Wichita State Shockers (14-18) vs. Memphis Tigers (22-9)
March 14, 2024 2:30 pm EDT
The Line: Memphis Tigers -8; Over/Under: 153.5
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The Wichita State Shockers and the Memphis Tigers meet Thursday in AAC Tournament college basketball action from Dickies Arena. Let’s get into our Wichita State vs Memphis prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Wichita State Shockers
The Shockers were in bad shape back on February 18 with a 10-16 record and five losses in six games. Wichita State has found their groove since then however, winning four of the last six. Those victories came courtesy of Tulsa, UAB and Rice (twice) alongside losses to Temple and Tulane.
On Wednesday in tournament action versus Rice, Wichita State held a comfortable 52-39 lead by halftime. The Shockers were outscored 42-36 the rest of the way but still held on for the win 88-81. Tops in scoring was Colby Rogers with his 22 points, four assists and two rebounds.
Memphis Tigers
Over on the Memphis side, they slipped to 15-6 overall following a four-game losing streak in late January. The Tigers are on a 7-3 run across their last 10 games though, beating Wichita State, Temple, Tulane, Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, East Carolina and UAB in that time.
In the rematch with Florida Atlantic back on Saturday, the Tigers fell back into the loss column. Memphis posted a 41-35 deficit in the first half and didn’t get any closer on a 51-49 run from there in a 92-84 defeat. Leading scorer Nae’Qwan Tomlin put up 27 points with seven rebounds in the loss.
ANDREW’S FREE WICHITA STATE VS MEMPHIS PREDICTION
I’ll probably just stick with Memphis in this one. The Tigers didn’t exactly play their best in a tricky road matchup versus Florida Atlantic in their last outing, so they’ll need a good effort Thursday. In the FAU loss, Memphis was out-rebounded 41-34 and gave up 48.6 percent shooting but weren’t terrible otherwise. The Tigers have still hit 76 or more points in six straight outings.
Back on February 3 when these teams last played, Memphis eked out a 65-63 home win. Neither squad played all that well on offense (both below 37.6 percent shooting) and the Tigers coughed up 12 turnovers. Memphis’ strength was their 45-33 rebounding edge and an improved second half. I like this one to be a higher-scoring finish, with the Tigers eking out a cover in the end.
