Photos by Dominic Ceraldi
#7 Memphis defeated #10 East Carolina 59-48
No. 7 Memphis advances to face defending champion and No. 2 seed South Florida on Tuesday
at 7 p.m. (ET)/6 p.m. (CT) in the quarterfinal round.
Memphis picked up its third tournament first–round win in four seasons, while East Carolina lost
its third straight opening game.
East Carolina and Memphis met for the second straight game after closing the regular season
against one another in Memphis. The Tigers won the regular season finale by a 56–53 score.
Memphis embarked on a 13–1 run over the final 5:32 of the first quarter, holding East Carolina
scoreless for the final 4:04 of the period, to build a 20–9 lead after one.
The Tigers enjoyed a stretch of six made field goals in eight attempts during the middle of the
second quarter, keeping East Carolina off the board for over two minutes during the surge.
Six different Memphis players registered at least one point during the first half, with six East
Carolina players also finding the scoresheet during the opening 20 minutes.
The Memphis defense held East Carolina to 28.1 percent (18–of–64) shooting from the floor,
including just 1–of–14 (.071) from 3–point range.
East Carolina guard Taniyah Thompson scored in double figures for the 27th time in 29 starts
this season, finishing with a team–high 14 points against Memphis.
Courtesy 2022 American Athletic Conference (http://theamerican.org)
