South Florida Bulls (9-5) vs. Memphis Tigers (15-2)
January 18, 2024 7:00 pm EDT
The Line: Memphis Tigers -14; Over/Under: 157.5
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The South Florida Bulls and the Memphis Tigers meet Thursday in college basketball action from FedExForum. USF is currently 9-5 overall following a win over Rice back on Friday. As for Memphis, they’re sitting on a 10-game win streak at 15-2 on the year. The Tigers beat Wichita State in their last outing. Let’s get into our South Florida vs. Memphis prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
USF Bulls
South Florida started the year off on a rough 2-4 run, falling to Central Michigan, Maine, Hofstra and UMass. The Bulls have been much better since then on a 7-1 run with wins over Florida State, AR-Pine Bluff, Loyola, Albany, Alabama State, Temple and Rice in that time.
In the matchup with Rice last Friday, the Bulls were down 40-31 heading into the second half. South Florida surged on a 50-33 run from there on the way to a comeback win 81-73. Leading the team in scoring was Kasean Pryon with his 29 points, four rebounds and five steals.
Memphis Tigers
Over on the Memphis side, they won their first five games of the year before falling to Villanova and Ole Miss. The Tigers have hit a win streak since then versus VCU, Texas A&M, Clemson, Virginia, Vanderbilt, Austin Peay, Tulsa, SMU, UTSA and Wichita State in the last 10 games.
Matched up against Wichita State on Sunday, the Tigers held a modest 49-46 edge at the break. Memphis surged in the second half on a 63-40 edge and won hit 112-86 from there. Jahvon Quinerly (11 assists) and Jaykwon Walton (three assists) each posted a team-high 23 points.
ANDREW’S FREE SOUTH FLORIDA VS MEMPHIS PREDICTION
I’ll stay with Memphis. This should be an interesting matchup, though. The Tigers are coming off a great effort versus Wichita, hitting a stellar 64.7 percent from the field and 63.3 percent (19-of-30) from 3-point range alongside 25 team assists. Memphis is cooking during this win streak; they’ve hit 77 or more points in nine of the 10 victories.
As for USF, they’ve scored 71 or more points in seven of their last eight outings (a 7-1 run) so there’s a good chance the Bulls can keep pace here. Ultimately I like Memphis to power out the cover, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see South Florida hang around.
