Central Florida @ Memphis preview
Dickies Arena
Last Meeting ( Feb 3, 2021 ) Central Florida 61, Memphis 75
Memphis enters its first game of the American Athletic Conference tournament Friday night on a losing note, but the Tigers' defeat in their season finale wasn't ordinary.
The third-seeded Tigers (15-7) will play sixth-seeded Central Florida (11-11) in an AAC quarterfinal matchup that tips off at 10 p.m. ET in Fort Worth, Texas.
It might take the Memphis squad a minute or two to get the sour taste of a close road loss at then-No. 9-ranked Houston on Sunday out of its collective mouth.
In a game in which the Tigers' Boogie Ellis tied the score with 1.7 seconds left on a 3-pointer, Houston - facing the length of the court - scored when Tramon Mark took in inbound bounce-pass and banked in a 3-pointer from near mid-court to give the Cougars their 25th straight home victory, 67-64.
"Tough environment; knew it was going to a be a tough game against a Top 10 team in the country," Memphis coach Anfernee Hardaway said after the loss. "This loss goes up there really high (on my list) because of what was at stake."
While the loss in Houston snapped the Tigers' six-game winning streak, they have won nine of their past 11 outings as they open postseason action.
Also, Memphis' third-place finish in the AAC is their best since ending in the same spot in the conference in the 2013-14 season.
On Wednesday, three Tigers earned AAC season awards.
Landers Nolley II, who is averaging a team-best 13.1 point per game, was named to the All-AAC First Team. In addition, Moussa Cisse claimed the conference's Freshman of the Year award and All-Freshman Team honors, and Ellis won the Sixth Man of the Year.
However, Alex Lomax (sprained ankle) missed his third straight game but is out of his walking boot.
UCF coach Johnny Dawkins watched his team beat East Carolina 72-62 Thursday night to advance in the conference tournament - the Knights' third win over the Pirates this season.
UCF lost twice in three days to the Tigers in Memphis from Feb. 1-3 as the AAC rescheduled a postponed game, with Memphis winning both matchups by double digits, 96-69 and 75-61.
Darius Perry scored 15 points and Avery Diggs added a career-high 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field to lead UCF against the 11th-seeded Pirates on Thursday.
"We went 1-0 and beat ECU," Central Florida forward Isaiah Adams said on social media as the Knights headed to the locker room. "We got Memphis next tomorrow. We're going to go get them."
--Field Level Media