After Blowout Loss, #18 Memphis Looks To Get Back On Track vs. Georgia

Will Memphis Bounce Back?

Technically, #18 Memphis has yet to play a single true road game this season, but that will change when they travel to Georgia to take on the Bulldogs. The Tigers are 5-1 early in the season, and are coming off a devastating loss to #19 Iowa State in the NIT Season Tip-Off Final. The Tigers recently fell from 10th to 18th in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll as a result. That type of loss stings to be sure, but the Tigers have an opportunity here to bounce back quickly against a Georgia team that is clearly overmatched talent-wise in this game. The Bulldogs have lost four straight games after falling to Wofford 68-65 at home. Yup, Wofford.

However, Memphis can't just roll over the Bulldogs and overlook them. The Tigers have some serious problems of their own to sort out. They have a problem with turnovers... a big problem. In fact, only eight teams in the country have a higher turnover percentage than Memphis, who is giving up the ball on a whopping 26.6% of its possessions. Memphis' 20.3 turnovers per game is the worst average in the country. They don't have a true facilitator on offense, which is a big reason why. They need to find a guy that can play point guard with some semblance of competence, and when they find that guy, this offense can be deadly.

Defensively, Memphis is still a great team that plays hard and physical every night. The Tigers have a ridiculous block percentage of 23.8%, which is the second-best mark in the nation. They had 10 blocks in that loss to Iowa State, showing their truly elite rim-protection skills. They have double-digit blocks in four out of their six games this season.

If the offense can just stop turning the ball over and put up some points, this can easily be a top-10 team in the country again.

Georgia Reeling

Georgia has lost four straight games, but to be completely fair, they have been missing some players due to illness. No, not COVID-19 illness, but what illness was before everyone immediately asked if it was COVID. Some players were able to play through it like point guard Aaron Cook, who is probably the most important part of the Bulldogs team. He ranks in the top 10 in the country in assists per game and fourth in assist rate. Basically, he's a dude that the Tigers could really use on their team. He's also scoring 11.3 points per game, which is second on the team behind Braelen Bridges' 12.9 points per game.

The Bulldogs went 0-2 in the Legends Classic last week, and are coming off a loss to Wofford. Pretty easy to say that they are reeling right now with losses and illness, and they are extremely vulnerable right now. The last thing they needed was a top-20 ranked team to play, and one that has weaknesses that Georgia isn't very good at exploiting.

Georgia ranks 235th among all Division I teams in getting their shots blocked, having had 12.7% of its total shots blocked this season. As we said before, Memphis blocks with impunity. Making matters even worse, the Bulldogs' defense has struggled creating turnovers and only forces 11.1 turnovers per game. So you've got a team that gives the ball up more than anyone in the nation, vs. a team that literally cannot take the ball away from a labrador retriever.

Prediction

I'm just going to make this really simple for how I think this game goes. Memphis' biggest weaknesses are what Georgia is worst at taking advantage of. The Bulldogs simply don't have the talent to compete with Memphis, and after that painful loss to Iowa State, I think the Tigers bounce back in a big way against Georgia. Give me the Tigers by double-digits.

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