Tigers to Face Friars in Post-Thanksgiving Battle

NICEVILLE, Fla. - Memphis will put its unblemished record on the line on Friday evening, when the squad faces off against the Providence Friars in the opening round of the Destin Realty Emerald Coast Classic.

GAME INFORMATION
Memphis (4-0) vs. Providence (3-1)
When: Friday, November 25
Tip-Off: 8:30 p.m. (CT)
Location: Niceville, Fla.
Arena: The Arena
TV: CBS Sports Network
Brad Johansen, play-by-play
Doug Gottlieb, analyst
Radio: Memphis Radio Network / 600 WREC / Rock 103
Jeff Albright, play-by-play
Matt Dillon, analyst
Forrest Goodman, pregame / postgame host
Live Stats: Tournament Sidearm Live Stats

SCOUTING THE FRIARS

Providence comes into the game with a 3-1 overall record with wins over Vermont, Grambling, and St. Francis Brooklyn, and a 72-67 loss at Ohio State.

In the team's last game, a 64-48 win at home against St. Francis Brooklyn, Providence led wire-to-wire, scoring first 11 seconds into the game and never trailing in the contest.

Rodney Bullock had a 21-point, 12-rebound double-double where he made 8-of-14 shots from the field and all five free throw tries. Kalif Young hit 5-of-8 shots from the field and pulled down six rebounds. Kyron Cartwright dished out a game-high nine assists, while scoring six points.

For the season it has been Bullock to pace the squad, leading the team in scoring in three of the four games, and has a team-best scoring average of 21.0 points per game, while also leading the team with 7.5 rebounds per contest. Emmitt Holt averages 16.7 points per game as the only other player averaging in double figures this season.

Providence out-rebounds its opponents 34.8-to-34.0, and Cartwright has given out 37 assists this season, an average of 9.3 per contest. Bullock, Ryan Fazekas, Cartwright, and Jalen Lindsey each have four assists this season to lead the team.

SHARE AND SHARE ALIKE

After Memphis' 104-65 win over McNeese, the Tigers moved to the top of the NCAA in assists per game. The average of 25.8 is a half assist ahead of second best in the country (Iowa State at 25.3). Below are the top seven in the country in assists per game.

Rk.	School	Ast.	Ast./G
1.	Memphis	103	25.8
2.	Iowa State	76	25.3
3.	UCLA	100	25.0
4.	Savannah State	115	23.0
5.	Oakland	88	22.0
	Iowa	88	22.0
7.	West Virginia	65	21.7

BIG GAME HELPERS

Memphis' 35 assists against McNeese State are not only the second-most in program history, it is the highest total in the NCAA this season. It is also the fourth-highest total in the NCAA for a single game since 2013-14. Below are the top six single-game assist totals since 2013-14.

	School	Ast.	Opponent	Year
1.	Citadel	42	Mid. Atl. Christian	2015-16
2.	Baylor	40	Hardin-Simmons	2015-16
3.	Idaho	39	New Hope Christian	2015-16
4.	Memphis	35	McNeese	2016-17
	Davidson	35	Duquesne	2014-15
	Iona	35	Delaware St.	2014-15

ONLY ONE IN THE COUNTRY

Not only does Dedric Lawson rank first in the country in double-doubles this season, but he is the only player in the country with three double-doubles in just four games played.

SMALL IN STATE

Providence is one of just four NCAA Division I institutions within the state border of Rhode Island, and joins Brown, Bryant, and Rhode Island. Current Friars head coach Ed Cooley has never faced Memphis as head coach of Providence; however, when he was head coach at Fairfield University (2006-11) his team opened the 2008-09 season at Memphis, and the Tigers prevailed 90-63.

CONSECUTIVE DOUBLE-DOUBLES TO OPEN SEASON

University of Memphis sophomore forward Dedric Lawson has recorded double-doubles in each of his first four games of the 2016-17 season. It is the fourth-longest such streak in program history of double-doubles to open the season. Below is a list of the longest such streaks in program history.

Rk.	Student-Athlete	Rebs.	Season
1.	Rich Jones	10	1968-69
2.	Don Holcomb	5	1971-72
	George Price	5	1959-60
4.	Dedric Lawson	4	2016-17
	Lorenzen Wright	4	1995-96
	Don Holcomb	4	1969-70
7.	William Bedford	3	1985-86
	Marion Hilliard	3	1974-75

BIG REBOUNDS

Through three games, Dedric Lawson has 49 rebounds, an average of 12.3 per game. That total has him tied for eighth in the country. Below is the list of the top 10 in the NCAA this season in rebounds per game.

Rk.	Student-Athlete	School	Reb.
1.	Wyatt Walker	Samford	15.0
2.	Aubrey Williams	Kennesaw State	14.2
3.	Angel Delgado	Seton Hall	13.7
4.	Rokas Gustys	Hofstra	13.4
5.	Tacko Fall	UCF	12.5
	Steve Taylor Jr.	Toledo	12.5
7.	Devontae Cook	UNCW	12.3
8.	Dedric Lawson	Memphis	12.3
	Caleb Swanigan	Purdue	12.3
10.	Kyle Kuzma	Utah	12.0

CAREER AVERAGE AMONG NCAA BEST

In addition to ranking seventh in the country in rebounding, Dedric Lawson has the fifth-highest career rebounding average in the country at 9.6 rebounds per game. Eastern Michigan's James Thompson IV has the highest active rebounding average for a career at 10.8 rebounds per game. Below are the 10 highest current career rebounding averages in the country.

Rk.	Student-Athlete	Cl.	School	Reb.
1.	James Thompson IV	So.	Eastern Michigan	10.8
2.	Derrick Griffin	So.	Texas Southern	10.7
3.	Rokas Gustys	Jr.	Hofstra	10.0
4.	Angel Delgado	Jr.	Seton Hall	9.8
5.	Dedric Lawson	So.	Memphis	9.6
6.	Wayne Martin	Sr.	Tennessee State	9.4
7.	John Konchar	So.	Fort Wayne	9.3
8.	Drick Bernstine	Jr.	North Dakota	9.0
9.	Michael Carey	Sr.	Wagner	9.0

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Players Mentioned

Dedric Lawson

University of Memphis Athletics