University of Memphis Athletics
Tigers Hope To Pounce On Grambling Thursday Night
Dec 22, 1999 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 22, 1999
Grambling State at Memphis
Thursday, December 23, 1999 7:00 pm
The Pyramid (20,142), Memphis, Tenn.
WMC-AM 790 (Dave Woloshin & Hank McDowell)
WKNO-TV (Matt Dillon & Jon Albright)
GAME NOTES
The Tigers will look to even their record to .500 tonight before opening Conference USA play
next week ... Memphis is 2-0 against Southwestern Athletic Conference teams this season
including a 97-66 win over an Alabama A&M squad which defeated Grambling on the road last
Saturday, 92-81 ... Marcus Moody has connected on his last 17 free throws and the Tigers have
raised their free throw shooting percentage to 64.1 percent.
HALFWAY THERE
Heading into the week, the University of Memphis Tigers' goal was to get back to
.500 before opening Conference USA play against DePaul next week. With a 76-61 win
over Louisiana at Monroe on Monday, the Tigers are halfway to their goal for the week.
Now the U of M turns its attention to a Grambling State squad which has struggled under first year coach Larry Wright. Grambling has lost its last six, including both ends of a two-game home stand to open Southwestern Athletic Conference play. Alabama A&M, whom Memphis defeated 97-66 earlier this year, defeated Grambling 92-81 last Saturday. On Monday, Alabama State escaped with a 67-66 victory which left Grambling at 0-2 in SWAC play and 1-11 overall.
Grambling has had 100 points scored on them four times this season and have given up 90 points on two other occasions. The G-Men's lone victory was a 102-90 win over Jarvis Christian College on Dec. 1. Senior forward Chris Thomas leads the Tigers, averaging 17.1 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Grambling opponents are shooting 50.8 percent from the field and are averaging 92.4 points an outing.
TIGER MOMENT
December 23rd
Memphis coach Johnny Jones was on the other
bench in 1992 when the University of Memphis posted
a 70-66 win over Louisiana State in the third-place
game of the Maui Invitational.
Jones made his debut as a head coach on the
same court earlier this season.
MEDIA INFORMATION
TIGERS ON THE WORLDWIDE WEB
Media and U of M fans can receive the latest information on
Memphis athletics by bookmarking http://www.goTIGERSgo.com.
Game notes, recaps and statistics on Tiger basketball will be
continually updated throughout the season. Biographies on the
players and coaching staff are also available on the site which is a
part of the FansOnly Network.
FAX ON DEMAND
In addition to printing notes and statistics from the Tigers'
website, members of the media can receive via fax the same
information. The Conference USA fax on demand number is (201)
585-5404. Following is a list of Memphis document codes ... Full
Game Release, 1811, Statistics & Schedule, 1812, U of M Roster
1813, Game Notes, 1814 and Last Box Score, 1815.
CONFERENCE USA TELECONFERENCE
Conference USA head coaches will once again be featured on
a weekly teleconference throughout the season. The teleconfer-ence
will be held regularly each Monday beginning Monday, Jan.
3 through March 13.
The teleconference begins each week at 10 a.m. University of
Memphis interim head coach Johnny Jones will be available at 11:01 a.m. The teleconference concludes with media notes ex-change beginning at 11:29 a.m.
TIGERS ON RADIO
University of Memphis basketball games are broadcast locally
by WMC-AM 790. The 5,000-watt station returns after 11 years
away from U of M athletics as the Tigers' flagship station, sending
out a signal in a 100-mile radius of the city of Memphis.
Dave Woloshin begins his third season handling play-by play
for Tiger basketball. Woloshin, who hosts Sportscall 790 on week-day
afternoons, spent eight years as the television play-by-play
announcer for the Tigers on WLMT-TV
Working alongside Woloshin for his sixth season will be former Tiger star Hank McDowell. McDowell played for the Tigers from 1977-81 and was twice named team MVP. He played five seasons in the NBA and played in Europe for three years. Four-year Tiger football letterman Marcus Holliday begins his first year as producer for the broadcasts.
JOHNNY JONES RADIO SHOW
The Johnny Jones Radio Show returns to WREC-AM 600 on
Dec. 29th and after airing Jan. 4th, will be broadcast live from T.J.
Mulligan's on Quince at Kirby in Southeast Memphis each Monday
beginning Jan. 10th. Jones will recap previous games, preview
upcoming contests and answer questions from the live audience as
well as by telephone. Matt Dillon begins his first season as host.
THE JOHNNY JONES TELEVISION SHOW
The Johnny Jones Television Show airs Sunday nights at 9:30
p.m. on WMLT-TV 30 in Memphis. ABC 24/UPN 30 sports director
Greg Gaston is the show's host.
TIGERS ON THE TUBE
Memphis will have three games broadcast live nationally on
ESPN2 as well as four other games broadcast regionally by ESPN
Regional.
Memphis' first appearance on ESPN2 was the Tigers' season
opener against Georgetown at the Maui Invitational. The Tigers also
play host to Louisville (Feb. 5) and UNC Charlotte (Feb. 20) in
games which will be broadcast by ESPN2.
In addition to broadcasting the ESPN Regional games in the Memphis market, WLMT-TV will also broadcast every Tiger road game live. Greg Gaston begins his fourth season calling play-by-play for the Tigers. John Albright, who played for the Tigers from 1980-84, begins his 15th year handling the color for Tiger basketball. Albright has also worked for ESPN.
WKNO-TV begins its 30th anniversary season broadcasting Memphis basketball. This season WKNO-TV, Memphis' public broadcasting station, will air home games not televised live on a taped-delay basis beginning at 10 p.m. Matt Dillon begins his 27th season calling Tiger basketball for WKNO. He will be joined by analyst Jon Albright.
A LITTLE ABOUT JOHNNY JONES
The University of Memphis named Johnny Jones the Tigers' interim head coach
on Nov. 14. Jones, one of the most visible collegiate recruiters in the nation, is entering
his third season with the U of M program. Jones had served as the associate head
coach at Memphis for the last two years and headed up the Tigers' national recruiting
program.
Jones came to Memphis by way of Louisiana State where he worked under Dale Brown for 12 years. Prior to his coaching days, Jones, 38, was a player for the LSU Tigers in the early '80s and was a member of the 1980-81 team that won the SEC, advanced to the Final Four and won a school-record 31 games. Jones is the only person in the history of LSU basketball to both coach and play in a Final Four. Jones and his wife Kelli have a son, John Vincent, who was born last June and are expecting a second child the first of the year.
GRAMBLING STATE-MEMPHIS SERIES NOTES
In its only other meeting with Grambling, Memphis posted an 84-63 win over the
Louisiana school on Dec. 4, 1988.
Tonight's game marks the Tigers' third game against a Southwestern Athletic
Conference opponent this season. Memphis is 19-1 overall against SWAC schools.
DECEMBER 23rd
Memphis has headed into its Christmas break with victories in 10 of its last 11
games played on December 23rd. The Tigers have won their last three games played
on the date. The squad's last Dec. 23 loss was an 82-79 loss to Louisiana at Lafayette
(formerly Southwestern Louisiana) in 1993 which was the beginning of an eight-game
Tiger losing streak.
Memphis has played just one game on Christmas eve, defeating Millington 21-6
during its first collegiate season in 1920-21.
TWIN SPIRES
Memphis' center tandem of sophomore Kelly Wise and freshman Earl Barron
accounted for 33 points, 15 rebounds and three blocked shots in the Tigers' 76-61 win
over Louisiana at Monroe.
Wise registered his second double-double of the season, scoring 18 points and
pulling down 10 rebounds. Barron had 15 points, including 13 in the second half to go
along with five rebounds.
For the year, Wise is averaging 11.1 points and 8.4 rebounds while Barron raised
his scoring average to 6.8 points to go along with 4.3 boards per game.
DESPITE WIN, SHOOTING CONTINUES TO BE SORE SPOT
While the Tigers ended a four-game losing skid with its 76-61 win over ULMonroe,
the club continued to struggle shooting, especially after the break.
During its four-game losing streak, Memphis' shooting percentage from the first
half to the second dipped from 44.2 percent to 37.8 percent.
Against ULMonroe, Memphis shot 43.8 percent from the floor in the first half but
had another sub-40 percent second half, making 38 percent of its second-period field
goal attempts.
TONIGHT?S OFFICIALS
Referee-Don Rutledge. Umpire 1-Hal Lusk. Umpire 2-Harrell Allen.
TOEING THE LINE
Memphis junior guard Marcus Moody has connected on his last 17 free throw
attempts, dating back to his final attempt from the line at Arkansas State. Moody was
12-for-12 against Tennessee and knocked down all four of his attempts against
Louisiana at Monroe.
For the season, Moody is shooting 76.7 percent from the free throw line. By the way, the record for most consecutive free throws made at the University of Memphis is 40 set by Mike Butler during the 1965-66 season.
EARLY GIFT
Memphis sophomore walk-on Michael Conway received an early gift when he
scored his first career bucket off an offensive rebound in the final minute of the win
over Louisiana at Monroe.
Conway practiced with the Tigers last year and dressed out for the first time when
the U of M played host to Jackson State on Dec. 1.
SHINE FROM BEHIND THE ARC ... AND BEYOND
Memphis senior guard Keiron Shine has been less of a ball distributor and more
of a scoring threat this season in comparison to his junior year.
Heading into the week, Shine was tied for third in Conference USA statistics for
three-pointers made, averaging 2.5 per game. UNC Charlotte's Jobey Thomas leads
the league, averaging 3.29 per game. Additionally, Shine ranks ninth in three-point
field goal percentage with a 43.1 percent shooting clip.
Several of his six, three-pointers against Miami came from NBA three-point range,
when he scored 39 points, the best single-game scoring outing this season in C-USA.
For the year, the Memphis native is averaging 13.5 points an outing . His 148 total points through 11 games is two points more than what he had during his junior year.
HOLIDAY SPIRIT
University of Memphis basketball fans were asked to bring an unwrapped new toy
to the Tigers' last three home games.
On Wednesday the Tigers were on hand to distribute the gifts at the Pine Hill
Community Center in Memphis.
HOME COOKIN?
Member institutions of Conference USA have posted an incredible 47-5 record
(90.4 percent) on their home courts this season. Memphis had its three-game, home-court
winning streak snapped by 12th-ranked Tennessee on Saturday. The league's
quintet of home-court losses includes Cincinnati's 79-64 win over Saint Louis in the
Kiel Center.
TRACKING BUTCHER?S RECORD RUN
Former Memphis basketball player Jack Butcher, who was on the Tigers' NIT
Final Four team in 1957, tied the Indiana high school basketball record for career
coaching victories on Tuesday when his Loogootee High School team won on the road
at Washington, 52-50.
The victory allowed Butcher to tie the record of 759 career victories held by former
Terre Haute coach Howard Sharp.
Loogootee is a Class 1A school in Indiana with 330 students. Butcher, 67, has won 18 sectionals, seven regionals and two semistates. His 1975 team were state runners-up when Indiana had a single class system. Loogootee plays next on Dec. 28 when it takes on Shakamak High School.
1999-2000 C-USA STANDINGSNATIONAL DIVISION Conference USA Overall Team Record Pct. Record Pct. Southern Miss 0-0 .000 8-1 .889 Tulane 0-0 .000 7-1 .875 South Florida 0-0 .000 5-2 .714 UAB 0-0 .000 6-3 .667 Houston 0-0 .000 6-5 .545 Memphis 0-0 .000 5-6 .455
AMERICAN DIVISION Conference USA Overall Team Record Pct. Record Pct. Cincinnati 1-0 1.000 8-1 .889 UNC Charlotte 0-0 .000 6-2 .750 DePaul 0-0 .000 7-3 .700 Louisville 0-0 .000 6-3 .667 Marquette 0-0 .000 5-3 .625 Saint Louis 0-1 .000 6-3 .667
C-USA Games This Week
Monday, December 20
Louisville 115, Tennessee State 76
Marquette 67, Hampton 52
Tuesday, December 21
UAB 91, Tennessee-Martin 84
Houston 72, Sacramento State 70
Memphis 76, Louisiana-Monroe 71
Puerto Rico Holiday Classic, San Juan, P.R.
UNC Charlotte 87, Illinois-Chicago 61
Pearl Harbor Classic, Laie, Hawaii
South Florida 98, The Citadel 72
Southern Miss 61, Troy State 46
Wednesday, December 22
Cincinnati at Oklahoma
Puerto Rico Holiday Classic, San Juan, P.R.
UNC Charlotte vs. Tulsa
Pearl Harbor Classic, Laie, Hawaii
South Florida vs. San Jose State
North Carolina State at Tulane
Thursday, December 23
North Carolina at Louisville
Marquette at Wisconsin
Grambling at Memphis
UNC Charlotte at Puerto Rico Shootout
South Florida at Pearl Harbor Classic
Saint Louis at Dayton
