Memphis, Tennessee:

The Memphis Tigers advance to the Semifinal round on Saturday with a massive win over the UCF Knights. The Tigers controlled the tempo of the entire game from the opening tip, Memphis took a 37-27 lead to the halftime break.

Memphis came out in the second half and didn’t let their foot off the pedal and was able to put the nail in the UCF coffin early in the second half. The Tigers got UCF in foul trouble early in the first half and were able to get Tacko Fall in foul trouble early in the first half.

Losing Tacko Fall was a huge loss for the Knights in the first half and allowed for the Tigers to gain momentum with a 10 point halftime lead. The Tigers showed great poise and grit that Tiger fans have been longing for since Penny Hardaway took over the team, last spring.

This win for the Tigers was a team win, so many players contributed to this win. From the starting five to the bench players this was a team win, a win that the Tigers should be proud of. The hustle plays in this game were beyond amazing, the Tigers hustled to every single loose ball, from diving on the court to being, their brother’s keeper this was just an amazing win for Memphis.

With the win, Memphis will improve to 21-12 and will survive to fight another day in the AAC Tournament. The Tigers will meet the Houston Cougars in Saturday’s semifinal matchup for a berth in the AAC Championship. The two met once before this season with Houston getting the best of the Tigers 90-77 at home in Houston. Houston advanced to the semifinal game after embarrassing UCONN 84-45 in the early game on Friday.

Memphis and Houston will be the first game of the session with the tip-off coming at 2:00 P.M.