Memphis will try to bolster its NCAA Tournament resume when it hosts Cincinnati in a crucial American Athletic Conference matchup on Sunday afternoon. The Bearcats are coming off an overtime win against Temple, but they lost to Memphis by seven points at home last month. Memphis has won nine of its last 11 games, including an 83-78 win at Wichita State on Thursday.
Cincinnati has been a fairly consistent team this season, but it has not picked up enough quality wins on its schedule to be in consideration for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament right now. The Bearcats lost to every quality team during the non-conference portion of their schedule, and they have also blown their chances of a major resume-building victory in the AAC. They lost both meetings with Houston, although they were able to stay within two possessions in their road game against the Cougars. Cincinnati also came up short against Memphis at home last month. The Bearcats are riding a two-game winning streak coming into this matchup, beating UCF and Temple in their last two outings.
Came out on top in 12 rounds. ??#Bearcats | #TheMovement pic.twitter.com/fV2M5TYtjp
— Cincinnati Men's Hoops (@GoBearcatsMBB) February 24, 2023
They have been a decent offensive team this season, ranked No. 63 of 363 teams in KenPom’s ratings. Their strength has been their ball protection, as they are No. 15 nationally in turnover rate. They have been solid from the perimeter as well, knocking down 35.5% of their 3-pointers. This will be a tough matchup, as Memphis is No. 52 in adjusted defensive efficiency. Senior guard Landers Nolley II, who used to play for the Tigers, leads Cincinnati with 16.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. David DeJulius (14.6) and Viktor Lakhin (12.4) are both double-digit scorers as well.
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