Memphis hosted USF in its final home game of the regular season Thursday night, but it couldn’t keep the Bulls under wraps and lost 96-89. The Tigers played much better against USF at home, but ultimately, fouls piled up, and they couldn’t come up with enough stops late to secure a win.
Since it was the final home game of the year, Memphis honored Dug McDaniel, Sincere Parker, Zach Davis, Theirno Sylla, Tariq Ingraham and Mason Matthews before the game for senior night.
Penny Hardaway also used a different starting lineup against the Bulls and went with McDaniel, Davis, Quante Berry, Julius Thedford and Aaron Bradshaw to start the game. Hardaway had most of his lineup available, but Ashton Hardaway missed his third straight game with an injury.
In the first game in Tampa, USF went to the free-throw line 35 times, and not much changed Thursday night in Memphis.
It looked early like the Bulls were going to live at the line. Only 16 seconds into the game, Aaron Bradshaw fouled Wes Enis on a three-point attempt, sending the guard to the charity stripe for three attempts.
The Tigers settled down after that initial foul, but USF returned to the free-throw line late in the half. Five of its last 10 points in the half came from the line, including a four-point play from Enis.
After allowing the Bulls to get to the line 18 times in the first half, Memphis continued to send Bryan Hodgson’s team to the line over the final 20 minutes of the game, and USF shot 72.7 percent from the free-throw line on 33 total attempts. Both Berry and Davis fouled out of the game, and the Tigers finished with 25 fouls, which is the most fouls the team has committed since January 29 against FAU.
Rebounding became an issue again for Memphis in the second meeting, but it wasn’t dominated like it was in the first game. The Tigers were out-rebounded 40-35, and both teams grabbed 14 offensive rebounds.
The return of Aaron Bradshaw certainly played a role in that improvement. Bradshaw suffered an elbow injury in the first game against the Bulls, but he was able to play 28 minutes against USF on Thursday.
While he didn’t shoot the ball well, going 1-for-8 from the field, Bradshaw grabbed seven rebounds, including six offensive boards, and he gave the Tigers another big body in the paint. Four players, including Bradshaw, grabbed five or more rebounds, and Davis led the team with eight rebounds.
Memphis also got a much better outing out of McDaniel after a rough showing earlier this year against the Bulls. After going 3-for-10 from the field in Tampa, the guard finished with 25 points, five rebounds and seven assists, and he shot 55 percent from the field.
McDaniel also led the charge in the second half and made some big shots to keep the Tigers in the game. After trailing by as many as 14 points, Memphis started chipping into the lead and got it down to a four-point game with less than a minute left, but Hardaway’s team couldn’t get a stop at the other end of the court late.
The Bulls shot 48.5 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from deep, and two players finished with more than 20 points. Enis led the team with 29 points, while Josh Omojafo added 21.
USF struggled to shoot the ball from three-point range, but Omojafo gave them a reliable option, going 3-for-4 from deep.
Memphis shot 47.1 percent from the field, 25 percent from deep and 79.2 percent from the free-throw line, and four players finished in double figures. McDaniel led the team in scoring, but Davis added 17 points, on 8-for-10 from the field, before he fouled out.
The Tigers only turned the ball over nine times, but the Bulls capitalized and scored 16 points off turnovers.
With the loss, Memphis drops to 12-18 on the season and 7-10 in conference play, and it has lost seven games in a row. The Tigers will head to New Orleans for their regular-season finale against Tulane on Sunday.
After Temple beat the Green Wave earlier in the night, Memphis now sits in 10th place in the conference standings, and its tournament hopes will come down to results on Sunday.