RECAP: No. 10 Memphis blows 20-point lead, gets upset by South Florida

The straw finally broke the camel’s back Thursday night. After playing down to competition so many times over the past month, Memphis basketball paid the price at last.

No. 10 Memphis (15-3, 4-1 AAC) fell short against South Florida 74-73. Penny Hardaway’s team seem destined for a blowout victory, but it ultimately blew a 20-point lead before in the final seconds inside a mostly empty FedExForum. This is the Tigers’ first loss since Dec. 2 at Ole Miss, and their first Quad 3 loss of the season. They previously hadn’t lost a game outside of Quad 1.

Memphis shot 42% from the field and 21% from 3-point range. The Tigers also got 19 offensive rebounds, 8 assists, 42 points in the paint and 21 fastbreak points while outrebounding USF 41-37. Defensively, they racked up 11 forced turnovers, 8 steals and 5 blocks. Memphis lost tonight despite leading for more than 33 minutes.

South Florida (10-5, 3-1 AAC) shot 39% on its field goal attempts and 33% on its 3-point attempts. The Bulls compiled 16 offensive rebounds, 13 assists, 13 forced turnovers, 8 steals and 2 blocks. Guard Selton Miguel led the way with 23 points while shooting 9-of-15 from the field and 5-of-10 from 3-point range. Forward Kasean Pryor finished with a double-double by recording 21 points and 10 rebounds.

The Tigers now prepare to visit a familiar foe in Tulane Sunday afternoon (12 p.m., ESPN2). Ron Hunter’s team won the season series with Memphis 2-1 last year, but the Tigers got the last laugh by ending the Green Wave’s season in the AAC Tournament 94-54.

Here are some takeaways from Memphis’ loss to South Florida, which was ranked No. 141 in KenPom and No. 144 in the NET heading into Thursday’s game.

The Tigers created their own energy in the first half.

It normally isn’t hard for Memphis psych itself up for a game inside FedExForum. The Tigers’ loud, passionate fanbase usually does that for them.

But the U of M’s home arena resembled the atmosphere of a high school game Thursday night due to winter weather conditions. That didn’t stop Memphis from having one of its best starts this season, though.

South Florida took a 7-2 lead in the early going after hitting its first three shots, but Memphis quickly took control after that. The Tigers separated themselves with a 19-3 first half run, and never looked back for the rest of the first half. Memphis held a 47-32 advantage at the break after leading by as much as 20 points.

David Jones takes over.

It’s obviously nothing new, but that doesn’t make it any less impressive.

Jones, who holds the 10th highest scoring average in Division I (20.9 points per game), put on a show for the reduced crowd. The St. John’s transfer scored 18 points in the first half while shooting 7-of-9 from the field and 2-of-3 from 3-point range. He also recorded 3 rebounds and a steal during the opening period. Nae’Qwan Tomlin also had a solid first half with 10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.

Jones slowed down in the second half, though, scoring 7 points on 2-of-6 shooting. He finished the game with 25 points and 5 rebounds.

South Florida storms back for the upset victory.

Memphis’ regained its 20-point lead after it scored the first 5 points of the second half. What came next, however, truly shocked the Tigers’ system.

South Florida switched from a man defense to a zone defense, and the U of M responded with nothing. The Tigers’ offense completely faltered, allowing the Bulls to make a 9-0 run and cut Memphis’ lead to 11 with 16:27 left in the second half.

Memphis looked to have stabilized itself for a moment, but USF then went on another 9-0 rally to make the score 59-55 with 11:13 to go. Amir Abdur-Rahim’s team eventually made it a 1-point game with 2:29 on the clock. And unlike the close calls against Vanderbilt, Tulsa, SMU and UTSA, the Tigers fell apart down the stretch.

Jones made two free throws to give Memphis a 73-70 lead with 2:02 left to play, but the Tigers never scored again after that. Jahvon Quinerly missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Jones then missed a wide-open 3-pointer on the next possession that would’ve ended the game. Instead, freshman guard Jayden Reid knotted things up at 73 apiece with a driving layup.

The ball, however, was once again in Quinerly’s hands. The 6-foot-1 guard hit game-winners against Tulsa and SMU earlier this month, and was named AAC Player of the Week Monday. But he didn’t come through against South Florida, throwing the ball away with 11 seconds left.

Memphis then had to foul Pryor after leaving him wide open whilst defending USF’s inbound pass, and he sunk one-of-two free throws to win the game for the Bulls.

Embarrassment. Humiliation. Disappointment. All of those adjectives and more can be used to describe that sequence. The Tigers could’ve, and probably should’ve experienced this already, but it wasn’t meant to be then. It was meant to be Thursday night, though, leaving Hardaway, players, media and fans with just one question.

Has Memphis finally learned its lesson?