What: FAU vs Memphis
When: Sunday, February 23rd, 2:00 PM
Where: Fedex Forum, Memphis TN
Series: Memphis Leads 3-2
TV: ESPN 2
Radio: Fox 640
Live Stats: Stats broadcast
Line: TBA
Ken Pom Prediction: Memphis 85 FAU 74
Owls at a Glance
Offense – 80.8 PPG, 46.6% FG, 35.4% 3PT
Defense – 76.2 PPGA, 43.4% FGA, 38.6% 3PTA
Rebounding – 36.9 RPG Owls, 36.5 RPG Opponents
FAU Notes-
Florida Atlantic Men’s basketball is back in action Sunday at 2 PM as the Owls head to Memphis looking to bounce back from their loss to Wichita State on Thursday. This will be the second matchup between FAU and Memphis this season and the Tigers defeated FAU 90-62 in their last meeting on January 2nd.
The Owls had their 5 game win streak snapped on Thursday, as Wichita State came into Boca Raton and handed FAU a 75-68 loss in a game which the Shockers asserted their physicality on both ends of the court. Offensively, FAU shot under 30% from beyond the arc and assisted on less than 50% of their made field goals, while defensively Wichita State outrebounded FAU and outscored them in the paint and overall it was just a game which the Owls will look back on with not many positives.
Offensively, FAU found ways to overcome their streaky 3-point shooting during their 5 game win-streak, also having games where they shot to the best of their capabilities, however against Wichita State they never found a way to overcome their perimeter struggles and the offense was lacking as a whole, as they also assisted on less than 50% of their made field goals. On the year, FAU remains top 100 in the country in effective FG percentage, turnover percentage, 3-point and 2-point percentage and also assist rate.
Defensively, Wichita State found a way to hurt FAU’s 25th ranked interior defense which has been a major strength throughout the year and they also capitalized on the Owls lacking perimeter defense, converting 60% of their 3’s. On the year, FAU has found ways to counteract teams shooting the 3 well against them with strong interior defense, however when they haven’t been able to limit either is when they have struggled.
Kaleb Glenn led FAU once again with 16 points against Wichita State and he sits atop the season scoring average with Baba Miller and Tre Carroll both also averaging double figures. Against the Shockers the Owls weren’t able to get consistent scoring outside of Glenn and the offense got stagnant, look for them to attempt to get their shooters going early against Memphis.
Overall, this game is going to be a tough battle for the Owls as the Tigers will come in well rested and looking to avenge their loss to Wichita State which did significant damage to their NCAAT seeding and another loss to FAU would make that worse. For FAU to right their wrongs and defeat the Tigers it will start defensively, as they have to limit the Tigers from getting open 3-point looks, while also having the physicality to not let Dain Dainja have his way down low and then offensively, FAU has to find their shooting early, or shift to attack the paint, as they cant let the offense get stagnant and allow Memphis to pick up momentum.
Tigers at a glance-
Offense – 79.4 PPG, 47.3% FG, 40.0% 3PT
Defense – 73.3 PPGA, 42.0% FGA, 32.4% 3PTA
Rebounding – 35.5 RPG Owls, 35.2 RPG Opponents
Memphis Notes-
The Tigers come into this matchup with a week of rest following their loss to Wichita State and they sit at 21-5 and they are ranked 22nd in the nation in the current NCAA poll. Although the last loss stung for Memphis’s hopes at getting a top 4 seed in the NCAA tournament, they still are comfortably in the field and they will be looking to avoid any further dip against FAU on Sunday.
Memphis was stunned against Wichita State last weekend, as even though they shot 38% from beyond the arc, they converted less than 35% of their 2-point looks and Wichita State out-physicaled them the same way they did FAU, also out-rebounding them 54-45. What gave FAU problems against Memphis in the first matchup was the Tigers full court defensive press, however the Shockers handled that with ease and although Memphis still got solid offensive efforts from PJ Haggerty, Tyrese Hunter and Moussa Cisse, the Shockers solved their biggest defensive asset in their press and their physicality outweighed the scoring efforts Haggerty, Hunter and Cisse.
Overall on the year, Memphis has been a very solid offensive team, as they are top 100 in the nation in Effective FG percentage (54.4%, 54th), offensive rebounding percentage (32.6%, 97th), FT Rate (40.1%, 29th), and their biggest strength has been their 3-point shooting, currently 4th in the country averaging 40% from 3. Their weakness at times has been their turnover percentage, as they turn it over 19.5% of the time which is 315th in the nation and when their offense becomes discombobulated it leads to struggles at times.
Defensively, Memphis has been equally as solid, currently top 100 in the nation in EFG percentage allowed (48.6%, 82nd), Turnover percentage (19.7%, 64th) and 2-point percentage allowed (48.7%, 88th). Where teams have been able to hurt Memphis defensively has been in creating second chances, as opponents grab an offensive rebound 33.8% of the time which is 335th in the nation.
The Tigers are led on the year by PJ Haggerty, who is one of the premier guards in the country, averaging 21.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists a game and he is joined in double figures by Tyrese Hunter, Dain Dainja and Colby Rogers. Memphis will get a solid scoring output from Hunter and Haggerty in most games, however whenever they get a big night from someone other than those 2 is when Memphis has been hard to stop.
Memphis defeated FAU to open conference play back on January 2nd and they did it with a solid shooting night and suffocating full court press that the Owls had no answer to at times. FAU has improved vastly since then and will most likely have a better attack plan against the Tigers press, however if the Tigers get a scoring effort the way they did in the first game, while also limiting FAU’s open 3-point chances, this is a matchup that favors the Tigers if they are able to execute, however that is no guarantee.