The Alabama State Hornets and the Memphis Tigers meet Friday in college basketball action from FedExForum. Alabama State is 1-2 on the season and coming off their first win over Oglethorpe. As for Memphis, they’re sitting at 2-0 thus far. The Tigers beat Missouri last Friday. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Alabama State Hornets 

The Hornets opened up the season with a couple of tough games, losing both. First came a 69-59 loss to Ole Miss that featured a rough 27.4 shooting percentage from Alabama State. Game two against Iowa wasn’t much better, a 98-67 loss. The Hornets managed to shoot 35.4 percent in that one but also coughed up 16 turnovers. 

In their latest outing versus Oglethorpe, the Hornets scored 50 points in the first half and 65 after the break for a 115-51 blowout victory. Alabama State’s D’Ante Bass topped the team on 18 points with 10 rebounds, while Micah Octave added 17 points with five boards and two assists in the win. 

Memphis Tigers 

Over on the Memphis side, they kicked off their season with a matchup versus Jackson State. The Tigers scored 47 points in each half on the way to a 94-77 win in that one, shooting a nice 50.7 percent from the floor. Memphis got out-rebounded 37-34 overall however, and gave away 16 turnovers. 

Memphis was able to keep it going in their last matchup versus Missouri on Friday. The Tigers came back from a 33-26 halftime deficit on the way to a 70-55 victory. Jahvon Quinerly was the team’s leading scorer with 18 points and eight rebounds. David Jones doubled up on 10 points and 10 rebounds as well. 

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’m going to take a stab on Alabama State in this one. The Hornets started out the season with a couple of losses and some rough shooting performances, but there are also some positives to draw from their three games so far. Alabama State has rebounded pretty well so far, including a whopping 58 boards in their blowout win over Oglethorpe. The Hornets pulled down 46 rebounds versus Iowa and 46 versus Ole Miss, so they’re present under the basket. (Granted, some of that came from garbage time.) Memphis should be in complete control here of course, but if Alabama State can generate some high-percentage shots and finish strong I think they’ve got a reasonable cover shot.