The No. 8 seed Memphis Tigers (26-8, 16-5 AAC) face off against the No. 9 seed Florida Atlantic Owls (31-3, 21-2 CUSA) Friday at Nationwide Arena in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Florida Atlantic dismantled the UAB Blazers 78-56 at Ford Center at The Star on Saturday in the Conference USA Conference Tourney Championship, their seventh straight win.
Alijah Martin was a top performer with 30 points and 11 rebounds. Memphis won their third in a row in the American Athletic Conference Tournament Championship on Sunday at Dickies Arena, beating the Houston Cougars 75-65.
Kendric Davis had 31 points to lead the team. Johnell Davis and Martin, averaging 12.7 and 12.0 points per game, respectively, are leading the Owls in scoring this season. Meanwhile, Vladislav Goldin is grabbing 6.4 rebounds per game, and Jalen Gaffney is dishing 2.5 assists.
Davis (22.1 ppg) has supplied much of the Tigers’ offense. He has the seventh-highest scoring average in the country. Davis also has tallied 5.6 assists per game. DeAndre Williams has averaged 8.0 rebounds per game.
The Tigers and the Owls are averaging 79.8 and 78.8 points per game, respectively, two of the top scoring teams in the NCAA. In the last 10 games, Florida Atlantic is 9-1 with an average margin of +15.8 (83.1-67.3).
For the season, the Owls are averaging 78.8 points per game, compared to 65.0 for opponents. Memphis has gone 8-2 over the last 10, scoring 76.9 points per game on average while holding opponents to 68.7 (+8.2 margin).
OWLS HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Michael Forrest: 7.4 | 12.4 | -5.0
Points per game:
Johnell Davis: 16.2 | 12.7 | +3.5
Michael Forrest: 5.0 | 8.4 | -3.4
Rebounds per game:
Alijah Martin: 7.2 | 4.9 | +2.3
Assists per game:
Jalen Gaffney: 1.4 | 2.5 | -1.1
TIGERS HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Damaria Franklin: 8.4 | 6.4 | +2.0
Keonte Kennedy: 0.0 | 9.3 | -9.3
Points per game:
Keonte Kennedy: 0.0 | 6.8 | -6.8
Rebounds per game:
Chandler Lawson: 5.8 | 4.5 | +1.3
SportsTips’ College Basketball Pick:
FAU (+115)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
