University of Memphis Athletics
Memphis Basketball Notes
Jan 11, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 11, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
TIGERS TO PLAY FIRST C-USA ROAD GAME AT MARSHALL SATURDAY
The University of Memphis squad (14-0, 1-0 C-USA), ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press poll and No. 2 in ESPN/USA Today poll, takes to the road Saturday, Jan. 12 when it travels to Huntington, W.Va., to face Marshall (9-4, 1-0 C-USA). The game, to be televised by Comcast Sports Southeast (CSS; Memphis cable channel 6), is slated for a 7:00 p.m. (CT) start.
The Tigers' road trip to West Virginia comes after a five-game homestand. Memphis went 5-0 during the homestand with wins over No. 5/4 Georgetown Dec. 22, No. 17/18 Arizona Dec. 29, Siena Jan. 3, Pepperdine Jan. 5 and East Carolina Jan. 9. Prior to the five-game homestand, Memphis had played away from FedExForum for 24 days. During its time on the road, Memphis defeated Southern Cal in New York City Dec. 4, Middle Tennessee at the Sommet Center in Nashville, Tenn., Dec. 15 and the Bearcats in Cincinnati Dec. 19.
The Thundering Herd enter Saturday's encounter on a three-game win streak, and also have won four of their last five. Marshall defeated San Diego, Winthrop and Rice in its three-game win streak. The Thundering Herd also have a victory over Princeton and a narrow road setback at Louisville.
SCOUTING THE THUNDERING HERD
Marshall brings a 9-4 overall record and a 1-0 Conference USA mark into Saturday's game. The Thundering Herd are on a three-game win streak, and also have won four of their last five. Marshall defeated San Diego, Winthrop and Rice in its three-game win streak. The Thundering Herd also have a victory over Princeton and a narrow road setback at Louisville.
The trio of Markel Humphrey (14.8 ppg), Mark Dorris (13.3) and Tirrell Baines (13.2) paces the Marshall offense. Baines leads the squad on the glass with a 6.7 rebounding average, while Humphrey is second at 5.8 rpg. Darryl Merthie comes off the bench and leads the Thundering Herd with 39 assists. Dorris (39.3 percent) and Humphrey (38.2) are Marshall's top threats from the arc.
The Thundering Herd are shooting 43.6 percent from the floor, 31.9 percent from the three-point line, and 69.5 percent from the charity stripe. Marshall is out-rebounding its opponents by an average margin of +3.3 boards per game (34.6-31.3).
AND THEN THERE WERE FIVE
With their win over East Carolina Jan. 9, the Tigers remained one of the nation's few undefeated teams. Memphis is 14-0 heading into Saturday's game at Marshall. The other unbeaten teams are: North Carolina at 16-0, Vanderbilt at 16-0, Kansas at 15-0 and Washington State at 14-0.
TIGERS IN C-USA ROAD OPENERS
Memphis has a 7-5 record in its previous 12 Conference USA road openers. The Tigers won their last three league road openers at Houston 79-69 in 2006-07, at East Carolina 77-67 in 2005-06, at USF 73-67 in 2004-05. Prior to its three-game C-USA road opener win streak, Memphis dropped conference road openers in 2003-04 (at Southern Miss, 66-63) and 2002-03 (at Southern Miss, 84-67). Under head coach John Calipari, the Tigers are 5-2 in Conference USA road openers.
DID YOU KNOW?
When Memphis and Marshall played on Dec. 4, 2006, it was the earliest Conference USA opener in the league's 13-year history. The Tigers won the contest 78-59.
OLD FRIENDS MEET AS FOES
Saturday's contest will bring old friends back together on the same court. Memphis' Robert Dozier and Marshall's Markel Humphrey (Atlanta, Ga.) played AAU ball together before their collegiate careers.
A MEMPHIS-MARSHALL TIE
There are not many ties, but there is one connection between Memphis and Marshall. Tiger head coach John Calipari worked with Marshall Director of Athletics Bob Marcum in the early-to-mid 1990s at UMass.
Calipari served as the UMass head coach from 1988-96, while Marcum served as the school's athletics director from 1993-2002. Current Memphis assistant coach John Robic served on Calipari's staff during that time, and Tiger assistant Derek Kellogg and Director of Operations Tyrone Weeks were key players on the Minutemen teams in the 1990s.
JANUARY PROVES GOOD FOR TIGERS
While Memphis has had a lot of success in December in the John Calipari era, January has proven to be a better month for the Tigers. Since Calipari took over the Memphis hoops program in 2000-01, the Tigers have an impressive 48-10 record (.828 winning percentage) in the month of January. The Tigers have won their last 19 January games, with their last January setback coming to Texas on Jan. 2, 2006 (69-58 loss).
STREAKING IN C-USA
The Tigers have their current 14-game win streak, and most everyone in the nation knows about the 41-game homecourt win streak. However, Memphis has another two streaks going in Conference USA play.
The Tigers have won 18-straight regular season Conference USA games and 24-straight C-USA overall contests, including the league's postseason tournaments. The last time Memphis suffered a setback to a C-USA foe was Mar. 2, 2006, when the Tigers fell at UAB 80-74.
The 24-game win streak (includes C-USA Tournaments) is the longest in C-USA history. The 18-game regular-season win streak is second to Cincinnati's 21-game regular season win streak from 1998-99 through 2000-01.
TIGERS GETTING CLOSE
With its 14-0 start to 2007-08, Memphis is closing in on the best start by a Conference USA school in the league's history. Entering Saturday's game versus Marshall, the Tigers have the second-best start in C-USA history. The 1998-99 Cincinnati has the league's record for best start at 15-0.
DORSEY GOING FOR WINS RECORD
While many Tiger fans know Joey Dorsey's climb up the career rebounding chart, there is another career list the 6-foot-9 forward is moving up. With Memphis' win over Siena Jan. 3, Dorsey won his 100th game as a Tiger, and his record now stands at 102-24 (22-16 in 2004-05; 33-4 in 2005-06 and 2006-07; 14-0 in 2007-08).
The most wins by a four-year class is the 1986-87 seniors that won 111 games. Clyde Wade, who finished up his career in 2006-07, also won 111 games in his four years.
COULD GET DEFENSIVE SATURDAY
The Tiger defense has been coming into form the past few games, and from its statistics, it seems as if Marshall plays solid defense. Memphis and Marshall are ranked No. 2 and 3, respectively, in Conference USA in scoring defense. The Tigers allow 62.4 points, and the Thundering Herd 63.7 points.
Both squads also defend the arc well. Memphis is third in C-USA in three-point field goal percentage defense at 31.2 percent, while Marshall is fourth at 31.5 percent. The Tigers and Thundering Herd take care of business on the glass. Memphis is second in rebounding margin at +7.3, and Marshall is fourth at +3.3.
IF THERE IS AN ADVANTAGE...
It may swing a little in the Tigers' favor in the area of field goal percentage defense and blocked shots. Memphis leads Conference USA in field goal percentage defense at 38.2 percent and blocks at 7.14 per game. On the other hand, Marshall is last in both statistical categories at 44.9 percent and 2.54 blocks per contest.
CALIPARI'S TEAMS TOUGH AT THE TOP
When teams are ranked in the top five, they become huge targets for all opponents they play. That has been true for John Calipari-coached teams at both UMass and Memphis.
But, while some top-ranked teams fall easily, Calipari squads have done quite well, and in turn, have had staying power near the top of the polls. Calipari's UMass and Memphis teams have an impressive combined record of 79-7 when ranked in the top four of the national polls (.919 winning percentage).
At Memphis, Calipari's teams are 34-3 (.919 winning percentage) when ranked in the top four. During his time at UMass, the Minutemen went 45-4 (.918 winning percentage) when ranked in the top four.
"CAMP CAL" LEADS TO WINNING STREAKS
Since John Calipari arrived as head coach in Memphis in 2000-01, he has used the time over Christmas/semester break to mold his squads for the stretch run in the second half of campaigns. This time of year has been dubbed "Camp Cal," which includes several two-a-day sessions since school is in recess.
Well, 2007-08 "Camp Cal" started three weeks ago (Dec. 17), so the complete results have not been seen yet this season. The early returns are two wins over nationally-ranked teams in No. 5/4 Georgetown and No. 17/18 Arizona to go along with victories over Cincinnati, Siena, Pepperdine and East Carolina.
However, past years have proven positive outcomes. In his previous seven years, the Tigers have put together winning streaks during and following "Camp Cal" in six of those seasons.
FIRST TIME SINCE...
The Tigers are off to a 14-0 start this year, and it's been awhile since Memphis began a campaign with 14-straight wins. The last time the Tigers started off 14-0 was the 1985-86 season. That squad began the year with a 20-0 record, the best-ever start in Tiger basketball history. Memphis went 20-0 before losing at Virginia Tech on Feb. 1, 1986.
HE'S IN THE CLUB!
Well, it took a little longer than expected in the Dec. 29 Arizona game, but Chris Douglas-Roberts reached the 1,000-point milestone for his career. He entered the contest needing only five points to reach the goal, and with 2:07 in the first half, the 6-foot-7 guard scored his 1,000th point on an emphatic dunk off an assist from Derrick Rose.
He now has 1,057 career points and is the 43rd player in Tiger history to accomplish the feat. The Detroit, Mich., is in the No. 35 spot on the Tiger career scoring chart.
DOZIER ON ROLL SINCE INJURY
Robert Dozier missed the two late November games versus Arkansas State and Austin Peay with a foot injury, but since his return, the 6-foot-9 forward may be playing the best basketball of his career.
In the eight games back, Dozier is averaging 13.3 points and 7.0 rebounds while shooting 43.2 percent from the field and 73.5 percent from the foul line. The Lithonia, Ga., native is also averaging 29.5 minutes in those eight games.
KEMP THE CONSISTENT
While many Tiger fans point out the play of Chris Douglas-Roberts, Antonio Anderson or Derrick Rose, head coach John Calipari can't stop talking about how Willie Kemp is playing this year. And for good reason.
The 6-foot-2 guard has been the Tigers most consistent player all season, as he has 28 assists compared to only five turnovers in 223 minutes of action. For the record, that's a 5.6:1 assist-to-turnover ratio for the Bolivar, Tenn., native. To take it a little further, the sophomore guard is committing 0.02 turnovers per minute.
Kemp had 11 assists and one turnover in the Tigers' last three wins over Siena, Pepperdine and East Carolina. His one turnover versus Pepperdine Jan. 5 was Kemp's first since the Dec. 4 game versus Southern Cal in New York City.
THE D-MACK ATTACK IS BACK; TIES SCHOOL MARK FOR THREES
That's what his billboard says, and it's what Tiger Nation has been waiting on all season. And Doneal Mack finally gave the fans what they expected to see.
In the Tiger win over Pepperdine Jan. 5, the 6-foot-5 guard broke out of a season (to date)-long slump with an explosive 23-point performance. The 23 points were a career high to go along with career bests for field goals made (8) and attempted (15) and three-pointers made (7) and attempted (13).
The seven treys made also tied a school record for a single game. Mack shares the record with five other players, including teammate Antonio Anderson.
DRE DRAWING PRAISE
Head coach John Calipari is also pleased to welcome back Andre Allen. Not that Allen left the team or anything like that. It's just that the Allen of the past two seasons had been missing up until the last two contests.
In the two wins over Siena and Pepperdine, Dre was back to his "bulldog" ways -- tenacious on defense and bold on offense. The 5-foot-10 guard combined for nine assists and only two turnovers (4.5:1 assist-to-turnover ratio).
In the Tigers' win over East Carolina Jan. 9, the Memphis, Tenn., native came alive offensively, netting a season-best 13 points. Allen tied career bests for field goals made (4) and treys made (3).
MORE ON DORSEY
With his 12-board performance versus Middle Tennessee Dec. 15, Joey Dorsey moved into the No. 5 spot on the Memphis career rebounding chart. The Baltimore, Md., native now has 964 career boards after grabbing nine rebounds versus East Carolina Jan. 9.
For more notes on the Memphis-Marshall game, click on the pdf link at the top of the page.
