Previewing Memphis’ first AAC matchup against South Florida

Following a 10-3 start to the season in non-conference play, Memphis coach Penny Hardaway and the Tigers will have their first AAC matchup on Thursday against South Florida.

According to Basketball Power Index, Memphis has a 91.6 percent chance of victory against the Bulls. USF is currently 7-6 on the season and eighth in the American Athletic Conference standings.

Despite losses to Stetson, Austin Peay and UMASS among others, the Bulls are currently on a five-game winning streak. Although they’ve strung together some wins, Memphis is the second highest ranked team (NET rankings) USF has faced outside of Auburn. Memphis already beat Auburn this season, and Bruce Pearl’s team was able to defeat USF by eight points earlier this year.

Although this is a game the Tigers are expected to win handily, there is a very interesting storyline going into Thursday night’s matchup. Memphis native and former Tiger Tyler Harris is the leading scorer (15.5 PPG) for the Bulls this season. Coach Brian Gregory spoke earlier this week about his message to Harris going into a matchup against his former team.

“Tyler just needs to play his game,” Gregory said. “You know it’s going to be emotional. Of course, it’s going to be emotional. There’s no doubt about it. But Tyler just has to stay in control while playing his game — and our game.

“I’ll probably say something to him, but not much. You don’t want to overdo it. You want him flowing with the energy that a game like this is going to naturally bring. He has played a lot of big ballgames in his life. He’s going to love being out there.”

Harris also spoke this week about why he ultimately ended up at USF following his second stint with Hardaway and the Tigers.

“He said I could be the leader, a guy with a much bigger role than I had at Memphis. I knew that had to happen for me to get to the next level and make some money. So I saw USF as the place where I could really expand my game and reach my full potential.”

Needless to say, Harris has been a fan-favorite in the city of Memphis long before he ever chose to attend the university. Before coming to Memphis in Hardaway’s inaugural recruiting class, Harris treated basketball fans in the city to electric scoring performances at Cordova High School.

Regardless of the intriguing storyline, Memphis has to take care of business against USF. The Bulls are an inferior team, and the Tigers are poised for a very successful stretch in conference play. Memphis is the second best team in the AAC behind Houston, and they need to prove that they are one of the better teams in the country.