Four players Memphis scored in double figures Thursday night and the 14th-ranked Tigers expanded their American Athletic Conference lead to two games with an 80-65 win over South Florida in Tampa.
Dain Dainja scored a game-high 20 points for the Tigers (21-4, 11-1 AAC), who overcame unusually poor shooting to win their eighth straight game. Memphis made only 40.3 percent of its field-goal attempts and missed 13 of its 30 free throws but made up for it with dominant rebounding and good defense.
The Tigers earned a 51-34 advantage on the boards, getting 16 offensive rebounds that led to 16 points, and limited the Bulls (12-13, 5-7) to 38.3 percent shooting from the field. Memphis also got 18 points from PJ Haggerty, 15 from Tyrese Hunter and 10 from Colby Rogers.
Jayden Reid, Kobe Knox and Brandon Stroud each scored 11 points for South Florida, while Jamille Reynolds added 10 points and eight rebounds before fouling out with 4:36 remaining. The Bulls also ran into turnover trouble, committing 15 that Memphis cashed in for 20 points.
The Tigers led by as many as 24 points in the second half and never looked back.
The storyline coming into this one was the return of Hunter, who sat out Sunday’s 90-82 win over Temple with a knee injury. But at least early, he and practically everyone else on the floor struggled to take care of the ball. The teams combined for a whopping 16 turnovers in the first 13 minutes.
Meanwhile, Memphis finally found some footing offensively and started to pull away late in the first half. Hunter sank a 3-pointer at the 2:13 mark to make the lead 35-24, fueling a 12-0 run. Even after Jimmie Williams was fouled attempting a 3-pointer and made all three foul shots with two seconds left, the Tigers took a 42-27 advantage to intermission.
–Field Level Media
