Memphis vs Central Florida College Basketball Picks, Odds, Predictions 3/12/21

The UCF Knights and the Memphis Tigers meet in an AAC conference tournament quarter-final matchup in college basketball action from the Dickies Arena on Friday night.

The UCF Knights come into the quarters after picking up a 72-62 win over East Carolina in their last matchup. Darius Perry led UCF in scoring with 15 points on 4 of 8 shooting with 3 assists and a pair of steals while Avery Diggs and Darin Green Jr. each had 12 points with Green Jr. shooting 5 of 13 with a pair of threes while Diggs shot 6 of 7 from the floor in 21 minutes off of the bench. Jamille Reynolds and Brandon Mahan each had 10 points to cap off the scoring in double figures for UCF in the winning effort, with Reynolds shooting 3 of 7 with 6 rebounds while Mahan added a pair of threes. Dre Fuller Jr. also had team-highs of 7 rebounds and 4 assists as well in the winning effort for the Knights.

The Memphis Tigers enter the tournament as the #3 seed after finishing with an 11-4 mark in conference play as part of their 15-7 overall record this season. Landers Nolley II led the Tigers in scoring with 13.1 PPG while Dre Williams has 10.6 PPG and 6.3 RPG with 3.5 APG as the only other double-digit scorer for Memphis up to this point in the season. Boogie Ellis, D.J. Jeffries and Lester Quinones each have 9.3 PPG with Jeffries adding 5.3 RPG and Quinones logging 4,8 RPG. Moussa Cisse leads Memphis in rebounding with 6.9 RPG and Alex Lomax leads the Tigers in assists with 4.4 APG this season. As a team, Memphis is averaging 72.1 PPG on 44.1% shooting from the field and 35.5% from three while allowing 62.3 PPG on 38.4% shooting from the field and 26.8% from three this season.

UCF is 6-0 ATS in their last 6 games overall and 20-6 ATS in their last 26 neutral site games while the under is 4-1-1 in their last 6 games against a team with a winning record. Memphis is 10-1 ATS in their last 11 games overall and 8-1 ATS in their last 9 games following an ATS win while the under is 5-2 in their last 7 games following a loss. The favorite is 21-7-1 ATS in the last 29 meetings between these two teams.

The points with UCF are tempting considering that the Knights have had a game to shake off any rust. However, the Knights have struggled offensively more often than not this season and while both teams play solid defense, it’s Memphis’ offense that’s a lot easier to trust. I just think this is a relatively light number and while I may be getting suckered it, it’s the right play with where the line is. I’ll lay the points with Memphis here.