The Memphis Tigers will visit Littlejohn Coliseum on Saturday morning to take on the 16th ranked Clemson Tigers. Memphis got off to a great start to the season with a 6-0 win and an overtime win against Connecticut in Maui, but they have struggled since then. Getting cornered by Louisiana Tech and losing outright to Arkansas State wasn’t exactly an inspiring performance. As for Clemson, they had a blip earlier in the year with a tough road loss to Boise State, but beyond that, they have no blemishes and have victories at San Francisco, Penn State and No. 5 Kentucky. This will be the first game to feature a big Saturday slate and it should be an entertaining contest.

The Memphis Tigers have been a difficult team to understand during coach Penny Hardaway’s tenure. Hardaway has continually added quality talent to their program, whether through the transfer portal or by acquiring 4- and 5-star freshmen, but they have struggled to consistently play great basketball. Memphis will look fantastic against the top teams in the country, but will have a lot of trouble separating themselves from the middle competition, which is why they performed against Louisiana Tech and Arkansas State. However, after the double-digit loss, we can expect Memphis to be fully focused.

It starts with the backcourt of Tyrese Hunter and PJ Haggerty for Memphis. Both guards shoot over 44% from 3 and can lead their team to victory in any building. Memphis also has the frontcourt talent to keep up with Clemson in Dain Dainja, Moussa Cisse and Nick Jourdain, and that’s key against a team that relies on its post-up game and the interior presence of Ian Schieffelin and Viktor Lahkin leaves.

This game could get out of hand early if we get the bad version of Memphis, but playing to this team’s advantages seems like the right way to go. Memphis is always an underdog with its top talent, so I’d rather bet on the moneyline instead of betting on it and the points. It’s okay to take the points because Clemson seems a bit overrated, but maximizing Memphis’ advantages is the right move for me.

Memphis +235 ML at time of publication, playable at this number