Halftime Report

Only one more half stands between Memphis and the win they were favored to collect coming into this evening. They have jumped out to a quick 43-38 lead against Ohio.

If Memphis keeps playing like this, they'll bump their record up to 3-0 in no time. On the other hand, Ohio will have to make due with a 1-3 record unless they turn things around (and fast).

Who's Playing

Ohio Bobcats @ Memphis Tigers

Current Records: Ohio 1-2, Memphis 2-0

How To Watch

What to Know

The Memphis Tigers will face off against the Ohio Bobcats at 8:00 p.m. ET on Friday at FedExForum. The Tigers will be strutting in after a victory while the Bobcats will be stumbling in from a loss.

Last Saturday, Memphis earned an 80-74 win over UNLV. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Tigers.

Memphis' victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was PJ Haggerty, who went 10 for 18 en route to 29 points. Nicholas Jourdain was another key player, as he made all 5 shots he took racking up 12 points plus two steals and two blocks.

Meanwhile, the point spread may have favored Ohio last Tuesday, but the final result did not. They took an 85-75 hit to the loss column at the hands of Illinois State.

The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was AJ Brown, who had 20 points. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in three-point shooting accuracy (50%). Another player making a difference was Aidan Hadaway, who went 5 for 6 en route to 11 points plus two steals.

Ohio struggled to work together and finished the game with only eight assists. That's the fewest assists they've posted since back in January.

Memphis' win bumped their record up to 2-0. As for Ohio, their defeat ended a three-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 1-2.

Looking ahead, Memphis is the favorite in this one, as the experts expect to see them win by 12.5 points. They finished last season with an 11-19 record against the spread.

Memphis ought to be happy about their advantage in the spread: the team was a solid 18-4 when favored last season. Betting on them to win was the most profitable play last year, as bettors who put $100 on that outcome in every game walked away with $253.95. On the other hand, Ohio was 1-4 as the underdog last season.

Odds

Memphis is a big 12.5-point favorite against Ohio, according to the latest college basketball odds.

The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Tigers as a 13.5-point favorite.


The over/under is 158 points.

See college basketball picks for every single game, including this one, from SportsLine's advanced computer model. Get picks now.