seconds left.
- After a Cincinnati foul, Memphis' Williams calmly nailed two free throws to again make it a two-possession game in favor of the Tigers, 78-74, and Ellis sealed the deal with two more free throws.
- The Tigers finished with 22 assists on their 30 field goals.
- Memphis committed just six second-half turnovers and made 10 of its 13 free throws in the second 20 minutes.
Noting the Bulls
- USF returns five of its top six scorers from last season's squad and welcomes back 2018-19 AAC Freshman of the Year Alexis Yetna, who missed last season with an injury.
- USF was picked to finish fifth in The American's preseason poll, and Yetna was voted onto the league's preseason all-conference second team.
- Bulls associate head coach Tom Herrion served as the Marshall head coach from 2010-14 when the Thundering Herd and Memphis were members of Conference USA.
- The Tigers faced Herrion's Marshall squads seven times, and Memphis won six of those match-ups.
- Included in the Tigers' six wins over Herrion's Thundering Herd was an 83-57 victory in the 2012 Conference USA championship game at FedExForum.