Memphis basketball pounds USF 99-81: Here are 3 takeaways from the Tigers' win
Memphis basketball leaned heavily on its offense to pick up a 99-81 victory at USF on Wednesday.
DeAndre Williams dropped 26 to lead the Tigers (18-6, 8-3 AAC), who weathered a 28-point game from former Tiger Tyler Harris and avoided a second straight Quad 3 loss. But Williams had plenty of help as Kendric Davis put up 23 points, Keonte Kennedy contributed 19 and Elijah McCadden poured in 14.
USF falls to 10-14 overall and 3-8 in league play. In the second half, Harris broke the AAC record for career 3-pointers with 266 — 193 of which came during his three seasons at Memphis.
Memphis led for more than 39 minutes versus USF. The Tigers led by at least 9 points for the entirety of the second half.
Kennedy's 19 points are the most he has scored in a Memphis uniform. The UTEP transfer made three of his five 3-point attempts. In his last six games, Kennedy is shooting 56.3% from deep.
Here are three takeaways from Wednesday's game:
MEMPHIS BASKETBALL VS. USF: Scouting report, score prediction
SIGN UP: Memphis Tigers Basketball Insider text group with Jason Munz
When Kendric Davis gets hot
Davis says it a lot. Most recently, he referenced his knack for giving the Tigers a spark after their Jan. 29 win at Tulsa.
“As we all know, I can get hot quick,” he said after scoring 19 of his 26 points in the second half of that game.
Davis proved himself right again Wednesday. The AAC’s leading scorer, Bob Cousy Award top-10 finalist and the only player in the country in the top 10 in scoring and assists started slowly against the Bulls, hitting just two of his first six shots. Then, with 7:19 left in the first half, he hit a 3-pointer that gave the Tigers a 10-point lead.
Davis went on to make three of his next four shots and went into halftime with 14 points and the Tigers up 48-35.
Seizing the moment
USF was sloppy – extra sloppy – with the ball Wednesday. That was especially so in the first half.
The Bulls, who came in averaging 13.6 turnovers a game, coughed the ball up 12 times through the first 20 minutes alone. Eleven of them occurred in the first 14 minutes.
The Tigers had a lot to do with it, finishing the first half with seven steals, including two each by Davis and Johnathan Lawson.
It’s one thing to create turnovers. Memphis made the most of them, scoring 20 of its 48 first-half points as a direct result of USF’s mistakes.
USF finished the game with 17 turnovers and the Tigers scored 30 as a result.
Fixing the free throws
It’s impossible to make up for missing 10 free throws in a 1-point loss.
But after the Tigers’ costly showing at the line in last week’s disappointing home loss to Tulane, they rebounded with a near-perfect performance.
Memphis made its first 18 attempts before its first miss with 6:34 left in the game and the Tigers up 82-72. Williams led the way at the stripe, finishing 10-of-10.
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis basketball: DeAndre Williams powers Tigers to win at USF
