No. 14 Memphis hopes Tyrese Hunter can return to face South Florida

Memphis guard Tyrese Hunter missed a game for the first time this season on Sunday when a knee injury kept him sidelined.

The good news: If Hunter has to sit out the 14th-ranked Tigers’ Thursday game against South Florida in Tampa, coach Penny Hardaway appears to have a quality backup in place.

Former Virginia and Georgetown guard Dante Harris stepped up as Memphis outscored Temple 90-82 on Sunday to remain atop the American Athletic Conference.

Harris provided 14 points and two steals while making 6 of 8 shots from the field in 29 minutes. He was added to the roster as a midseason transfer in late December.

“We knew his talent could help us,” Hardaway said of Harris, whose status is expected to be a game-time decision on Thursday. “It really showed (Sunday) how valuable he really is. We just said, ‘Hey, we’re already winning. Come in, be part of a good team that’s already winning. Keep doing the things you need to do to be a good teammate.’ And that’s what he’s done.”

The 6-foot Harris played more than 32 minutes per game in the 2010-22 season while averaging 11.9 points and 4.1 assists for Georgetown. Last season, he saw limited game time for Virginia.

Through 10 games for Memphis, he is contributing 3.2 points per game in 13.5 minutes. He has connected on 13 of 23 field-goal attempts (56.5 percent).

The Tigers (20-4, 10-1 AAC) don’t need big numbers from him every night with teammates such as PJ Haggerty (21.6 ppg) around to take the big shots. Haggerty and Dain Dainja (12.5 ppg) were the stars last week as Memphis averaged 86.5 points in a pair of home wins.

Memphis, which leads Division I in 3-point shooting at 40.3 percent, enjoyed two good games from beyond the arc last week. The Tigers went 9 of 21 against Tulsa before hitting 8 of 19 against Temple.

While the Tigers continue to stalk a league title, the Bulls (12-12, 5-6) come into town after taking a 75-70 home loss against Wichita State on Sunday. USF hit 52.2 percent of its field-goal attempts but committed 14 turnovers and was dominated 42-22 on the boards, allowing 19 offensive rebounds that led to 24 points.

It was the Bulls’ first game after an emotional 100-91 double-overtime victory against Temple on Feb. 6, a night 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 complications after surgery. He was 43 years old, leaving behind a wife and three children.

“No motivational speech needed,” guard Kobe Knox said after the triumph over the Owls. “We knew who we had to win this game for, and it was self-explanatory.”

Now Knox and his teammates will have to get up for their first matchup of the season with the Tigers. Their game last Jan. 18 in Memphis helped turn around their season. USF erased a 20-point second-half deficit and won 74-73, the second contest in a 15-game winning streak that produced the program’s first regular-season conference title.

The Tigers own a 32-8 lead in the all-time series, including a 15-3 advantage in Tampa.

–Field Level Media