Previewing AAC Championship Game between Memphis and Houston

The American Athletic Conference (AAC) Tournament continues in Fort Worth, Texas as the Memphis Tigers defeated the Tulane Green Wave in the semifinals with an 94-54 victory. Before the Tigers’ victory over the Green Wave, the No. 1 ranked Houston Cougars dominated the Cincinnati Bearcats 69-48 to advance to the championship game for matchup #3 against the Memphis Tigers.

Like Tulane, Houston swept the season series with the Memphis Tigers winning the first matchup in Houston 72-64 on February 19th and winning at the FedExForum on a buzzer-beater on the final game of the regular season last Sunday 67-65. Contrary to the regular season series against the Green Wave, the Tigers’ offense struggled in both matchups against the Cougars as they had two of their five lowest-scoring outputs of the season.

Kendric Davis missed the first matchup due to an ankle sprain but Elijah McCadden surprisingly led the Tigers with 20 points in that matchup, however, 18 turnovers including 14 of them coming in the first half were too much to overcome for the Tigers. Kendric Davis returned for the 2nd matchup against the Cougars and led the Tigers with 26 points including the game-tying layup with 9 seconds remaining before Jamal Shead hit the dagger buzzer-beating jumper.

Now round three is upon us in the AAC Tournament championship with Memphis looking to beat Houston for the first time this season and avenge last year’s championship game loss to the Cougars. Memphis will be entering this contest with a lot of confidence with last Sunday’s down-to-the-wire matchup against the Cougars and yesterday’s dominating performance over Tulane. The questionable status of AAC Player of the Year Marcus Sasser might play a key part in this matchup and the Tigers will need to take advantage.

As always and especially against a tough Houston defense (#2 ranked scoring defense), limiting the turnovers and making timely baskets can help the Tigers prevail. The Tigers are 0-2 in AAC conference tournament championship games and have not won the AAC championship (regular season or tournament) since its inception so now is the time to finally get a conference championship.

The Prediction:

Memphis 70, Houston 68

Matchup: Memphis Tigers (25-8, 13-5 in AAC) vs Houston Cougars(31-2, 17-1 in AAC)

Day/Date/Time: Sunday, March 12th, 2:15 PM CST

Location: Dickies Arena, Fort Worth, Texas

TV/Stream/Radio: ESPN2 / 98.9 The Roar of Memphis