Tigers Basketball Preview: Samford

Tuesday, December 5

Memphis, Tenn.

7 PM

University of Memphis

Samford

Tickets

Photo by: Matthew Smith

Dec 04, 2017 | Men's Basketball

Memphis Game Notes (vs. Samford)Samford Game Notes (vs. Memphis)

Memphis, Samford to meet for first time since 2012-13 season.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – It's going to be teacher versus student when the University of Memphis basketball team hosts Samford in non-conference action at FedExForum Tuesday. Game time is 7 p.m. (CT).

The match-up features Memphis head coach Tubby Smith facing off against one of his former players in Samford head coach Scott Padgett. Smith coached Padgett's final two seasons at Kentucky in 1997-98 and 1998-99.

The first season the two were together in Lexington was a memorable one as Smith guided Padgett and the Wildcats to the 1998 NCAA title. Kentucky defeated Utah 78-69 in the championship game. On the way to the title game, Kentucky upset Duke in the South Region final, overcoming a 17-point deficit in the final 9:38. Another member of that Wildcats title team is current Tigers assistant Saul Smith.

Game Quick Facts

Opponent	Samford
Day/Date	Tuesday, Dec. 5
Time	7 p.m. (CT)
Site	Memphis, Tenn./FedExForum
Television	CW30/LocalMemphis (also ESPN3.com)
Radio (Flagship)	600 WREC AM/Rock 103 (102.7 FM)

Memphis Head Coach Tubby Smith
"I was pleased with the way we hung in there Saturday. Against Mercer, there were a few chances for us to fold, especially coming off a bad loss at UAB. We bounced back and found a way to win. A lot of our kids stepped up and made plays. We made shots down the stretch, especially our free throws.

"We have Samford up next, and Scott Padgett, who played for me at Kentucky, is the head coach. His teams play extremely hard, and they'll be a good team in the Southern Conference. They had a tough game Sunday against a good Jacksonville State team. They'll come ready to compete. I like their team. They have some guys that can really score the basketball. (Demetrius) Denzel-Dyson and (Alex) Thompson can really shoot the ball. We'll have our work cut out for us."

Tigers Tidbits/Five Notes To Know

Tuesday's game is the sixth all-time meeting between the two programs. Memphis holds a 4-1 series lead and has won the last three encounters. The Tigers won the last match-up over Samford, a 65-54 victory in the 2012-13 season. The game was part of the Battle for Atlantis tournament, but was played in Memphis. Samford's only win in the series came in the 1947-48 season.
Other than the 1998 NCAA championship game reunion, there is another tie between Memphis and Samford. Bulldogs senior Demetrius Denzel-Dyson is a Covington, Tenn., native and played his senior campaign at Covington High School in 2012-13. He signed with UMass out of high school and played two seasons for former Tigers assistant coach Derek Kellogg in Amherst, Mass. After two seasons, Denzel-Dyson transferred to Samford. According to his bio, he is a cousin of former Tigers All-American Rodney Carney, who wore the Blue and Gray from 2002-06.
For the fourth-straight game, the Tigers are facing an opponent that was picked to finish first or second in its conference's preseason poll. On Tuesday, Memphis hosts Samford, which was picked to finish second in the Southern Conference (SoCon). This stretch of playing teams picked first or second in preseason conference polls began Nov. 25 against Northern Kentucky. The Norse were picked second in the Horizon League. Memphis then played at UAB (second in Conference USA) Nov. 30 and Mercer (first in the SoCon) Dec. 2.
It could be "raining" inside FedExForum Tuesday, as in raining threes. Memphis (20.7 attempts per game) and Samford (27.1) combined to average over 45 three-point attempts per game. The Bulldogs average hitting 10 three-pointers per contest compared to 5.5 for the Tigers.
Free throw shooting for Memphis has been a topic of conversation for just about as long as the program's been in existence. However, critics have to give Memphis its due for its performance from the charity stripe against Mercer Dec. 2. The Tigers shot 88.2 percent (30-of-34), including 87.5 percent (21-of-24) in the final 13:36 of the game (3:36 of regulation, 10:00 in overtime). The Tigers' 88.2 percent free throw shooting was the sixth-best in a game with 30 or more attempts since 1979.