Memphis @ UAB preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 8, 2018 ) UAB 76, Memphis 94

No. 18 Memphis has navigated through a suspension and a key injury to win seven of its first eight games to start the season, and the Tigers look to continue their non-conference success in the 10th Bartow Classic at UAB on Saturday. Memphis held off Bradley 71-56 on Tuesday for its fifth straight victory since losing to No. 14 Oregon, and appears to have avoided another serious injury as freshman guard Boogie Ellis (10.1 points per game) got up after a nasty fall.

“I was just happy that it wasn’t worse,” Ellis, who scored 21 points against North Carolina State last week, told the Commercial Appeal. “(But) I had to run it off. It hurt really bad. It was probably the most pain I’ve ever felt on the court. (But) I’m going to be straight.” Tigers coach Penny Hardaway said his team doesn’t need more injuries - with 7-1 center James Wiseman (suspension) out until January and Lester Quinones (hand) likely missing a few more weeks - but different players keep stepping up for Memphis as sophomore Alex Lomax scored a career-best 17 points Tuesday. The Tigers will take on a battle-tested UAB team, which is 3-1 at home while losing at No. 10 Kentucky 69-58 last week and at Texas 67-57 on Tuesday. The Blazers’ top three scorers average between 11.9 and 9.4 points per game and their defense has been stingy, allowing just 61.1 per game, as they prepare to take on a Memphis team (84.3 per contest) they lost to 94-76 last December.

TV: 5:30 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network

ABOUT MEMPHIS (7-1): Lomax is averaging nine points on 61.5 percent shooting from the field and leads the team in assists (4.8) after scoring 5.1 per game and shooting 36.6 percent as a freshman. “I feel like I’m back to being myself,” Lomax, who is averaging 12.7 points the last three games, told reporters. “I’m comfortable and trying to do my best to lead this team.” Freshman forward Precious Achiuwa, the team’s leading active scorer (13.9) and rebounder (9.4), is just 7-for-25 from the field the last two games but has hauled in 48 boards over the past four contests and blocked a season-best five shots Tuesday.

ABOUT UAB (4-3): Freshman guard Jalen Benjamin leads a balanced team in scoring (11.9), including a 19-point effort at Kentucky, and sophomore guard Tavin Lovan (11.4) is shooting 53.3 percent from the floor. Junior guard Tyreek Scott-Grayson has stepped up while averaging 14.3 points over the last three games, including 19 against Kentucky, to help fill the hole left by the dismissal of junior point guard Zack Bryant (11.0 points, 2.7 assists) for conduct detrimental to the team last month. Sophomore forward Tamell Pearson recorded a season-high 10 points against Texas to push his season average to 5.4.

TIP-INS

1. Memphis freshman F D.J. Jeffries averages 12.3 points and registered a season-high nine rebounds versus Bradley.

2. Gene Bartow, who died in 2012, coached Memphis State (now Memphis) to the NCAA Championship Game in 1973 and the Blazers made nine NCAA tournaments with him at the helm.

3. The Tigers announced Tuesday that Florida transfer F Isaiah Stokes was denied a waiver for immediate eligibility by the NCAA.

PREDICTION: Memphis 74, UAB 64