Virginia vs Memphis: 2023-24 college basketball game preview, TV schedule
After beating one of the top ACC teams, Memphis looks to make it two straight in a few days, taking on the Virginia Cavaliers.
TV schedule: Tuesday, December 19th, 7:00pm ET
Arena: FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee
One of the biggest winners from last week was Memphis, who defeated a previously unbeaten Clemson team at home to finally get past the barrier of not getting ranked to make the top-25 of the latest power rankings.
The star of the Clemson game was David Jones, who had a game-high 22 pts, joined but 17 pts and 6 asts from Jahvon Quinerly. Memphis (9-2) now had four Quad 1 wins and has largely handled business in the non-conference campaign, solidifying their resume for the NCAA Tournament before AAC play gets going.
The Tigers still have another opportunity for a signature win, taking on Virginia (9-1, 1-0 ACC). The Cavaliers are coming off a shaky performance, having to come back from double-digits in the second half to beat Northeastern. 56-54. Reece Beekman, the star of the team, had 21 pts and 5 asts as the lone Cav to have 10+ points.
As usual, the slow-paced Cavaliers' have one of the best scoring defenses in the country (53.3 ppg allowed) but also can barely get to 60 points on offense. They have a fairly small lineup, with no one over 6'7 starting. But the pack-line defense usually gets the job done. And without Jordan Brown or likely Nae'Qwan Tomlin, the Tigers aren't going to have the frontcourt to take advantage of that.
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What they do have is a talented group of iso-scorers such as Jones and Quinerly that can cause Virginia's group some problems. It's a matchup that could ultimately come down to what kind of game Jones has. If it's a good one, Memphis should win. But if the likes of Leon Bond and Ryan Dunn shut him down, look for UVA to get the win.
Prediction: Virginia 66, Memphis 62