Memphis guard Tyrese Hunter missed a sport for the primary time this season on Sunday when a knee damage saved him sidelined.
The excellent news: If Hunter has to sit down out the 14th-ranked Tigers’ Thursday sport in opposition to South Florida in Tampa, coach Penny Hardaway seems to have a top quality backup in place.
Former Virginia and Georgetown guard Dante Harris stepped up as Memphis outscored Temple 90-82 on Sunday to stay atop the American Athletic Convention.
Harris offered 14 factors and two steals whereas making 6 of 8 photographs from the sphere in 29 minutes. He was added to the roster as a midseason switch in late December.
“We knew his expertise may assist us,” Hardaway stated of Harris, whose standing is anticipated to be a game-time choice on Thursday. “It actually confirmed (Sunday) how useful he actually is. We simply stated, ‘Hey, we’re already successful. Are available, be a part of a great group that is already successful. Hold doing the issues you might want to do to be a great teammate.’ And that is what he is completed.”
The 6-foot Harris performed greater than 32 minutes per sport within the 2010-22 season whereas averaging 11.9 factors and 4.1 assists for Georgetown. Final season, he noticed restricted sport time for Virginia.
By 10 video games for Memphis, he’s contributing 3.2 factors per sport in 13.5 minutes. He has linked on 13 of 23 field-goal makes an attempt (56.5 %).
The Tigers (20-4, 10-1 AAC) do not want huge numbers from him each evening with teammates akin to PJ Haggerty (21.6 ppg) round to take the massive photographs. Haggerty and Dain Dainja (12.5 ppg) had been the celebs final week as Memphis averaged 86.5 factors in a pair of dwelling wins.
Memphis, which leads Division I in 3-point taking pictures at 40.3 %, loved two good video games from past the arc final week. The Tigers went 9 of 21 in opposition to Tulsa earlier than hitting 8 of 19 in opposition to Temple.
Whereas the Tigers proceed to stalk a league title, the Bulls (12-12, 5-6) come into city after taking a 75-70 dwelling loss in opposition to Wichita State on Sunday. USF hit 52.2 % of its field-goal makes an attempt however dedicated 14 turnovers and was dominated 42-22 on the boards, permitting 19 offensive rebounds that led to 24 factors.
It was the Bulls’ first sport after an emotional 100-91 double-overtime victory in opposition to Temple on Feb. 6, an evening when the league honored former USF coach Amir Abdur-Rahim by naming a sportsmanship award for him.
Abdur-Rahim, who led the Bulls to the 2023-24 AAC regular-season title, died on Oct. 24 from issues after surgical procedure. He was 43 years outdated, forsaking a spouse and three kids.
“No motivational speech wanted,” guard Kobe Knox stated after the conquer the Owls. “We knew who we needed to win this sport for, and it was self-explanatory.”
Now Knox and his teammates should stand up for his or her first matchup of the season with the Tigers. Their sport final Jan. 18 in Memphis helped flip round their season. USF erased a 20-point second-half deficit and gained 74-73, the second contest in a 15-game successful streak that produced this system’s first regular-season convention title.
The Tigers personal a 32-8 lead within the all-time collection, together with a 15-3 benefit in Tampa.
–Area Degree Media