Wichita St. @ Memphis preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 9, 2020 ) Memphis 67, Wichita St. 76

When Wichita State travels to Memphis on Wednesday, it will be a battle of formerly ranked American Athletic Conference teams now battling for a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The visiting Shockers could secure a first-round bye in the upcoming AAC tournament with a win as they would hold the tiebreaker over both the Tigers and Southern Methodist.

It appeared Wichita State's NCAA Tournament hopes were once again in peril before it erased a 24-point second half deficit to take down SMU, giving the Shockers the edge for a bye in the upcoming AAC tournament. Despite shooting 58 percent from the floor and 64 percent from three in the final 14 minutes en route to the second-largest comeback in Division I this season, Wichita State still shot just 38.3 percent from the field for the game and is dead-last in the AAC with a 40.4 field goal percentage for the season. Memphis had lofty expectations and was ranked for much of the season, but has since lost top recruits James Wiseman (suspension, left program) and D.J. Jeffries (injury) and has struggled mightily in taking care of the ball, coughing it up 16.8 times a game, worst in the AAC and 343rd in the country. "They've lost some tough ones and then win one they're not supposed to win," Wichita State head coach Gregg Marshall said of the Tigers. "They've had a good year if you take away the expectations. They're going to have 20 wins and go to the postseason with a bunch of freshmen, really,"

TIME: 9 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN

ABOUT WICHITA STATE (22-7, 10-6 AAC): Sophomore Dexter Dennis had a career day amid the comeback, dropping 25 points on seven made 3-pointers to eclipse the 20-point plateau for the second time in five games, leading to a spot on the AAC Weekly Honor Roll. After sitting against Temple due to a coaches' decision, freshman Grant Sherfield returned to the fold against SMU and dropped 14 points thanks to shooting 80 percent from beyond the arc. Senior big man Jaime Echenique is the team's new leading scorer, reaching double figures in four of the last five games, and has grabbed double-digit rebounds in each of the last three.

ABOUT MEMPHIS (20-9, 9-7): First-team all conference and Rookie of the Year candidate Precious Achiuwa has notched four double-doubles in the last six games including a 22 point, 22-rebound performance against Tulane. In the last five games, fellow freshman Lester Quinones has made just 4 of 23 3-point attempts, with all of the makes coming against SMU, though he has still managed to average 9.0 points in that span. Boogie Ellis has seen a substantial spike in playing time since Jeffries went down, averaging 11 points in the nine games since, though he has failed to reach double figures in two of the last three.

BUZZER-BEATERS

1. The teams are 2-2 against each other as AAC opponents. Wichita State defeated Memphis in January when both teams were ranked.

2. Shockers G Erik Stevenson has failed to reach double figures in 10 of 16 conference games, including a goose egg against SMU.

3. Memphis leads the country with a 36.2 field goal percentage defense.

PREDICTION: Memphis 74, Wichita State 71