Coming off one of its most impressive performances of the season, Memphis visits Tulane in Thursday’s American Athletic Conference matchup.
Memphis (16-4, 6-1) has won three in a row following Sunday’s 100-77 home win over UAB. That knocked UAB out of first place in the AAC and ended the Blazers’ five-game winning streak.
Memphis shot a season-best 62.3% from the field. Guard PJ Haggerty, who entered Wednesday leading the AAC with a 22.1 scoring average, scored 23 points and dished out nine assists. Redshirt senior center Dain Dainja scored 21 points, shooting 10 for 12 from the field, and grabbed eight rebounds.
A key stat was points off turnovers. Memphis scored 32 points off 16 UAB turnovers, while the Blazers scored 16 points off 13 Memphis turnovers.
Memphis’ lone AAC loss was an 88-81 defeat at Temple.
Tulane (11-9, 5-2) rebounded from an 80-77 loss at Temple, to win 82-71 at Rice on Saturday. A 46-14 advantage in points in the paint was the difference for the Green Wave. Tulane’s balanced attack was led by 6-foot-7 junior Gregg Glenn III, who led six double-figure scorers with 17 points on 7 of 9 shooting.
Tulane’s other AAC loss this season was 81-69 at UAB on Jan. 7.
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Memphis at Tulane Betting Odds
Memphis is a 6.5-point college basketball betting favorite on BetMGM against Tulane with the Over/Under at 151.5.
The moneyline for Memphis is -285 while it is +225 for Tulane.
Memphis at Tulane on TV
The game between Memphis and Tulane will be televised on ESPN2.
Tonight’s tipoff is shortly after 9 p.m. ET.
Memphis at Tulane Prediction
I like Memphis laying the points. The Tigers are coming off a dominating performance against UAB and will look to continue the momentum.
Memphis is 6-1 on the road while Tulane is 9-2 at home.
This will be billed as an offensive team against a defensive squad. Memphis entered Wednesday fourth in the AAC in scoring, averaging 79 points per game. Tulane was the AAC’s second-best defensive team, allowing 68.8 points per game.
On the flip side, Memphis allows 73.2 points per game, while Tulane averages 76.6 points per game.
Tulane entered Wednesday with the second-best scoring margin in the AAC (8.0 points), while Memphis’ scoring margin is 5.8.
Memphis is the best three-point shooting team in the AAC (.395) while Tulane has the second-best three-point percentage defense (.299). Tulane shoots .349 from deep, while Memphis allows a .327 percentage. Tulane has the edge in free throw shooting. The Green Wave entered Wednesday as the AAC’s second-best free-throw shooting team (.770) while Memphis was eighth (.720).
Besides Haggerty, guard Tyrese Hunter is Memphis’ second-leading scorer, averaging 14.9 points per game while shooting .417 from three. Dainja averages 11.8 points.
Tulane’s leading scorer is 6-foot-8 junior Kaleb Banks, a transfer from Indiana. Banks is averaging 17.5 points and 7.4 rebounds to lead the Green Wave in both categories. He is looking to snap out of a mini-slump. During his last two games, Banks has averaged just 9.0 points, while shooting 8 for 19 from the field.
The other double-figure scorer is 6-foot-4 redshirt sophomore Rowan Brumbaugh, who averages 14.5 points per game. Kam Williams, a 6-foot-8 freshman, averages 9.9 points and is Tulane’s top three-point shooter (.429).
