University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
Auburn
Memphis heads to Atlanta for neutral-site matchup with Auburn
Dec 11, 2020 | Men's Basketball
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Memphis basketball is set for its fourth neutral-site game of the season as the Tigers head to Atlanta to face Auburn at 4:30 p.m. CT Saturday.
The two programs are meeting for just the second time. Auburn won the first meeting 78-64 on Jan. 2, 1953, in Houston.
Note: on Friday evening, the time of the game was changed to 4:30 p.m. (CT) and the network changed to ESPNU.
Game Details
Memphis (4-2) vs. Auburn (2-2)
Tip-off: 4:30 p.m. CT
Location: State Farm Arena; Atlanta
Broadcast: ESPNU (Mike Morgan, play-by-play; Joe Kleine, color analyst)
Radio: NewsRadio 600 AM WREC (Jeff Brightwell, pxp; Matt Dillon, analysis)
Scouting Auburn
In its seventh season under head coach Bruce Pearl, Auburn is just two seasons removed from advancing to its first-ever Final Four in 2019 after also winning the Southeastern Conference Tournament that year. The Tigers finished 25-6 and second in the SEC last season before postseason play was canceled due to COVID-19.
Auburn is 2-2 this season with wins over St. Joseph's (Nov. 26) and South Alabama (Dec. 4), and losses to No. 1 Gonzaga (Nov. 27) and UCF (Nov. 30). Picked to finish seventh in the SEC, the Tigers are replacing their top six scorers from last season.
Freshman guard Justin Powell leads Auburn in points (14.5) and assists (3.8) per game. He is second on the team with six rebounds per contest.
"They play four guards and an undersized center, and they just play hard," said Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway. "They shoot a lot of 3s with guards that are really good and aggressive. They crash the glass really well, which is something we're working on this week."
Last time out
Memphis ended a three-game homestand Tuesday with a 94-57 win over Mississippi Valley State.
Multiple Tigers had impressive stat lines, led by double-doubles from sophomore guard Lester Quinones (14 points, 11 rebounds) and freshman center Moussa Cisse (14 points, 13 rebounds). It was the second time in a week the duo had a double-double in the same game after also doing so in an 83-54 win over Arkansas State on Dec. 2.
Sophomore forward D.J. Jeffries narrowly missed giving Memphis a third double-double with a game-high 21 points and nine rebounds. Junior guard Alex Lomax added a career-high 11 assists off the bench.
Block party
As of Thursday, Memphis is No. 2 nationally with 39 blocked shots and No. 11 at 6.5 blocks per game. Cisse leads the Tigers with 13, an average of 2.17 per game. Among the 11 players that have played at least 10 minutes this season, 10 have recorded a blocked shot.
Memphis has also established itself as one of the top rebounding and steals teams in the country. The Tigers rank No. 5 with 249 total rebounds and are tied for No. 7 with 55 total steals.
Looking ahead
After Saturday's game, Memphis opens conference play Wednesday at 6 p.m. on the road against Tulane on ESPN2 or ESPNU. That will be followed by home games against Tulsa (Dec. 21 at 7 p.m.) and USF (Dec. 29 at 8 p.m.). A limited number of single-game tickets are available for those home games at www.GoTigersGoTix.com.
