UAB vs Memphis Pick & Prediction for Sunday

Two middle-of-the-pack teams with high-end upside in UAB and Memphis meet in a conference clash tonight.

Both of these teams have shown flashes of greatness. Memphis has wins over FAU, Texas A&M, Clemson, Arkansas and Virginia, but it has also lost to Tulane, Rice and North Texas.

UAB has beaten Maryland, conference leader South Florida and Florida Atlantic but has lost to Rice, Bradley, McNeese, Southern Miss and Arkansas State.

That's surely a lot to take in, but it goes to show how volatile these teams have been.

The first meeting between these two came on Jan. 28, and it resulted in a nine-point home win for UAB. That game was back-and-forth from the jump, but the Blazers found a way to pull away in the end.

UAB rattled off three straight wins and looked like it was ready to make a move in the conference. But then it posted a very ugly home loss to Rice as a 9.5-point favorite.

The Blazers are a volatile bunch and have truly been impressive after losing their core from the last few seasons.

Eric Gaines is the veteran of this UAB group, and he's a guard who can take over any game. He'll be a key factor on both ends against Memphis' elite guard play.

The leading scorer for UAB is big man Yaxel Lendeborg, who may have an advantage here. Memphis is fairly average at defending down low, and Lendeborg will have plenty of opportunities to exploit that.

The middle of the season didn't treat Memphis well, but the Tigers seem to have figured it out right as March rolls around.

Losing transfer guard Caleb Mills to a season-ending knee injury was massive and turned out to be bigger than we all expected. Memphis went from a sure tournament team to a bubble team in just a few weeks.

The Tigers have seemingly locked in of late and have two more chances to show the committee something before the AAC Tournament.

Memphis is a very balanced team, which is great because if it's not firing on one end, it can rely on the other end of the court to pick up the load.

Although it's balanced, there's not one elite characteristic of this Memphis bunch that stands out. That keeps the Tigers from finding a true identity.

Sweeping a team that's objectively "better" is never an easy task, especially when the second leg of that series comes on the road.

This is a battle between two fairly balanced teams, but I would give the edge to Memphis this time around.

First off, the Tigers are looking for revenge and don't want to get swept by a Blazers team that they've had great battles with over the years. Secondly, they're at home, and the FedExForum will be absolutely rocking.

Finally, Memphis appears to have gotten over its midseason hump and has looked more like the team we saw early on. I'm expecting a close battle for the majority of this contest with the Tigers pulling away in the end — just as UAB did a month ago.

Lay the number because the Tigers will take care of business on Sunday.

Pick: Memphis -7