• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

No. 23 Memphis cruises past South Florida

Jan 27, 2014 - 12:49 AM Memphis, TN (SportsNetwork.com) - Chris Crawford had 15 points to lead No. 23 Memphis to an 80-58 rout of South Florida on Sunday.

Joe Jackson had 14 points and seven assists, while Shaq Goodwin added 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Tigers (15-4, 5-2 ACC), who have won three straight.

"We had great team basketball out there today," Memphis head coach Josh Pastner said. "I love how we finished with 23 assists on 25 made field goals."

Martino Brock had 17 points and was the only player in double-digits for the Bulls (10-10, 1-6), who have dropped their past four games.

South Florida kept the game close over the first six minutes and held the lead several times, but a Nick King layup gave Memphis the lead for good as the team scored nine straight points and held a 20-12 lead on a Geron Johnson layup with just under 11 minutes to play.

A Victor Rudd layup cut the Bulls' deficit to 21-20 with 7 1/2 minutes left in the first half, but the team had just one more basket before the break.

The Tigers, meanwhile, closed the half on a 13-2 run, with a 3-pointer from Crawford giving the team a 34-22 lead at the break.

"Memphis is one of those teams that close out halfs on these runs," USF head coach Stan Heath said. "We had survived the beginning of the game with foul trouble, but they (Memphis) went on that run, keyed off of those turnovers off the press. That started a wave of momentum."

A 13-3 run from Memphis early in the second half staked the team to a 47-28 lead after a Michael Dixon 3-pointer five minutes in.

Crawford later hit back-to-back 3-pointers as part of an 11-0 run to put the game out of reach, as South Florida never got closer than 22.

Game Notes

Memphis plays at UCF on Wednesday ... South Florida hosts SMU on Tuesday ... King totaled 10 points ... Memphis shot 49 percent and edged South Florida on the boards, 40-36 ... The Bulls shot just 33.9 percent from the floor.