Memphis basketball wins its third straight by outlasting ECU. Here are five observations

Taking full advantage of the additional day this year, Memphis basketball defeated East Carolina 82-58 on Thursday at Minges Coliseum.

The Tigers (21-8, 10-6 AAC) won their third straight game on Leap Day. After the victory, Penny Hardaway’s team is now just one half-game out of a three-way tie for fourth place in the league standings with SMU and UAB. A double-bye to the AAC tournament in Fort Worth is awarded to the top four teams at the conclusion of the regular season.

On Sunday at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN2, Memphis will host UAB at FedExForum.

With 20 points, Nae’Qwan Tomlin led the Tigers in scoring for the second straight game, followed by David Jones with 18.

With 19, RJ Felton led ECU (14–14, 7-8).

Here are five things I saw throughout the game on Thursday.

1. ‘David Jones being David Jones’

When questioned about his performance against FAU last week in the second half, the amiable Jones initially gave a smug smile. Then he presented it clearly.

“Just David Jones being David Jones,” he replied.

Against the Pirates, the All-American contender and top scorer in the AAC was pulling out all the stops. The 6-foot-6 guard, who has scored 18 points or more in 12 of his last 14 games, had no answer for ECU. In the previous seven games, it was also his sixth double-double. He only failed to get a double-double in one game, which came against Charlotte on February 21. He departed the game early in the second half due to an eye injury.

2. Posting up

Hardaway stated last week that despite Vladislav Goldin of FAU scoring 22 points and shooting 9 of 9 from the floor, he was impressed by the defensive play of Tomlin and Nicholas Jourdain.

Tomlin and Jourdain worked together to be a potent offensive combination in the post against ECU.

With 20 points and five rebounds against ECU, Tomlin—who has been on the rise for Memphis in recent weeks—followed up his 21 points and eight rebounds performance against FAU. Jourdain made 6 of 8 shots for 14 points. It’s his highest point total since he scored eighteen points in an overtime victory over UTSA on January 10.

3. Quinerly Jahvon controls the flow.

When a team’s point guard performs well, it typically signals positive things will happen.

In the last three games, Jahvon Quinerly has performed admirably. He had another excellent performance versus ECU after averaging 15.5 points, six assists, and one turnover in the Tigers’ two victories previous week.

Throughout the entire game, Quinerly maintained control by being involved and playing sensibly. Despite his lack of offensive production (10 points), he finished with seven assists (compared to two turnovers) and four steals.

4. Tigers defense is strong as well.

Memphis allowed an average of 63 points per game in their victories over FAU and Charlotte last week; this is a far cry from the previous week, when they gave up 91 points per game in their defeats at North Texas and SMU.

At 64.5 points per conference game going into the season, the Pirates had the lowest scoring offense in the AAC. They started the game 0 for 7 and 2 of 13 from the field against Memphis.

Memphis caused havoc on defense as well. Ten turnovers were made by ECU in the first half. It has averaged 10.4 turnovers per game going into this one. With 17 giveaways in the end, the Pirates tied the record for most in a game this year.

5. disorganized but effective first half 

The positives: The Tigers led 36-24 at halftime, shot 55.6% from the field, and had 11 assists on 15 converted field goals.

The negative: The Tigers committed nine turnovers in the first 20 minutes of the game, following a strong home win against FAU on Sunday in which they only committed six. In addition, they had just one offensive rebound while giving up eight.

That was how Memphis’s first half was clunky. ECU has won three of its last four home games and has not allowed an AAC opponent to score more than 75 points at Minges Coliseum this year. However, the Tigers entered the arc early and played at their best. They were 12 of 16 on 2-pointers and 3-for-3 on 3-pointers in the first half, while making only three of their 11 attempts from beyond the arc.