Tigers Travel to Cincinnati to Battle Bearcats

Thursday, January 21

Cincinnati, Ohio

6 pm CT

University of Memphis

Cincinnati

Tickets

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Jan 20, 2016 | Men's Basketball

GAME INFORMATION
Memphis (12-5, 3-1 AAC) vs. Cincinnati (13-6, 3-3 AAC)
When: Thursday, January 21, 2016
Tip-Off: 6 p.m. (CT)
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Arena: Fifth Third Arena
TV: ESPN2
Mike Patrick, play-by-play
Len Elmore, analyst
Radio: Memphis Radio Network / 600 WREC
Dave Woloshin, play-by-play
Matt Dillon, analyst
Forrest Goodman, pregame/postgame host
Live Stats: Memphis GameTracker
Game Notes: Memphis | Cincinnati
Roster: Memphis | Cincinnati
Schedule: Memphis | Cincinnati
Media Guide: Memphis | Cincinnati

SETTING THE TABLE

•     Cincinnati forward Octavius Ellis' dad (Jerell Horne) played basketball at Memphis (1992-93 & 1993-94)
•     Memphis' three turnovers against USF mark the third-fewest in a NCAA Division I game this season, and are tied for the lowest by the UofM program from 1984 until present
•     The Tigers have led wire-to-wire in four games this season, the third-highest total in head coach Josh Pastner's tenure
•     When Shaq Goodwin and Dedric Lawson were named the Summit League Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week in the same season, it marked the fourth time in league history that a school has swept the weekly honors, including a time prior when Goodwin and Austin Nichols won the award
•     Dedric Lawson's Rookie of the Week honor was his fifth of the season, tying the AAC record for total Rookie of the Week honors distributed in a season
•     Memphis ranks second in NCAA Division I in blocked shots per game (6.8), third in defensive field goal percentage (.363), and fourth in total free throws made (376)
•     Memphis and Cincinnati have played in 70 total games (including one vacated from the 2008 season), and in those games, the teams have met as members of five different conferences: Missouri Valley (1968-70), Metro (1976-91), Great Midwest (1991-95), Conference USA (1996-05), and AAC (2014-present).
•     Each of the last eight meetings between the teams (Memphis leads 5-3), the margin of the game was double-digits

SCOUTING THE BEARCATS

Cincinnati, which has a 13-6 overall record, come into the game after falling in its last game, a 67-65 double-overtime loss over Temple.

In the Temple loss, Gary Clark had a 12-point, 14-rebound double-double, as Octavius Ellis narrowly missed a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds. Troy Caupain scored 14 points for the Bearcats, who hit just 1-of-18 shots from long range.

For the season the team is led by four players averaging between 12 and 9.8 points per game. Farad Cobb averages 11.9 points, with Caupain pouring in 10.8 per game. Clark (9.9) and Ellis (9.8) are just off of the double-figure scoring pace. Clark also pulls down 8.8 rebounds per game for the team lead, with Ellis averaging 7.2 rebounds and blocking a team-best 27 shots. Caupain has dished out team-best 84 assists, as Cobb has 28 steals to lead the team.

LOW TURNOVERS

Against USF on Saturday, January 16, the Tigers committed just three turnovers, including none in the first half. That is tied for the lowest total dating back to the 1984-85 season.

Additionally, the three turnovers stands tied for the third fewest turnovers in a game in NCAA Division I this season. Only Saint Louis (vs. George Mason on January 17) and Idaho (vs. New Hope Christian on December 18) have fewer, as each team had two turnovers in their game. Memphis is tied with 12 other schools at No. 3 overall.

MEMPHIS VS THE BUCKEYE STATE

The Tigers have played against nine of the 13 NCAA Division I schools within the state of Ohio, and have a 48-60 all-time record in those games. The largest portion of games have come against Cincinnati, where the Tigers are 31-39 all-time.

LEADING THE WAY

This season the Tigers have led wire-to-wire in four games, tied for the third-highest total in head coach Josh Pastner's tenure. The record for a Pastner-coached team is nine from the 2013-14 season, while the 2009-10 team had seven games in which it never trailed. Below are seven years of Pastner's tenure, with the number of games in which his teams has not trailed.

TWICE AS NICE

Memphis fowards Shaq Goodwin and Dedric Lawson have swept the American Athletic Conference weekly honors, with Goodwin earning his third career AAC Player of the Week honor, while Lawson tied the AAC record for number of Rookie of the Week honors won in a season. The sweep of the AAC awards is the fourth time in conference history that a team has won both major weekly awards. Below are the four times in which that has happened.

PRIZED ROOKIE

Through the first ten weeks of the 2015-16 season, Memphis freshman Dedric Lawson has been named American Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week five times, tied for the highest single-season total in AAC history. Below are the all-time leaders in the number of Rookie of the Week honors.