Second-place Tigers, Mustangs clash Tuesday night at FedExForum

Tuesday, January 26

Memphis, Tenn.

6 p.m.

University of Memphis

SMU

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Second-place Tigers, Mustangs clash Tuesday night at FedExForum

Jan 25, 2021 | Men's Basketball

Memphis Game Notes (PDF)SMU Game Notes (PDF)AAC Notes (PDF)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – After a pair of 20-point wins last week, the Memphis Tigers look to keep the momentum going at FedExForum Tuesday night against SMU. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m., and the game can be seen on ESPNU.

Tuesday's game is a rescheduling of the game postponed on Jan. 14 due to COVID-19-related issues at SMU. The Tigers are in a stretch of five games in 11 days, which started Sunday at East Carolina and continues through next Wednesday against UCF.

Memphis continued its lock-down defense last week, and the offense began to show extra life. The Tigers defeated Wichita State by 20 and East Carolina by 27, marking Memphis' first instance of back-to-back conference wins by 20 or more points since beating Houston 82-59 on Jan. 23, 2014 and USF 80-58 three days later.

After holding East Carolina to 53 points, the Tigers have now limited five-straight conference opponents to fewer than 60 points for the first time since Jan. 9-23, 2008. Memphis 80-53 win over East Carolina was its largest in conference play since an 83-53 win at East Carolina on March 6, 2016.

For their efforts in the wins last week, Moussa Cisse was named the AAC Freshman of the Week, and Landers Nolley II was named to the conference's Weekly Honor Roll.

SMU comes into the contest with an 8-2 overall record and a 4-2 mark in AAC action. The Mustangs currently sit ranked No. 52 in the latest NCAA NET Rankings, giving the Tigers a chance to notch an impressive victory Tuesday night.

SMU boasts The American's top-scoring offense this season (79.1 ppg), and the Mustangs are also the No. 1-ranked shooting team overall (.470) and from 3-point range (.362). The Mustangs' Kendric Davis leads the conference in scoring at 19.3 points per game, and he is also the AAC's top assists man at 7.8 per outing.

Memphis is looking to stop a two-game skid in the series with SMU, as the Mustangs took both meetings a season ago by a combined nine points.

A limited number of tickets are available for home games with the same social distancing safety guidelines in place as earlier this season. Tickets may be purchased online at www.GoTigersGoTix.com or by calling (901) 678-2331. Fans with existing season tickets or ticket packages can use their current tickets for upcoming games. More information can be found at www.GoTigersGo.com.

Thursday's game is the Coaching for Literacy #Fight4Literacy game, presented by International Paper.

Game Details
Memphis (8-5, 4-2 AAC) vs. SMU (8-2, 4-2 AAC)
Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021 | 6 p.m. CT
FedExForum; Memphis, Tenn.
Television: ESPNU (John Schriffen, pxp; Brooke Weisbrod, analysis)
Radio: 102.7 FM/600 AM (Dave Woloshin, pxp; Matt Dillon, analysis)
Internet: WatchESPN.com

By The Numbers
- 1934: The Tigers last held six-straight conference foes to fewer than 60 points in 1934, which is possible Tuesday against SMU; the last time the Tigers held six-straight opponents in general to fewer than 60 points was in 2008 (7-straight, Jan. 3-23).
- 7th: Memphis' national rank in field-goal percentage defense (.377); the Tigers led the nation in the category a season ago (.361).
- 30.0: Memphis has held its last two opponents to less than 30.0 percent shooting from the floor for the first time since Tulane shot 28.6 percent in games against the Tigers on March 7 and March 12, 2009.
- 42: Assists on 57 field goals for the Tigers in their last two games, which is 73.7 percent of baskets.
- 22: 3-pointers made by the Tigers in their last two games; the Tigers hit 21 in the four games prior.

The Last Time Out
- A 49-point first half and seven players with at least eight points helped the Tigers to an 80-53 win at East Carolina Sunday afternoon in Greenville, N.C.
- Moussa Cisse led Memphis with a career-high 15 points, and he also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
- Boogie Ellis also had 11 points for the Tigers, and DeAndre Williams added 10.
- Damion Baugh, Malcolm Dandridge, D.J. Jeffries, and Lester Quinones all had eight-point games.
- The Tigers defense held East Carolina's Jayden Gardner scoreless in first half. He came into the game averaging 16.3 points per game and was the leading scoring in the conference a season ago at 19.7 points per outing.
- After a blistering second half in its last game, the Tigers came out on fire in the first half Sunday afternoon.
- With the score knotted at 10, Memphis went on an 8-0 burst and an 18-2 run overall to blow the game open at 28-12.
- During that stretch the Tigers hit six 3-pointers and had nine assists on their first 10 field goals of the game.
- The Tigers torched the nets in the first half to the tune of 52.9 percent shooting (18-34), and Memphis finished with eight 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes.
- Memphis limited East Carolina to just seven baskets in the first half, and the Pirates shot 20.6 percent in the half (7-34).
- Counting Sunday's first half along with the second half of Thursday's game against Wichita State, the Tigers hit 37 field goals over 40 minutes of basketball (37-67, .552).
- The Pirates (7-4, 1-4 AAC) outscored Memphis by four in the second half, 35-31, but the first half was more than enough for the Tigers to cruise to the 27-point win.
- Memphis finished the game shooting a season-high 50.0 percent from the floor (29-58).
- The Tigers had 20 assists on their 29 field goals to mark their second-straight game with at least 20 assists.
- The Tigers hit 11 3-pointers at East Carolina, matching their season high set last game against Wichita State.

Noting the Mustangs
- SMU was picked to finish third in The American's preseason coaches poll.
- That is one spot behind the Tigers and one position ahead of Cincinnati.
- SMU returns its top two scorers from a squad that went 19-11 last season.
- Kendric Davis led The American in assists last season with 6.6 assists per game while scoring 14.2 points per game, while Tyson Jolly led the Mustangs with 14.5 points per contest.
- Davis set the AAC record with 14 assists against Cincinnati earlier this season on Jan. 7.
- He now has three of the top-five assist games in The American's history, along with 13-assist showings in 2019-20 and earlier this season.
- Mustangs redshirt-junior guard William Douglas hails from Memphis and played prep basketball at Christian Brothers High School.
- As a senior at CBHS, Douglas helped the Brothers to a 24-5 record and a regional championship.
- He was a 2015-16 Tennessee Mr. Basketball finalist.
- Of six Tigers who have played multiple games against SMU in their careers, Lester Quinones has seen the most success.
- He had a 10-point and a 16-point game against the Mustangs last season.
- D.J. Jeffries scored 18 points against SMU in the season's first meeting on Jan. 25, but he missed the second after a season-ending knee injury.

Last Game Against SMU
- Despite holding SMU, the AAC's top-shooting offense, well under its season average, the Tigers dropped a 58-53 decision to the Mustangs in Dallas on Feb. 25, 2020.
- The Tigers also outrebounded the Mustangs (39-35) and shot 85.7 percent from the free throw line.
- Precious Achiuwa had 17 points, and Lester Quinones added 16 for Memphis (19-9, 8-7 AAC).
- The Tigers, like SMU, shot 34 percent in the game.
- Memphis was also hampered by committing 21 turnovers.
- The loss followed a 60-59 win over No. 22 Houston in the Tigers' last game.
- Memphis committed a season-low eight turnovers against Houston, but the Tigers had 10 at halftime against SMU and finished with 21.
- SMU scored 20 points off the Memphis turnovers.
- Tyson Jolly led SMU (19-8, 9-6 AAC) with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Coaching for Literacy
- Tonight's game is the Coaching for Literacy #Fight4Literacy game, presented by International Paper.
- The game is designed to promote childhood reading and the local literacy work of Knowledge Quest, STREETS, and Memphis Teachers Residency.
- The coaching staff is wearing #Green4Literacy lapel pins and wristbands in support of the fight for literacy in Memphis.
- 100% of funds raised through the #Fight4Literacy will give local kids crucial literacy training to combat the harrowing statistic that 67% of students in Tennessee aren't reading at their grade level.
- Fans and local businesses can join the #Fight4Literacy to rally around literacy in their community.
- For every $10 raised, Coaching for Literacy can provide two books to local kids.
- To learn more, visit www.pledgeit.org/memphisfflw21.
- As the presenting partner of the #Fight4Literacy, International Paper Company has guaranteed a $10,000 donation in the Memphis community and will match all donations up to $5,000.
- In communities across the country, International Paper and Coaching for Literacy will donate more than $300,000 to help children become better readers.

Looking Ahead
After Tuesday, the Tigers and Mustangs head to Dallas to face each other Thursday night at SMU. Thursday's game can be seen on ESPN2 at 6 p.m. The Tigers will then play four-straight games at FedExForum to start the month of February, beginning Feb. 1 and Feb. 3 against UCF.