University of Memphis Athletics
Tigers Basketball Notes Vs. Cincinnati
Jan 14, 2015 | Men's Basketball
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Cincinnati (11-4, 2-1) vs Memphis (9-6, 2-2) |
| | Thursday, January 15 - 6 p.m. CT | Memphis, Tenn./FedExForum - BUY TICKETS |
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Cincinnati Bearcats (11-4, 2-1 The American)
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Memphis Tigers (9-6, 2-2 The American)
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Tigers On TV/Radio/Web
Television: ESPN (Mike Patrick, play-by-play; Len Elmore, analyst); WKNO Replay (Greg Gaston, play-by-play; Jon Albright, analyst)
Radio: WREC 600 AM; WKBQ 93.5FM (Dave Woloshin, play-by-play; Matt Dillon, color analyst; Forrest Goodman, studio host)
Web: WatchESPN/ESPN3.com
SETTING THE SCENE
• Memphis (9-6, 2-2 The American) returns home to the Bluff City Thursday, Jan. 15 to host longtime rival Cincinnati (11-4, 2-1 The American).
• The game, to air on ESPN, is slated for a 6 p.m. (CT) tip from FedExForum.
• The Tigers were not ranked in the Jan. 12 polls and also did not appear in the Also Receiving Votes category of either poll. Cincinnati was not ranked in either poll.
• Memphis has won seven of its last 10 entering Thursday's match-up with Cincinnati.
• In that stretch, the Tigers' seven wins came over Bradley 73-45 Dec. 6, N.C. Central 81-47 Dec. 15, USC Upstate 83-73 Dec. 17, Oral Roberts 78-63 Dec. 20, Western Illinois 78-51 Dec. 23 and Houston 73-54 Dec. 31 and 62-44 Jan. 11.
• The three losses in that 10-game span were to Oklahoma State 73-55 Dec. 13, Tulane 74-66 Jan. 3 and SMU 73-59 Jan. 8.
• Memphis returns two starters and only five letterwinners from last year's squad.
• Cincinnati is 11-4 and has won four of its last five entering Thursday's contest.
• The Bearcats had won four straight before falling at Connecticut 62-56 Jan. 10.
• Cincinnati's four-straight wins were over Wagner, N.C. State, SMU and East Carolina.
• The Bearcats return two starters and six letterwinners from last year's American Athletic Conference regular-season title squad.
WHAT THE BEARCATS DID A YEAR AGO
• Cincinnati posted a 27-7 overall record and a 15-3 American Athletic Conference mark in 2013-14.
• The Bearcats tied for the 2013-14 American Athletic Conference regular-season championship.
• Cincinnati won its American Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinal game, before falling to Connecticut in the semifinal round.
• The Bearcats received an NCAA Tournament at-large berth and were the East Region's No. 5 seed. Cincinnati fell to No. 12 seed Harvard 61-57 in the second round.
SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
• Cincinnati enters Thursday's American Athletic Conference encounter with an 11-4 overall record and a 2-1 league mark.
• The Bearcats had won four straight before dropping a narrow 62-56 decision at Connecticut in their last outing Jan. 10.
• Prior to the Jan. 10 setback, Cincinnati's four victories came over Wagner, N.C. State, SMU and East Carolina.
• Junior Octavius Ellis (9.7 ppg) and sophomore Troy Caupain (9.5 ppg) pace the Bearcats offense.
• Cincinnati is the only team in the American Athletic Conference without a double-figure scorer.
• Gary Clark (7.5 rpg) and Ellis (7.2 rpg) lead the Bearcats on the glass. Clark (No. 2) and Ellis (No. 4) both rank in the top-five in rebounding in The American.
• Caupain leads Cincinnati in both assists (53; 3.5 apg) and steals (18; 1.2 spg).
• Caupain is the squad's top three-point threat, hitting 35.3 percent from the arc.
• The Bearcats are shooting 43.6 percent from the field, 29.5 percent from the three-point line and 67.8 percent from the free throw line.
• Cincinnati is out-rebounding its opponents by an average margin of +6.3 boards per game (36.3-30.0).
• Head coach Mick Cronin is in his ninth season at Cincinnati and has a 173-111 record at the school.
• Cronin will miss his seventh-straight game Thursday due to a health issue. He will be out the remainder of the season, but is serving in an advisory role with his program.
MEMPHIS REPRESENTIN'
• The city of Memphis and its surrounding communities will be well represented in Thursday's contest between the Tigers and Bearcats.
• The squads combine to have five players from Memphis area on the two rosters.
• Cincinnati has one player, Octavius Ellis, who calls the Bluff City area home.
• Ellis played his prep basketball at Whitehaven High School.
• On the Tigers' side, four players hail from the Memphis area. Markel Crawford, Nick King and Jake McDowell all are from Memphis.
• Sophomore Austin Nichols is from Collierville, a suburb of Memphis.
TIGERS-BEARCATS CONNECTION
• Cincinnati junior forward Octavius Ellis is not only from Memphis; he also has a connection to the Tigers program.
• Ellis is the son of former Tigers player Jerrell Horne, who suited up for the Blue & Gray from 1992-94.
• In his career at Memphis, Horne helped lead the Tigers to a 33-28 two-year mark and a 1993 NCAA Tournament berth.
• Horne's 1992-93 team placed second in the Great Midwest Conference regular-season standings.
• Horne went 2-4 in games versus Cincinnati in his two seasons, including a 2-1 mark against the Bearcats in games played in Memphis.
• Horne played in 52 career games and averaged 4.1 points and 2.8 rebounds.
MEMPHIS PART OF ESPN'S HOMECOURT WEEK
• It's Homecourt Week on ESPN, and the Tigers are hosting two home games this week at FedExForum.
• Memphis welcomes American Athletic Conference foes Cincinnati Thursday and UCF Saturday.
• In the modern era of college basketball (since World War II), Memphis has been rather successful in its home arenas.
• Since 1951, the Tigers have an 825-170 homecourt record for an incredible 82.9 winning percentage.
• Memphis has played in four arenas -- Memorial Fieldhouse (now Elma Roane Fieldhouse), Mid-South Coliseum, The Pyramid and FedExForum -- since 1951.
• In addition to FedExForum, the other three arenas are still standing.
• The following breaks down the Tigers' homecourt record since 1951:
Home Arena/Capacity/Yrs Record Memorial Fieldhouse/500/1951-64 125-17 Mid-South Coliseum/11,200/1964-91 343-90 The Pyramid/21,142/1991-2004 173-42 FedExForum/18,400/2004-present 184-24 Total 825-170 Win Percentage 82.9
MEMPHIS IN ITS 11TH SEASON AT FEDEXFORUM
• The 2014-15 season is the 11th for the Tigers at FedExForum.
• Memphis opened play at its current homecourt in the 2004-05 campaign.
• The Tigers have a 184-24 record (.885 winning percentage) at FedExForum.
• Against conference foes at FedExForum (regular-season only), Memphis has a 73-9 record (.890 winning percentage).
BEST HOMECOURT ADVANTAGE
• Since 2004-05, Memphis has won 184 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 Jan. 13, 2015) 1. Memphis 184 2. Ohio State 181 3. Louisville 176 4. Syracuse 175 5. Kansas 168
OFFENSIVE ON THE GLASS
• As for rebounding in Thursday's game, it could get a little offensive.
• Memphis is second in the league in offensive rebounds per game (12.6), while Cincinnati is fourth (11.9).
• As for offensive rebound percentage, the Bearcats lead The American (38.3 percent), and the Tigers are third (37.7 percent).
DE-FENSE, DE-FENSE
• Things could get a little defensive in Thursday's Memphis-Cincinnati match-up.
• The Tigers and Bearcats both rank near the top of the American Athletic Conference in several defensive statistical categories and the following shows that (league rank in parenthesis):
Memphis (Rank) Stat Cincinnati (Rank) 60.9 (4th) Scoring Def. 54.7 (1st) 37.8 (1st) FG Pct. Def. 37.8 (2nd)
26.2 (1st) 3P FG Pct. Def. 31.1 (5th) +5.8 (3rd) Reb. Margin +6.3 (2nd) 7.1 (1st) Blocks 6.2 (2nd)
7.3 (1st) Steals 7.0 (3rd)
MEMPHIS, CINCINNATI AMONG NATIONAL DEFENSIVE LEADERS
• Not only are Memphis and Cincinnati ranked high among the American Athletic Conference defensive statistical categories, both also are ranked high nationally and the following shows that (league rank in parenthesis):
Memphis (Rank) Stat Cincinnati (Rank) 60.9 (56th) Scoring Def. 54.7 (6th) 37.8 (26th) FG Pct. Def. 37.8 (29th) 26.2 (4th) 3P FG Pct. Def. 31.1 (89th) +5.8 (41st) Reb. Margin +6.3 (33rd) 7.1 (4th) Blocks 6.2 (9th) 7.3 (84th) Steals 7.0 (115th)
CRASHING THE BOARDS
• The Tigers' focus in the off-season was on the defensive end, and one area of defense the team worked on was the glass -- especially ending opponents' possessions after one shot.
• Memphis has shown what it learned in the early portion of 2014-15.
• The Tigers are third in the American Athletic Conference in rebound margin at +5.8.
• Memphis is second in the league in rebounding with a 38.5 average.
• The Tigers are second in the conference in offensive rebounds (12.6) and fourth in the league in defensive rebounds (25.9).
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 10 contests from Dec. 6-Jan. 11, the Tigers averaged 15.8 assists per game. In its first five games, Memphis averaged only 10.0 assists per contest.
• The Tigers also have moved up nearly 190 spots in the NCAA rankings for assists per game the past eight contests.
• Entering the Dec. 6 Bradley game, Memphis ranked No. 298 in the nation in assists per game. Now, the Tigers are ranked No. 110 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 13.9 *110 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 15 games
IT'S A NICHOLS' BLOCK PARTY
• For sophomore Austin Nichols, the early portion of the 2014-15 campaign has become his own personal block party.
• After 15 games, the 6-foot-8 forward has 53 blocked shots, which surpasses his blocks total from a season ago (42).
• Nichols is ranked fifth in the nation in blocked shots at 3.53 swats per game.
• His career blocked shots total is 95.
• Nichols has recorded 13 multi-block performances in the Tigers' first 15 games.
• With his 13 multi-block games this season, the Collierville, Tenn., native now has 25 career multi-block contests.
• In the Tigers' Dec. 20 win over Oral Roberts, Nichols blocked a career-best eight shots.
TIGERS' BLOCK PARTY
• Memphis threw a block party in its Dec. 20 win over Oral Roberts -- as in a blocked shots party.
• The Tigers tied a school record with 15 blocked shots in the 78-63 victory over the Golden Eagles.
• In its history, Memphis blocked 15 shots on two previous occasions.
• The last time the Tigers blocked 15 shots was in a 97-70 win over Jackson State Nov. 30, 2005.
• The first time Memphis had 15 blocks in a game was in an 86-42 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff Nov. 30, 1998.
• For the season, the Tigers have 107 blocked shots for a 7.1 average.
• Memphis ranks fourth in the nation in blocked shots.
TIGERS' TREY STREAK CONTINUES
• For the 470th game, Memphis hit at least one three-pointer in a contest when the Tigers dropped in four treys against Houston Jan. 11.
• The last time Memphis failed to hit at least one three-pointer 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.
TRACKING TIGERS DOUBLE-DOUBLES
• Sophomore Austin Nichols recorded the Tigers' latest double-double with his 15-point, 11-rebound performance against Houston Dec. 31.
• It was Nichols' second double-double of the season and the third of his career.
• The following tracks Memphis' double-doubles this season:
Player/Opponent Dbl-Dbl Nichols/Houston 15-11 King/Western Illinois 12-10^ Burrell/USC Upstate 17^-12^ Nichols/Oklahoma State 11-13^ Goodwin/Bradley 15-12# ^ career high # tied career high
