Memphis starts AAC play with a thrilling win over USF

The Memphis Tigers returned to action after the Christmas holiday break to begin American Athletic Conference (AAC) play against the South Florida Bulls (USF). A familiar face returned home to likely play his final game in his hometown on the collegiate level: Tyler Harris. The Tigers started Alex Lomax, Kendric Davis, Elijah McCadden, DeAndre Williams and Chandler Lawson.

First Half

The Tigers got off to a quick start connecting on four of their first eight field goal attempts while getting out in transition to gain an early 11-6 lead heading into the first media timeout. They forced three quick fouls on the Bulls and made all three of their free throw attempts to start the game.

Coming out of the first media timeout, Kao entered the game and immediately got a block as he continues to excel on the defensive side of the floor. Keonte Kennedy entered the game after missing the last two games to hit the first three of the game for the Tigers to help extend the lead to nine points at 21-12.

After a stifling defensive effort by the Tigers that caused USF to start the game shooting 4-of-14, the Bulls responded with a 16-10 run to cut the lead to three points at 31-28. USF shot 6-of-8 during this run.

The hot shooting stretch continued for USF coming out of the media timeout as Serrel Smith Jr. hit two additional threes to keep them within striking distance. The highlight for the Tigers during this stretch was a step back three from Alex Lomax.

The rest of the half ended with both teams trading baskets as the game went to halftime tied at 46. The Tigers did an excellent job holding Tyler Harris to zero points, but Serrel Smith Jr. came off the bench to score 16 points on 5-of-5 shooting to help USF recover from their slow shooting start. Overall, the Tigers shot well themselves at 56 percent with a balanced scoring effort led by Kendric Davis (eight points).

Second Half

The second half picked up where the first half finished off with the teams trading baskets and the lead in different ways. The Tigers continued to run an efficient half-court offense to dominate the paint and Serrel Smith Jr. continued his hot shooting for USF to keep the score tied at 54.

The Tigers missed seven of their next eight shots and Tyler Harris finally got into a scoring rhythm for USF as they retook and extended the lead to 10 points at 67-57. Tyler Harris scored a quick nine points to lead the Bulls in that stretch while the Tigers missed some relatively easy shot attempts at the rim.

The Tigers picked up the defensive intensity and forced a couple of turnovers to continuously cut the Bulls lead to 4 points but USF had an answer every time, especially with second chance opportunities and led 81-74 with 4:21 remaining. After Alex Lomax drew a foul on Tyler Harris for his 4th of the game, the Tigers made another run to cut the lead to 3 points at 81-78 heading into the final media timeout with 3:30 remaining in the game.

After USF missed a couple of easy looks themselves, the Tigers eventually regained the lead on a Kendric Davis three-pointer at 82-81 with 2:22 remaining. The Tigers continued to pick up the defensive intensity and kept forcing turnovers to extend the lead and finished with a thrilling win, 93-86. The Tigers finished the game on a 19-5 run.

The starting five for the Tigers all scored in double figures and were led by Kendric Davis’ 24 points, nine rebounds and five steals. Alex Lomax and DeAndre Williams each scored 16 points, Chandler Lawson scored 11 points, and Elijah McCadden finished with 10 points. Serrel Smith Jr. led the scoring load for USF with 21 points and Tyler Harris finished with 17 points, all in the 2nd half.

Final Takeaway

A win is a win, especially in conference play. After a convincing start to the game for the Tigers, USF fought back and even led for the majority of the second half. Having a Memphian and former Tiger return home with something to prove was always going to inject some life into USF to make this a game and the Tigers responded when it mattered the most. Dominating the paint with 54 points and forcing 20 turnovers helped the Tigers to start conference play at 1-0 and avoid a bad home loss.