RECAP: Memphis basketball rolls to victory at East Carolina

Memphis basketball took care of business in Greenville, North Carolina.

The Tigers (21-8, 10-6 AAC) cruised to a 82-58 victory Thursday night at East Carolina. Penny Hardaway’s team has now won its last three outings, with two of those wins being by 24 points. It also owns a 6-2 record in its last eight games.

Memphis shot 57% from the field and 27% from 3-point range. It also had 20 assists, 17 forced turnovers, 7 steals, 5 offensive rebounds and 4 blocks. The Tigers led for 35:48 of the 40-minute contest, and never trailed.

Michael Schwartz’s team (14-14, 7-8 AAC) made 30% of its field goal attempts and a putrid 15% of its 3-point tries (0% in the second half). It also outrebounded the Tigers 40-35 while racking up 19 offensive boards, 15 forced turnovers, 15 assists, 8 steals and 3 blocks. Guard RJ Felton led the Pirates with 19 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal. Forward Brandon Johnson chipped in 16 points, 8 rebounds and 5 steals. No other Pirate scored more than 9 points.

Memphis—still No. 6 in the American Athletic Conference (AAC)—can now enter a two-way tie with UAB for fifth place in the league by beating the Blazers on Sunday inside FedExForum (4:30 p.m., ESPN2). Andy Kennedy’s team would still own the tiebreaker over the Tigers, however, due to its win over top-place South Florida earlier this season. Hardaway’s club needs finish the regular season in at least fourth place to earn a double-bye in next month’s AAC Tournament in Fort Worth, Texas.

Here are some takeaways from the Tigers’ win over the Pirates.

Rough start for both teams

Both clubs looked extremely sluggish to begin the evening.

The Tigers missed their first four shots from the floor, while East Carolina missed its first seven. Memphis then hit five of its next six field goal attempts, but the Pirates continued to struggle.

Felton led all scorers at halftime with 13 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists. His teammates offered him little held, however. The 6-foot-3 guard either scored or assisted ECU’s first 21 points—the score was 36-24 Memphis after 20 minutes. All other Pirates were a combined 7-for-29 from the field during the opening period. Guard Cam Hayes shot 2-for-10 before intermission.

Memphis, meanwhile, used an 11-3 run in five minutes and two seconds to a commanding, 12-point advantage at the break. David Jones and Nick Jourdain the Tigers with 9 and 7 points respectively using a combined 6-for-10 first half shooting clip. Both teams, however, combined for 19 turnovers in the opening period.

Jahvon Quinerly was still in his bag—even if he hardly scored for most of the game.

Quinerly worked East Carolina’s defense like a maestro on Thursday night.

The 6-foot-1 guard finished the first half with 3 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists. But he turned his playmaking up to another level after halftime. He racked up 5 more assists after the break to go with another rebound and steal. He also scored 8 points in the final period after recording just two in the game’s first 20 minutes.

Quinerly, who finished with 7 assists, was as big of an offensive weapon as any Tiger.

David Jones and Nae’Qwan Tomlin take over.

It’s not anything new, but that doesn’t make it any less impressive.

Jones ruled the first half with 9 points while shooting 3-of-6 from the field. The 6-foot-6 wing also compiled 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals before the break. He didn’t even turn the ball over more than once in that span.

It’s not like he stopped in the second half, though. Jones began the final period by scoring five straight points, which set the tone for the rest of Memphis’ evening. He finished the game with 18 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals on 6-for-13 shooting.

Nae’Qwan Tomlin, however, led Memphis with 20 points—15 in the second half—5 rebounds and 2 blocks while shooting 7-for-8 from the field. Jourdain also turned in a solid 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting to go with 4 boards.