Tigers return home to host Yale; honor their fallen teammate

Saturday, November 17

Memphis, Tenn.

7 PM

University of Memphis

Yale

Tickets

Tigers will play host to Yale Saturday in one of only two home games in November.

Photo by: Matthew Smith

Tigers return home to host Yale; honor their fallen teammate

Nov 16, 2018 | Men's Basketball

Memphis Notes (vs. Yale)Yale Notes (vs. Memphis)

UofM playing for first time since leukemia claimed life of Karim Sameh Azab.

By: Phil Stukenborg

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis men's basketball team will play its second home game of the season Saturday night at FedExForum with heavy hearts.

The Tigers (1-1) play host to Yale two days after junior center Karim Sameh Azab lost his eight-month battle with leukemia. Azab, from Giza, Egypt, died Thursday after being diagnosed with the disease in March.

"His personality was so good, he was just a positive person," Tigers coach Penny Hardaway said. "I have seen the impact on some of the guys because they knew that all he wanted to do was play basketball.

"The players have been affected by it, but in a positive way, because he was a fighter and he fought really hard. Even though it's a sad situation, (the players) are getting positive energy from it."

Hardaway said Azab "lost his life to an unbelievable disease. I've had a few friends lose their lives to leukemia and cancer." Hardaway said the Tigers will honor Azab by wearing a ribbon on their jersey.

Senior guard Jeremiah Martin called Azab's death "tough news." Martin had been teammates with Azab since he arrived for the 2016-17 season.

"We are so proud of how hard he was fighting," Martin said. "He really wanted to be part of this team and play basketball."

On the court, Memphis will be attempting to rebound from an 85-76 loss to LSU Tuesday night in Baton Rouge, La. The Tigers got 20 points from freshman guard Tyler Harris and 15 from senior guard Jeremiah Martin.

The Tigers opened the season with a win over Tennessee Tech, a game in which forward Kyvon Davenport scored a career-high 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Yale (1-0) will be playing for the first time since opening the season with a 76-59 win over California in a game played in Shanghai, China. Yale also played an exhibition game during its week-long visit.

The Bulldogs will be a formidable opponent. They return 95 percent of their offensive production from last season, including 6-7 junior guard Miye Oni. Oni was a first-team All-Ivy League pick as a sophomore, averaging 15.1 points and 6 rebounds per game. Senior forward Trey Phills earned second-team All-Ivy honors.

Yale also returns 6-foot-9 forward Jordan Bruner, who missed last season with an injury. He had 9 points and 8 rebounds against Cal.

The Bulldogs won 16 games last season and finished with a winning league record for the eighth straight season.

"Yale isn't the Yale of 30 years ago," Hardaway said. "They are athletic. We don't take them for granted. They are really good."

QUICK FACTS

Yale is playing the Tigers in Memphis for the first time since Dec. 31, 1966, when the Mid-South Coliseum was only two years old. The Tigers won, 57-43.
The Tigers have played all eight Ivy League schools with Brown being the most frequent opponent. Memphis is 3-0 vs. Brown and is 10-1 against Ivy League foes. Dartmouth owns the lone victory over the Tigers.
Yale traveled 7,300 miles to China to play an exhibition game against a Chinese University All-Star team and its regular-season opener against California.
This will be a rare home game for the Tigers in November. They opened the regular season Nov. 6 at FedExForum vs. Tennessee Tech and play Saturday against Yale. Four November games are on the road, including three next week in Orlando at the AdvoCare Invitational.