Memphis picked up a comfortable win over UTSA on Sunday to improve to one game over .500 and second in the American Conference. With the win, the Tigers are 3-1 in conference play, but they will hit the road for back-to-back road games later this week.
It was a single-digit game for most of the first half, but Memphis went on a 5-0 run led by Sincere Parker to take a 10-point lead into the break. The Tigers shot 58.6 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from deep in the first half, and three players ended the half with eight or more points.
In the second half, Memphis continued its offensive success, and soon the lead jumped to the mid-teens. After the lead hovered between 15 and 18 points for the first 15 or so minutes of the half, the Tigers went on a 12-0 run to take a 28-point lead before Penny Hardaway decided to bring in a few guys from the end of the bench.
For the game, the Tigers shot 56.3 percent from the field, 50 percent from deep and 66.7 percent from the free-throw line, and four players finished with double figures. Memphis scored 1.34 points per possession, including 1.49 points per possession in the second half, and they dominated a smaller Roadrunners team in the paint, scoring 44 points down low.
The Tigers also won the rebounding battle 38-to-33, and they scored 11 second-chance points on 12 offensive rebounds.
Defensively, Memphis held UTSA to 41.5 percent from the field and 29 percent from three-point range, and the Roadrunners were only able to turn the Tigers over 12 times and scored those into only eight points off turnovers.
Sincere Parker lights it up off the bench
It’s been an up-and-down season for Sincere Parker, but he had his best game of the season Sunday night against UTSA. The senior recorded 22 points, three rebounds, two steals and a block in 21 minutes of action.
Parker is averaging 9.8 points and shooting 44.1 percent from the field, but he has shown the potential to be one of the best scorers in the conference, and Sunday night was a good example of his talent. The question now is whether Parker can string together a few similar performances and become one of Memphis’ go-to scorers through conference play.
Hardaway was impressed with Parker’s performance and praised how the guard has taken to his role coming off the bench.
“To be able to score 22 points in 21 minutes, that’s pretty special,” Hardaway said. “I don’t know how many guys can do that in college.”
Tigers knock down three-pointers
One of the biggest issues for the Tigers this season has been their struggles shooting the ball for most of the season, but it wasn’t an issue against UTSA. Memphis shot 50 percent from deep, making 11 three-pointers.
It’s only the sixth time that the Tigers have made 10 or more three-pointers, and they’ve now crossed that threshold in two of the last three games.
The Roadrunners have struggled defensively all season, but maybe Memphis is finding some confidence behind the arc.
Memphis misses players again with injuries
The Tigers have dealt with a few injuries throughout the season, and they were missing Julius Thedford and Aaron Bradshaw on Sunday.
It’s the second game that Thedford missed and the first that Bradshaw has missed after leaving last Wednesday’s game against Temple.
Hardaway said after the game that both players are close to returning, and there’s a chance that Memphis could be back to full strength against Tulsa on Wednesday.
It’ll be interesting to see what Hardaway does once he has his full lineup available, and if he decides to stick with a more consistent starting lineup.