ORLANDO – The UCF men's basketball team is set to host Memphis for one final time at Addition Financial Arena as members of the American Athletic Conference on Wednesday night for a 7 p.m. tipoff. Both teams enter the contest with a 12-4 overall record with just one conference loss thus far.
The Knights are fresh off a 32-point victory as they cruised past SMU with an 85-53 result in their last outing on Sunday. For the second time this season, five members of the Black and Gold scored 10 or more points in the contest. Ithiel Horton led the way, scoring a season-high 21 points. Taylor Hendricks and Tyem Freeman each added 13 points while Jayhlon Young had 11 and Brandon Suggs had 10. Young earned a double-double, collecting 10 rebounds to go along with his 11 points and six assists. He is the third Knight to achieve a double-double this season, joining Hendricks and Darius Johnson.
The Mustangs grabbed just 19 rebounds against the Knights, the fewest that UCF has allowed to any team this season. The Black and Gold have continued to be a force on the boards this season, ranking 59th in the country in rebound margin, with a +5.1 clip. UCF collects 12.62 offensive rebounds a game, a mark that's 36th in the country and third in the conference. Overall, the Knights pull down 37.19 rebounds a game, a mark just outside the top 100 nationally.
UCF has been even stronger on defense, holding foes to exactly 60 points a game, a stat that ranks 18th in the NCAA. The Knights are also ranked in the top 25 in opponent field goal percentage, limiting their opposition to a 38.5% clip.
The Knights are second in the conference in scoring defense, behind only Houston, which is first in the nation. Memphis enters Wednesday's tilt with the No. 2 scoring offense in the conference and the 57th overall in the nation, averaging 78.1 points per game. The Tigers have played in some big games thus far, beating No. 11 Auburn and losing to No. 4 Alabama 91-88.
Memphis is 1-3 on the road this season with losses to Tulane, No. 4 Alabama and Saint Louis, which at the time was receiving votes in the AP poll. Its one victory away from home was a win at Vanderbilt, a 76-67 result. The Tigers are 2-1 in conference play, beating South Florida 93-86 and East Carolina 69-59.
Last season's American Athletic Conference Player of the Year, Kendric Davis, transferred from SMU to Memphis over the offseason and has been lighting it up for his new team in 2022-23. He is averaging 20 points a game while tallying 97 assists, leading both the conference and the team in each category. DeAndre Williams has also been filling up the basket for Memphis, averaging 15.8 points a game while being the Tiger's main rebounder, posting a 7.3 per game clip.
UCF came away with a 74-64 victory on Jan. 12, 2022, the last time these two teams met in Orlando. The Black and Gold are 4-1 in their last five home games when hosting Memphis in the series.
Wednesday's contest could loom large in the NCAA Tournament picture for both teams as UCF is listed as a "First Four Out" team in Joe Lunardi's latest ESPN Bracketology, while Memphis is listed as one of the "Last Four In" teams. Currently, the Knights are ahead of Memphis in the NCAA Net Rankings (UCF 36, Memphis 58), KenPom (36, 37) and ESPN BPI (41, 46).
The Knights are undefeated on Wednesdays this season, going 5-0 thus far. Another trend that has heavily favored the Black and Gold is a 10-1 mark when leading at halftime and 10-2 record when they out-rebound their opponent. UCF is 7-1 when scoring 70 or more points and 9-0 when holding teams under 60 points.
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