Tigers, Shockers Open 2022 Saturday Morning on CBS

Saturday, January 1

Wichita, Kan.

11 a.m.

University of Memphis

Wichita State

Memphis vs. Murray State Men’s Basketball Earl Timberlake

Photo by: Matthew A. Smith

Dec 31, 2021 | Men's Basketball

Memphis Game Notes (PDF)Wichita State Game Notes (PDF)AAC Notes (PDF)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Memphis Tigers ring in the new year with an American Athletic Conference showdown at Wichita State Saturday morning. Game two of the AAC season will tip off at 11 a.m. and can be seen on CBS.

The Tigers are looking to rebound from an 85-84 loss at Tulane Wednesday night, when the short-handed Tigers battled from an eight-point deficit with 4:08 to play to one point on two occasions but could not finish the comeback. Jayden Hardaway and Earl Timberlake starred Wednesday night, with Hardaway scoring a career-high 14 points with four 3-pointers and Timberlake adding 14 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two blocked shots.

The Shockers are the reigning AAC regular season champions and earned an at-large bid to the 2021 NCAA Tournament. Wichita State is led by last season's AAC Co-Player of the Year and this year's Preseason Player of the Year Tyson Etienne, who leads the squad in scoring at 14.7 points per game.

With Wichita State's NCAA NET ranking of 62, Saturday's game is a Quad 1 opportunity for the Tigers as it is a road game against a top-75 team. The Tigers are 2-1 in Quad 1 games so far this season, with wins over Alabama and Virginia Tech and a loss to Iowa State. Memphis is the only team in the AAC with two Quad 1 wins, and only Cincinnati has another Quad 1 victory so far this campaign.

After Saturday's game, the Tigers return to FedExForum to host Tulsa Tuesday night at 8 p.m. and Cincinnati next Sunday, Jan. 9, at 2:30 p.m.

GAME DETAILS
RV/NR Memphis Tigers (6-5, 0-1 AAC) at Wichita State (9-3, 0-0 AAC)
Saturday, Jan. 1, 2022 | 11 a.m. CT
Charles Koch Arena (10,506); Wichita, Kan.
Television: CBS (John Sadak, pxp; Jim Spanarkel, analysis)
Radio: 98.9 THE ROAR OF MEMPHIS (Dave Woloshin, pxp; Matt Dillon, analysis)

BY THE NUMBERS

10: Combined margin of defeat in Memphis' last four losses with three by one possession.
1966: The last time Memphis played on New Year's Day, which was a 92-89 loss to Canisius as part of the Queen City Tournament in Buffalo, N.Y.
20-9: Memphis' record in calendar year 2021, which included the 2021 National Invitation Tournament championship.
14-3: The Tigers' record following also starting with a 6-5 record a season ago.
9.7: Points per game for Earl Timberlake over his last three games, all starts, to go along with 5.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game; Timberlake averaged 4.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game coming off the bench in the first seven games of the year.

THE LAST TIME OUT

Playing without its three leading scorers, the Tigers could not complete a comeback in an 85-84 loss to Tulane in the American Athletic Conference opener Wednesday night in New Orleans.
Memphis was without DeAndre Williams (11.2 ppg, 4.9 rpg), Emoni Bates (10.8 ppg) and Jalen Duren (10.8 ppg, 7.6 rpg) Wednesday night due to COVID-19 protocols and an injury.
The Tigers had not played since Dec. 14 after a COVID-19 pause.
The Tigers were led by Landers Nolley II's 19 points, and Jayden Hardaway added a career-high 14.
Earl Timberlake also had 14 to go along with eight rebounds, and Malcolm Dandridge had a season-high 11 points.
Josh Minott contributed eight points, five rebounds, three steals and a block in 16 minutes, and Lester Quinones snagged eight rebounds to go along with seven points.
The Tigers played only eight players on the night due to the short roster.
Tulane (4-6, 1-0 AAC) was led by Jalen Cook's 25 points.
Five of Tulane's six losses on the season have been by five points or fewer.
Trailing by eight, 81-73, with 4:08 to play, the Tigers held the Green Wave to only two field goals the rest of the way and forced four turnovers to help cut into the deficit.
But despite that, Memphis was hampered by going 1-for-7 from the floor and could not take the lead at the end.
The Tigers forced a Tulane shot clock violation with just over six seconds to play, but two potential go-ahead shots in the final seconds did not find the bottom of the net.
In the second half, Memphis shot 58.6 percent (17-29), made five of its seven 3-point tries (.714) and hit 13-of-15 free throws (.867) to help facilitate the comeback attempt.
The Tigers outrebounded Tulane, 40-20, and had 20 assists on 27 field goals.

NOTING THE OPPONENT

Wichita State returns four of its top-five scorers from last season's team that went 16-6 and 11-2 in American Athletic Conference play to win the regular season conference championship after being picked seventh in the preseason coaches poll.
By earning an at-large bid to the 2021 NCAA Tournament, the Shockers have played in eight of the last nine Big Dances.
The Shockers were picked to finish fourth in this season's preseason poll, behind Houston, Memphis and SMU.
AAC Preseason Player of the Year Tyson Etienne averages a team-high 14.7 points per game and just over 2.5 3-pointers outing.
He has topped 20 points on three occasions this season.
Morris Udeze (12.2 ppg, team-high 5.6 rpg) has seven-straight double-figure scoring games and is averaging 15.9 points on 63.5 percent shooting over that span.
Point guard Craig Porter Jr. (4.1 ppg, team-high 3.1 apg) has handed out 16 assists with just one turnover in his last three games but missed the Dec. 22 contest with a sprained ankle.
His 2.12 ratio ranks among the top-90 nationally.
Among Wichita State's nine wins this season are triumphs over fellow 2021 NCAA Tournament teams Missouri and Oklahoma State.
Shocker foes average just 61.8 points and are shooting 39.4 percent from the field and 28.8 percent from 3-point range.
On the historic side, Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway's first conference win as head coach came over Wichita State on Jan. 3, 2019 (85-74).

How to follow the Tigers: For complete information on Memphis Tiger Men's Basketball, visit www.GoTigersGo.com and follow the team's social media channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.