Tigers Prepped for No. 6/7 Houston Saturday Afternoon on ABC

Saturday, February 12

Houston, Texas

2:30 p.m.

University of Memphis

Houston

Photo by: Zach Wall

Tigers Prepped for No. 6/7 Houston Saturday Afternoon on ABC

Feb 11, 2022 | Men's Basketball

Memphis Game Notes (PDF)Houston Game Notes (PDF)AAC Notes (PDF)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Memphis and No. 6/7 Houston are set for the first of two regular-season clashes Saturday afternoon in Houston. Tip-off is set for 2:30 p.m., and the game can be seen on ABC.

On the strength of an 80-69 win over Tulane Wednesday night, their fourth-straight victory, the Tigers moved into third place in the American Athletic Conference standings with a 7-4 league record. Houston leads the way at 9-1 in conference action, and SMU is right behind at 8-2.

With Houston's current NCAA NET ranking of 3, a win Saturday would be a Quad I victory for the Tigers. As of Feb. 10, Memphis is 3-2 this season in Quad I games, with wins over Virginia Tech (43), Alabama (22) and Wichita State (75) and losses to Iowa State (38) and Murray State (26). The Tigers were 0-4 in Quad I games last season and 2-5 in 2019-20.

A Memphis win Saturday would also snap Houston's 37-game home winning streak, which is the second-longest active streak in the nation behind Gonzaga's 64-in-a-row. The Cougars have not lost at the Fertitta Center since Dec. 15, 2019, a 61-55 defeat to Oklahoma State. Houston is 56-3 (.949) in the Fertitta Center during the facility's history.

Additionally, a Tiger win would hand Houston back-to-back losses for the first time since 2017. The Cougars have not had a losing streak in the regular season since dropping three-straight from Jan. 14-21, 2017 at UCF, against Memphis and against SMU.

Memphis has already defeated one top-10 team this season, No. 6/8 Alabama on Dec. 14 at FedExForum, 92-78. The last time the Tigers knocked off two top-10 teams in the same year came in 2013-14, when they defeated No. 5 Oklahoma State and No. 7 Louisville.

Following Saturday's game, the Tigers remain on the road at Cincinnati Tuesday night at 6 CT. Memphis' three-game road trip concludes next Sunday, Feb. 20, at SMU. The Tigers then return to FedExForum to host Temple on Thursday, Feb. 24 and Wichita State on Sunday, Feb. 27.

GAME DETAILS
Memphis Tigers (13-8, 7-4 AAC) at #6/7 Houston (20-3, 9-1 AAC)
Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022 | 2:30 p.m. CT
Fertitta Center (7,035); Houston, Texas
Television: ABC (Kevin Brown, pxp; Perry Clark, analysis)
Radio: 98.9 THE ROAR OF MEMPHIS (Dave Woloshin, pxp; Matt Dillon, analysis)

BY THE NUMBERS

2005: Memphis' last win at a top-10 opponent with six-straight losses since; the Tigers defeated No. 9 Louisville at Freedom Hall, 85-68, on Feb. 9, 2005.
9: of the last 10 Memphis-Houston games have been decided by single digits with an average margin of victory of 3.8 points.
9: AAC per-game statistical categories in which Memphis and Houston rank one-two (scoring offense, field goal percentage, rebounding offense, rebounding defense, rebounding margin, blocked shots, assists, steals, offensive rebounds).
29.9: Memphis' opponent field goal percentage over the last three games (59-197); the Tiger offense is shooting 47.8 percent in the last three contests (86-180).
8: Consecutive wins in the month of February for the Tigers, dating back to Feb. 29, 2020; Memphis is 17-7 in February under head coach Penny Hardaway.

THE LAST TIME OUT

Double-doubles by Jalen Duren and DeAndre Williams powered the Tigers to their fourth-straight win with an 80-69 victory over Tulane Wednesday night at FedExForum.
Duren had 15 points and 12 rebounds for his second-straight double-double, and Williams had 14 points and a Memphis career-high 13 rebounds.
Tyler Harris scored 14 points on the strength of four 3-pointers, all coming in the second half, and Lester Quinones added 11 points.
Alex Lomax had five assists and no turnovers in 21 minutes.
Twelve of Duren and Williams' 25 combined rebounds came on the offensive end.
The Tigers led by seven at the half, 37-30, and a 7-0 run followed by an 8-0 run at the start of the second half ballooned the Memphis advantage to 14 at 52-38.
The Tigers led by as many as 17, 57-40, but the Green Wave did not go away quietly.
With 6:02 to play Tulane was within five points, 65-60, and it remained a five-point Memphis lead at the 4:40 mark, 68-63.
But Harris quickly nailed a 3-pointer and Duren had a lay-in off a turnover to put the Tigers ahead by 10, and Tulane got no closer than seven points the rest of the way.
Memphis shot 44.3 percent from the field in the game (27-61) and hit 10 of its 27 3-point tries (.370).
The Tigers limited the Green Wave to 33.3 percent shooting (20-60) and won the battle of the boards, 49-26.
Memphis had 19 assists on 27 field goals and blocked 10 Green Wave shots.
Tulane was led by Jaylen Forbes' 24 points. The Green Wave connected on 12 3-pointers.

NOTING THE OPPONENT

Coming off a Final Four appearance in 2021, Houston was picked as American Athletic Conference favorite in 2021-22.
Memphis was six points behind the Cougars in the preseason coaches poll.
The Cougars return Marcus Sasser, who was an all-conference second team member in 2020-21, and Fabian White Jr., who started 31 games and averaged 9.3 points per game in 2019-20.
Sasser and Tramon Mark, who hit a buzzer-beater to defeat the Tigers in last year's regular-season finale in Houston, are out for the season due to injury.
Emerging on the scene after the injury bug bit are Josh Carlton and Jamal Shead.
Carlton is the AAC's leading shooter at 62.5 percent (115-184) and its fourth-leading rebounder (6.4).
Shead leads the league in assists at 5.4 per game.
With Monday's latest release, the Cougars are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 for the 40th consecutive week, extending their school record.
Houston has been ranked in every AP poll since Jan. 20, 2019.
Through games of Feb. 9, Houston is one of five schools to rank among KenPom's top-15 national leaders in both offensive and defensive efficiency.
The Cougars stand sixth nationally in offensive efficiency (117.9) and 14th in defensive (90.5).
Houston joins Gonzaga, Kentucky, Arizona and Baylor in the top-15 in both categories.
In terms of raw numbers, Houston is the nation's top field-goal percentage defense (.365) and is fifth in scoring defense (57.8).

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.