University of Memphis Athletics
Tigers Basketball Notes Vs. Oral Roberts
Dec 19, 2014 | Men's Basketball
 |
Oral Roberts (4-5) vs Memphis (5-4) |
| | Saturday, December 20 - 2 p.m. CT | Memphis, Tenn./FedExForum - BUY TICKETS |
| | | | ||
|
Oral Roberts Golden Eagles (4-5, 0-0 Summit)
|
|
Memphis Tigers (5-4, 0-0 The American)
|
||
 |
Basketball Home | Roster | Schedule Stats | Media Guide | News | Archive Coaching Staff | Game NotesThe Summit League Notes |
|
Basketball Home | Roster | Schedule
Stats | Media Guide | News | Archive Photos | Coaching Staff | Game NotesAmerican Athletic Conference Notes |
 |
|
How to Follow |
Tigers On TV/Radio/Web
Television: CBS Sports Network (Carter Blackburn, play-by-play; Pete Gillen, analyst; Gary Parrish, sideline reporter) Radio: WREC 600 AM; WKBQ 93.5FM (Dave Woloshin, play-by-play; Matt Dillon, color analyst; Forrest Goodman, studio host) Web: None
SETTING THE SCENE
• Memphis (5-4) continues its nine-game homestand Saturday, Dec. 20 when it hosts Oral Roberts (4-5) at FedExForum.
• The game, to air on the CBS Sports Network, is slated for a 2 p.m. (CT) tip.
• The Tigers were not ranked in the Dec. 15 polls and also did not appear in the Also Receiving Votes category of either poll. Oral Roberts was not ranked in either poll.
• After suffering a Dec. 13 home loss to Oklahoma State, Memphis bounced back with consecutive wins over N.C. Central 81-47 Dec. 15 and USC Upstate 83-73 Dec. 17.
• The Tigers fell to Oklahoma State 73-55 in their first game after final exams.
• Before final exams week started, Memphis defeated Bradley 73-45 Dec. 6.
• The Tigers opened the 2014-15 season with a 71-56 loss to Wichita State Nov. 18 in Sioux Falls, S.D.
• Memphis returns two starters and only five letterwinners from last year's squad.
• Oral Roberts is 4-5 and won two of its last three outings with victories over New Mexico State and Missouri State.
• The Golden Eagles dropped their last outing, an 85-53 loss at No. 15 Oklahoma Dec. 16.
• Oral Roberts returns four starters and eight letterwinners from last year's squad.
WHAT THE GOLDEN EAGLES DID A YEAR AGO
• Oral Roberts posted a 17-16 overall record and a 10-6 Southland Conference (SLC) mark in 2013-14.
• The Golden Eagles tied for fifth place in the 2013-14 Southland Conference regular-season standings.
• Oral Roberts did not play in a 2014 postseason tournament.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES
• Oral Roberts enters Saturday's contest with a 4-5 record.
• The Golden Eagles won two of their last three games with victories over New Mexico State and Missouri State.
• Oral Roberts lost at No. 15 Oklahoma 85-53 in its last outing Dec. 16.
• Redshirt junior Obi Emegano leads three Golden Eagles averaging double digits at 15.0 ppg.
• Redshirt junior Korey Billbury (12.9 ppg) and sophomore Bobby Word (10.1 ppg) also average double figures for Oral Roberts.
• Billbury leads the Golden Eagles on the glass with a 6.4 rebounding average. Emegano is the squad's second-leading rebounder at 5.1 rpg.
• Billbury leads the team in both assists (26 total; 2.9 apg) and steals (14 total; 1.6 spg).
• Word is Oral Roberts' top three-point threat with 43 attempts and a 44.2 shooting percentage from the arc.
• The Golden Eagles are shooting 39.1 percent from the field, 32 percent from the three-point line and 70.3 percent from the free throw line.
• Opponents are out-rebounding Oral Roberts by a narrow average margin of +0.7 boards per game (34.2-34.9).
• Head coach Scott Sutton is in his 16th season at Oral Roberts (291-198 record).
MEMPHIS VS. THE SUMMIT LEAGUE
• The Tigers have an 8-2 record against The Summit League schools.
• Under head coach Josh Pastner, Memphis is a perfect 2-0 versus The Summit League.
• Memphis has played IUPUI (1-0), Oral Roberts (5-2), South Dakota (1-0) and South Dakota State (1-0).
• The last time Memphis played a Summit League program was in 2012-13. The Tigers defeated Oral Roberts 72-57 on Dec. 28, 2012.
• The Tigers have won their last seven meetings against Summit League foes, including six-straight victories over Oral Roberts.
• The last time Memphis dropped a decision to a current Summit League opponent was in 1974-75, a 97-85 loss to Oral Roberts on Mar. 16, 1975. That game was a National Invitation Tournament (NIT) match-up in New York, N.Y.
HEY, WE KNOW THAT NAME!
• Tigers basketball fans may be familiar with the last name of the opponent's head coach in Saturday's match-up.
• The Golden Eagles' head coach is Scott Sutton, and he is the son of former Creighton (1969-74), Arkansas (1974-85), Kentucky (1985-89) and Oklahoma State (1994-99) head coach Eddie Sutton.
• Memphis played Eddie Sutton-coached teams five times, with those Sutton squads holding a 3-2 edge in the series.
• During his career at Arkansas, Sutton played the Tigers four times, and the teams split those four encounters (2-2).
• The last time Memphis and an Eddie Sutton-coached team met was in the 2004 NCAA Tournament second round. The Tigers fell to Oklahoma State 70-53, and the Cowboys advanced to the NCAA Final Four.
DO YOU REMEMBER?/PART I - MEMPHIS VS. ORAL ROBERTS
• It's a good bet that many longtime Tigers fans remember one of the greatest comebacks in the program's history. And it came against Oral Roberts in the 1986-87 season
• Memphis won the game 59-58 on a John Wilfong three-pointer at the buzzer, but it's the way the Tigers won that was thrilling.
• Memphis trailed most of the game (36-23 Oral Roberts' lead at the half) and was down 48-41 with 10:55 left.
• The Tigers put together a 10-0 run over the next five minutes to take a 51-48 lead at the 5:33 mark.
• Oral Roberts, though, responded with a 10-0 run of its own to take the lead 58-51 with :19 on the clock.
• Wilfong hit two free throws with :14 left to slice the lead to 58-53, and Vincent Askew then hit a trey with :07 remaining to cut the lead to 58-56.
• After Brian Miles missed the front end of a 1-and-1, the Tigers called a timeout with :05 on the clock, setting up Wilfong's buzzer-beating three-pointer for the win.
DO YOU REMEMBER?/PART II - MEMPHIS VS. ORAL ROBERTS
• This "back-in-time" Memphis-Oral Roberts encounter is more recent -- as in the 2006 NCAA Tournament.
• The 30-3 Tigers entered the tournament as the West Region No. 1 seed, but were getting little respect.
• Memphis' first-round opponent was Oral Roberts, which had a 21-11 record but was regarded by college hoops pundits as the best No. 16 seed in NCAA Tournament history.
• Many hoops analysts picked the Golden Eagles to win the game and become the first No. 16 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament history.
• The Tigers, though, prevailed with a 90-74 victory over a hard-nosed Oral Roberts squad.
TIGERS TIDBITS FROM USC UPSTATE GAME DEC. 17
• Memphis posted its highest offensive output of the season with 83 points in the win over USC Upstate.
• The Tigers set season highs for three-pointers (11) and three-point percentage (52.4).
• Memphis had 19 assists on 29 field goals made.
• Junior Trahson Burrell recorded his first NCAA Division I double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
• Burrell's 17 points and 12 rebounds both were career bests.
• Pookie Powell posted season highs for points (18) and assists (8).
• Avery Woodson had season bests for points (16) and three-pointers made (4).
TIGERS LOVE THOSE LONG HOMESTANDS
• The Tigers continue their nine-game homestand Saturday when they host Oral Roberts at FedExForum.
• Memphis also hosts Western Illinois Dec. 23, Houston Dec. 31 and Tulane Jan. 3 in this nine-game homestand.
• In the first five games of the homestand, the Tigers are 3-2 with wins over Bradley Dec. 6, N.C. Central Dec. 15 and USC Upstate Dec. 17 and losses to Stephen F. Austin Dec. 2 and Oklahoma State Dec. 13.
• The nine-game homestand is the longest since 1979-80 when the Tigers also played nine-straight home games in December and early January (Dec. 1, 1979-Jan. 3, 1980). Memphis posted a 7-2 record in that homestand.
• The following are the longest Memphis homestands since 1974-75 and the Tigers' record during those homestands:
Longest Homestands Since 1974-75
Season No. of Games Record 2014-15 9 3-2 1979-80 9 7-2 1975-76 9 9-0 1974-75 8 7-1 2012-13 7 6-1 2008-09 7 6-1 1995-96 7 7-0 2005-06 6 5-1
BEST HOMECOURT ADVANTAGE
• Since 2004-05, Memphis has won 181 games at FedExForum, the most home wins in the country over that span of time.
• The following are the top-five programs with the most home wins since 2004-05 (credit to former Athletics Communications Assistant Bryan McEldowney for compiling this list):
Most Homecourt Wins Since 2004-05 (as of Dec. 18, 2014) 1. Memphis 181 2. Ohio State 177 3. Louisville 173 4. Syracuse 170 5. Notre Dame 164
LEARNING TO SHARE
• With the Tigers having nine first-year players in 2014-15, the team is slowly trying to learn what has become a signature of Josh Pastner squads -- sharing the ball.
• And Memphis has seen the results of lessons learned from sharing the ball in recent games.
• In the last four contests from Dec. 6-17, the Tigers averaged 16.0 assists per game. In its first five games, Memphis averaged only 10.0 assists per contest.
• The Tigers also have moved up over 100 spots in the NCAA rankings for assists per game the past four games.
• Entering the Dec. 6 Bradley game, Memphis ranked No. 298 in the nation in assists per game. Now, the Tigers are ranked No. 183 in assists per contest.
• In recent seasons, Memphis has been one of the top teams in assists per game, and the following shows that (along with this year's current rank):
Season Asst/Game NCAA Rank 2014-15 12.7 *183 2013-14 17.4 4 2012-13 16.8 5 2011-12 14.5 55 2010-11 14.6 54 2009-10 13.8 112 * through nine games
HIGH DISHIN' EQUALS MADE SHOTS
• One of the main reasons Memphis head coach Josh Pastner loves high assists numbers: it leads to easier shots and more field goals made.
• In each of his previous five seasons, Pastner's squads have assisted on over 50 percent of the team's field goals made, and the following shows that (also lists this season's numbers after nine games):
Season FGM Assts Pct. 2014-15 205 114 55.6* 2013-14 958 591 61.7 2012-13 976 605 62.0 2011-12 933 506 54.2 2010-11 891 512 57.5 2009-10 854 468 54.8 *moved above 50 percent vs. Bradley Dec. 6 (15 assists on 21 FGM)
TIGERS' TREY STREAK CONTINUES
• For the 463rd game, Memphis hit at least one three-pointer in a contest when the Tigers dropped in 11 treys against USC Upstate Dec. 17.
• The Tigers' 11 treys made versus USC Upstate were a season high.
• The last time Memphis failed to hit at least one three-pointers in a game was near the start of the 2001-02 campaign.
• The Tigers were 0-of-13 from the three-point arc in an 81-70 loss to Alabama on Nov. 21, 2001.
IT'S A BLOCK PARTY
• For sophomore Austin Nichols, the early portion of the 2014-15 campaign has become his own personal block party.
• After eight games, the 6-foot-8 forward has 29 blocked shots, which is over half his blocks total from a season ago (42).
• His career blocked shots total is 71.
• Nichols has recorded eight multi-block performances in the Tigers' first nine games.
• With his eight multi-block games this season, the Collierville, Tenn., native now has 20 career multi-block contests.
• The following tracks Nichols' multi-block games this season:
Nichols' Multi-Block Games 2014-15
Opponent No. of Blks USC Upstate 4 N.C. Central 3 Oklahoma State 3 Bradley 4 Stephen F. Austin 3 Indiana State 2 Prairie View A&M 3 Wichita State 6
TRACKING TIGERS DOUBLE-DOUBLES
• Junior college transfer Trahson Burrell recorded the Tigers' latest double-double with his 17-point, 12-rebound performance against USC Upstate Dec. 17.
• Burrell's 17 points and 12 boards both were career highs.
• The following tracks Memphis' double-doubles this season:
Player/Opponent Dbl-Dbl Burrell/USC Upstate 17^-12^ Nichols/Oklahoma State 11-13^ Goodwin/Bradley 15-12# ^ career high # tied career high
EARLY PRESENT FOR TIGER NATION
• When redshirt freshman Markel Crawford went down after attempting a layup versus Oklahoma State Dec. 13, Tiger Nation thought the worse since the Memphis, Tenn., native had an injury history.
• Crawford suffered the injury with under two minutes left in the first half, and he did not return for the remainder of the game.
• After the game, it was determined that Crawford suffered only a left knee sprain -- and not his right knee in which he suffered an ACL injury in high school -- and would be out of action until after Christmas.
• Well, the 6-foot-4 guard gave Tigers fans an early Christmas present when he played one minute in the 83-73 win over USC Upstate Dec. 17.
