No. 18-ranked Memphis will look to bounce back from its upset loss to Iowa State in the NIT Season Tip-Off title game last week when it visits Georgia in a nonconference game on Wednesday in Athens, Ga.
Memphis (5-1) was off to its best start since the 2010-2011 season before getting hammered by Iowa State, which led almost wire-to-wire in a 78-59 win in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Emoni Bates scored 12 points for Memphis, which struggled offensively for the second straight game. After the Tigers hit only 39.3 percent of their shots Wednesday night in a 69-61 win over Virginia Tech, Memphis made just 35.8 percent against the Cyclones. Memphis also committed 22 turnovers that led to 23 Iowa State points.
“This was a good ole fashion butt whooping,” Memphis coach Penny Hardaway said. “It was one of those games where they stuck to their game plan and ran their offense fluently. We’re going to look at the tape and see what we did wrong, and then we’re going to make the adjustments and be ready for Georgia. I mean that’s all we can do.”
Bates leads Memphis with an average of 12.3 points per game, with Jalen Duren adding 11.3 points and a team-high 9.3 rebounds per game and DeAndre Williams chipping in 9.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.
Georgia (2-5) is coming off a 68-65 loss to Wofford on Sunday that extended its losing streak to four games. The Bulldogs’ wins are against Florida International (6-1) and South Carolina State (1-7).
Jabri Abdur-Rahim scored 20 points and grabbed four rebounds off the bench for the Bulldogs, while Jailyn Ingram added 13 points and Kario Oquendo 10.
With Wofford leading 67-65 with six seconds left, Wofford’s B.J. Mack missed a free throw before making his next attempt. However, Oquendo missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer on the game’s last shot.
Georgia committed 19 turnovers, 11 more than the Terriers, who shot 15-for-17 from the free-throw line while Georgia went 9-for-12.
“It was clear early that it was going to be a grinder for us to get through this,” Georgia coach Tom Crean said. “We had some (players) that gave their very best and some who just weren’t up to the challenge of it. We have to keep finding ways to make the game simpler for them, not try to make plays that aren’t there. We will. The turnovers in the second half and the amount of free-throws that they shot in the second half, those were big turning points.”
Braelen Bridges averages a team-high 12.9 points per game, with Aaron Cook leading the team with 7.0 assists and 1.4 steals per game in addition to being second on the team in scoring with 11.3 points per game. Ingram averages 10.6 points and a team-high 6.4 rebounds per game.
–Field Level Media
