Tigers Welcome North Alabama Wednesday to Open Homestand

Wednesday, November 30

Memphis, Tenn.

7 p.m.

University of Memphis

North Alabama

Tickets

Forward Deandre Williams (12) during the Memphis vs. Lane College Menâ??s Basketball game on 10302022.

Photo by: Matthew A. Smith

Tigers Welcome North Alabama Wednesday to Open Homestand

Nov 29, 2022 | Men's Basketball

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. – After spending the week of Thanksgiving at Disney, the Memphis Tigers return to FedExForum Wednesday night looking to extend their two-game win streak. The midweek matchup against North Alabama is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m., and the game can be seen on ESPN+.

Since last playing in Memphis on Nov. 20, the Tigers defeated Nebraska (73-61) and Stanford (56-48) in the ESPN Events Invitational, while also dropping a heartbreaker at the buzzer to Seton Hall (70-69) at ESPN's Wide World of Sports. Kendric Davis was named the American Athletics Conference Player of the Week on Monday after averaging 19.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game. It marked his sixth-career AAC weekly award, the first as a Tiger.

The meeting with the Lions marks the first of a three-game home stretch in seven days as Ole Miss (6-1) visits Saturday at 6:30 p.m. before Little Rock (2-5) comes to town next Tuesday, Dec. 6 for a 7 p.m. tip.

North Alabama (4-3) enters the contest having lost two in a row and three of its last four. The Lions have just one double-figure scorer in Daniel Ortiz (15.4 ppg), but appear to be balanced up and down the lineup as eight players are averaging at least 7.9 points per game. UNA is currently 31^st in the nation in field goal percentage (49.8%) and 50^th in scoring offense (81.0 ppg).

GAME DETAILS
Memphis Tigers (4-2) vs. North Alabama (4-3)
Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022 | 7 p.m. CT
FedExForum (18,400); Memphis, Tenn.
Television: ESPN+ (Greg Gaston, pxp; Jon Albright, analysis)
Radio: 98.9 THE ROAR OF MEMPHIS (Dave Woloshin, pxp; Matt Dillon, analysis)

BY THE NUMBERS

7: Straight wins for Memphis at FedExForum, dating back to a 70-62 loss to SMU on Jan. 20, 2022. The Tigers have won 10 of their last 11 and 27 of the last 30 games played inside the Forum.
3: Assists shy from Alex Lomax cracking the program's top-10 list for a career. His 433 career dimes are just short of Jeremiah Martin's 436. Lomax jumped into 10^th all-time in steals (178) on Friday against Nebraska and he is 13 games shy of 10^th all-time for career games played (119).
14-0: Memphis' record in the past five seasons under Penny Hardaway when holding opponents to 30.0 percent shooting or less; the Tigers limited Stanford to 29.3 percent shooting in Sunday's victory. The program only had nine such games (9-0) in the previous 10 years combined dating back to 2008-09.
94-10: Memphis' record since 2010-11 when holding opponents to 36.0 percent shooting or less; the Tigers have held Stanford (29.3) and VCU (29.1) under that threshold this season.
7th: Toughest schedule played this season in terms of average defensive efficiency of Memphis' opponents played with a 94.5 rating, according to KenPom. Overall, the nonconference strength of schedule ranks as the 17^th-hardest in all of Division I.
17: Memphis' national rank in adjusted defensive efficiency (90.8 points allowed per 100 possessions against the average Division I offense); Tigers are one of only three teams not from a power conference in the top 24.
55.8: Points per game allowed by the Tigers in the team's four wins. In their two losses, that number jumps to 80.0 points per game. Memphis is also shooting 45.3 percent from the floor in the wins and 42.1 percent in the defeats.
25-3: Record at home against nonconference opponents in the past five seasons under Hardaway.

THE LAST TIME OUT

The Tigers used a stifling defense to defeat Stanford Sunday morning, 56-48, in the final game of the ESPN Events Invitational in Orlando, Florida.
Fifth-year guard Kendric Davis led a trio of Tigers in scoring with 14 points with five rebounds and three steals.
DeAndre Williams filled the stat sheet with 12 points, seven boards, six assists and two blocks, while Alex Lomax contributed 12 points, four rebounds, three dimes and three steals.
Both sides were sluggish out of the gate on the offensive end as each started 4-of-16 from the field in the first 10 minutes of the action.
With Memphis trailing 14-11 and just under seven minutes to play in the opening half, Keonte Kennedy rocked the rim with a highlight one-handed slam that woke the crowd up, and would end up being the energizing play the Tigers needed.
Memphis got 12 points from Lomax and Kennedy over a five-minute stretch that saw the Tigers string together a 15-0 run and grab a 24-14 lead just before the half. From that point on, the Cardinal would never get any closer than four points the rest of the way.
The Tigers shot 44-percent in the second half and drained four of their six threes to send the Memphis faithful back to the Bluff City happy.
Memphis finished the game 21-of-54 from the floor (38.9%) and 6-of-18 from deep (33.3%).
Chandler Lawson showed out on the glass with a team-high eight rebounds, including four on the offensive end. He also matched his season high with eight points in 28 minutes.
Lomax's performance marked just the second time in his career that he recorded 10+ points in back-to-back games. The first came in December of 2019, his sophomore season.
Memphis outscored Stanford, the fifth-tallest team in the country, 28-12, in the paint and 13-6 off turnovers.

NOTING THE OPPONENT

The Lions return just two starters from last season's team that went 9-21 overall and 2-14 in the ASUN Conference.
Led by fifth-year head coach Tony Pujol, North Alabama brought in eight newcomers for 2022-23.
On a team with 55 made three-pointers this season, Ortiz ranks second in the ASUN and 14^th in the country with 14 made triples, averaging 3.29 per game.
Transfer KJ Johnson leads the team with a 2.50 assists-turnover ratio as he has 20 assists and only eight miscues to go along with 8.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. He also leads the team at the free throw line, converting 21-of-27 (.778).
Damian Forrest is the Lions' top glass cleaner with 6.3 rebounds per game. He ranks second on the team in scoring at 9.7 points per outing and is shooting 56.0 percent from the floor (28-50).

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.