University of Memphis Athletics
Thursday, January 9
Wichita, Kan.
6 PM
University of Memphis
at
Wichita State
Alex Lomax is tied for the American Athletic Conference lead with 66 assists in 14 games.
Photo by: Matthew A. Smith
Tigers, Shockers prep for AAC showdown
Jan 08, 2020 | Men's Basketball
League's top two teams will stage 6 p.m. battle at Koch Arena
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The American Athletic Conference's two nationally ranked programs – No. 21 Memphis and No. 23 Wichita State – will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday night at Koch Arena in a nationally televised marquee matchup.
The Tigers (12-2) are coming off a 65-62 home loss to Georgia, but have spent the majority of the season in the Top 20, including the previous several weeks in the Top 10.
Wichita State (13-1) enters the contest on a seven-game winning streak, which matches the program's longest since joining the AAC. The Shockers are coming off a 20-point home win against Ole Miss.
Memphis coach Penny Hardaway's team is the last to beat Wichita State at home. To make it two straight will present a challenge. WSU has wins this season over Oklahoma and Oklahoma State and is marketing Thursday's game as a blackout game with all fans wearing black.
"It's a great atmosphere (inside Koch Arena)," Hardaway said. "They're the only team in the city and everybody loves that team. And they're 13-1 and playing the best basketball in the conference outside of us. It's a big game for them."
The Shockers are not only on a roll, but they are being led by Erik Stevenson, who scored a career-high 29 points against Ole Miss last weekend. Stevenson is averaging 14.1 points per game, 10th in the AAC. Jamarius Burton is the league's best 3-point shooter (50 percent), in addition to being among the conference's assists leaders.
Memphis has been getting All-American level contributions from freshman forward Precious Achiuwa. Achiuwa, honored this week by the AAC and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, has posted three consecutive double-doubles and seven overall. He has had 10 or more rebounds in nine of the team's past 10 games, including a season-high 15 last weekend against Georgia.
Hardaway is hopeful his team's games earlier this season at Tennessee and against Oregon in Portland will help prepare his team for another hostile environment.
"This goes back to the schedule that we played," Hardaway said. "We played some games where we couldn't take a possession off already this year. That will help us going into that environment. We went into a very rowdy environment in Knoxville. This will be the same environment, pretty much."
TIGERS NOTES
The Tigers (12-2) are coming off a 65-62 home loss to Georgia, but have spent the majority of the season in the Top 20, including the previous several weeks in the Top 10.
Wichita State (13-1) enters the contest on a seven-game winning streak, which matches the program's longest since joining the AAC. The Shockers are coming off a 20-point home win against Ole Miss.
Memphis coach Penny Hardaway's team is the last to beat Wichita State at home. To make it two straight will present a challenge. WSU has wins this season over Oklahoma and Oklahoma State and is marketing Thursday's game as a blackout game with all fans wearing black.
"It's a great atmosphere (inside Koch Arena)," Hardaway said. "They're the only team in the city and everybody loves that team. And they're 13-1 and playing the best basketball in the conference outside of us. It's a big game for them."
The Shockers are not only on a roll, but they are being led by Erik Stevenson, who scored a career-high 29 points against Ole Miss last weekend. Stevenson is averaging 14.1 points per game, 10th in the AAC. Jamarius Burton is the league's best 3-point shooter (50 percent), in addition to being among the conference's assists leaders.
Memphis has been getting All-American level contributions from freshman forward Precious Achiuwa. Achiuwa, honored this week by the AAC and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, has posted three consecutive double-doubles and seven overall. He has had 10 or more rebounds in nine of the team's past 10 games, including a season-high 15 last weekend against Georgia.
Hardaway is hopeful his team's games earlier this season at Tennessee and against Oregon in Portland will help prepare his team for another hostile environment.
"This goes back to the schedule that we played," Hardaway said. "We played some games where we couldn't take a possession off already this year. That will help us going into that environment. We went into a very rowdy environment in Knoxville. This will be the same environment, pretty much."
TIGERS NOTES
- It's been an award-filled week for Tigers forward Precious Achiuwa. The U.S. Basketball Writers Association named the 6-foot-9 forward from New York its Freshman of the Week for his performances against Tulane and Georgia. The AAC also named him Freshman of the Week after he averaged 17 points and 12.5 rebounds in the two games.
- The Tigers are hoping for the return of D.J. Jeffries, the team's second-leading scorer at 12 points per game. Jeffries missed last weekend's Georgia game with the flu.
- Memphis and Wichita State rank 1-2 in the AAC in scoring margin. The Tigers have a 17.0 margin and Wichita State 14.8.
- Wichita State and Memphis rank 1-2 in the AAC in scoring defense. Wichita State allows 62.1 points per game. Memphis allows 62.3.
Players Mentioned
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