Tigers Journey to Orlando Looking for Fourth-Straight Win

Wednesday, January 12

Orlando, Fla.

6 p.m.

University of Memphis

UCF

Memphis Tigers v Cincinnati Bearcats Team

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Tigers Journey to Orlando Looking for Fourth-Straight Win

Jan 11, 2022 | Men's Basketball

Watch on ESPN+Memphis Game Notes (PDF)UCF Game Notes (PDF)AAC Notes (PDF)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Following three-straight wins, the Memphis Tigers look to continue their run without a loss in 2022 Wednesday night at UCF. Tip-off in Orlando, Fla., is set for 6 p.m. CT, and the game can be seen on ESPN+.

Memphis (9-5, 3-1 AAC) is coming off wins against Tulsa and Cincinnati last week, and the Tigers head to UCF winners of four of their last five games overall. The Tigers have seen contributions from many players on the roster during their recent run of form, as six different players have been the team's leading scorer over the last five games.

With UCF's current NCAA NET ranking of 62, Wednesday's game is a Quad 1 opportunity for the Tigers as it is a road game against a top-75 NET team. Memphis is 3-1 in Quad 1 games this season, and no other team in the American Athletic Conference currently has more than one Quad 1 win. The Tigers were 0-4 in Quad 1 games last season and 2-5 in 2019-20.

UCF (9-4, 1-2 AAC) returns the most minutes and points in the AAC from a season ago, including all five of its starters. The Knights bring back 97 percent of their scoring, 10th-most in the country, and 96 percent of their minutes, the ninth-most in nation. The Knights started the season 4-0 and 9-2 before back-to-back losses at SMU and against Temple. UCF has wins over Michigan and Miami to its credit this season, plus a narrow three-point defeat to Oklahoma.

Following Wednesday's game, the Tigers remain on the road at East Carolina Saturday at 3 p.m. CT on ESPN+.

Memphis' next home game is Thursday, Jan. 20 against SMU.

GAME DETAILS
Memphis Tigers (9-5, 3-1 AAC) at UCF Knight (9-4, 1-2 AAC)
Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022 | 6 p.m. CT
Addition Financial Arena (10,000); Orlando, Fla.
Television: ESPN+ (Austin Lyon, pxp; Rich Zvosec, analysis)
Radio: 98.9 THE ROAR OF MEMPHIS (Dave Woloshin, pxp; Matt Dillon, analysis)

BY THE NUMBERS

15.0: The Tigers' average margin of victory during its current five-game winning streak against UCF.
75.9: The Tigers' percent from the free throw line in the last five games (82-108), their best in a five-game span since shooting 77.4 percent from March 14-22, 2019.
1st: Memphis' AAC rank in field goal percentage (.475) after being third last year (.444) and fourth in 2019-20 (.440).
7th: Memphis' national rank in offensive rebound percentage (.389), measuring the amount of possible rebounds gathered by the offense; the Tigers ranked 30th last season and 112th in 2019-20.
7: Consecutive games with a new starting lineup for the Tigers; Memphis has used 10 different starting lineups overall with 11 different players making a start.

THE LAST TIME OUT

The 83rd edition of the Memphis-Cincinnati rivalry did not disappoint, with a second half that had 12 lead changes and six ties and an electric crowd at FedExForum helping the Tigers overcome a deficit with a minute to play and earn an 87-80 win over the Bearcats Sunday afternoon.
The Tigers have won nine-straight AAC home games and 14 of their last 15 games overall at FedExForum.
Tyler Harris led the Tigers with 20 points, and he made multiple winning plays down the stretch.
Lester Quinones added 18, and reigning AAC Freshman of the Week Josh Minott had his first-career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Seven of his boards came on the offensive glass.
Emoni Bates, in his first game since Dec. 14 against No. 6/8 Alabama, scored 12 points, had seven rebounds and dished out six assists.
Cincinnati took an 80-79 lead with 55 seconds to go, forcing the Tigers to call a timeout to regroup.
Harris came down and hit a jumper in the paint to give the Tigers an 81-80 advantage with 40 ticks left, and the Memphis defense then forced two Cincinnati misses.
Landers Nolley II grabbed the rebound and was fouled, and he hit both free throws to make the score 83-80 in favor of the Tigers with 19 seconds to go.
Harris made his presence known on the defensive end on the next possession with Cincinnati trying to tie the game, picking off a pass and drawing a foul with just three seconds remaining.
Harris hit both free throws, and he made two more free throws in the final two seconds to bring the game to its final score of 87-80.
The Tigers overcame Cincinnati (11-5, 1-2 AAC) hitting 16 3-pointers, nine over its per-game average entering the contest.
The Bearcats were led by Jeremiah Davenport's 21 points on 7-of-10 3-point shooting.
Memphis committed just 11 turnovers Sunday afternoon, matching its season low which came at Georgia on Dec. 1.
The Tigers ended the game shooting 47.7 percent from the field (31-65) and made nine 3-pointers of its own.
Memphis was 16-of-19 from the free throw line in the game (.842) and made 12-of-14 in the second half (.857).
Memphis had a 41-31 advantage on the glass.

NOTING THE OPPONENT

UCF is led by three players in double figures, with Darin Green Jr. leading the way at 14.5 points per game, Darius Perry scoring at an 11.5-point-per-game clip and Brandon Mahan contributing 10.5 points per outing.
Mahan was a preseason all-conference second team selection entering this season.
The Knights rank third in the AAC in field goal percentage at .453, with the Tigers leading the way at .475 and Houston right behind at .473.
UCF also sits fifth in the league in scoring defense, allowing an average of 65.0 points per game.
Last season, the Knights' campaign ended with an 11-12 record after a 70-62 loss to the Tigers in the quarterfinals of the AAC Tournament.
UCF was picked to finish fifth this year in the preseason coaches poll, behind Houston, Memphis, SMU and Wichita State.

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.