Tigers Tussle with Temple Thursday Night at FedExForum

Thursday, February 24

Memphis, Tenn.

6 p.m.

University of Memphis

Temple

Tickets

Memphis Tigers v East Carolina Pirates Team

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Tigers Tussle with Temple Thursday Night at FedExForum

Feb 23, 2022 | Men's Basketball

Memphis Game Notes (PDF)Temple Game Notes (PDF)AAC Notes (PDF)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – For the first time in over two weeks, the Memphis Tigers are back at FedExForum Thursday night to host Temple. Game time is set for 6 p.m. on ESPN2.

Thursday'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 Ministries and Memphis Teachers Residency. The coaching staff will be wearing green lapel pins and wristbands in support of the fight for literacy in Memphis.

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.coachingforliteracy.org/memphis.

Memphis went 2-1 on a three-game road trip over nine days, winning at No. 6/7 Houston and Cincinnati before dropping a contest at SMU Sunday afternoon. The loss to the Mustangs ended Memphis' six-game winning streak, but the Tigers have still won nine of their last 13 games.

Memphis will play three of the final four games of the regular season at home, and the Tigers currently sit in a tie for third place in the American Athletic Conference with Tulane at 9-5. Temple is right behind at 8-5, and the Owls also bring a 15-9 overall record into Thursday's contest.

Memphis and Temple are meeting for the first time since Feb. 5, 2020, and the all-time series between the two schools dating back to 1952-53 is tied at 11. Thursday's game features the AAC's top two shotblockers in Memphis' Jalen Duren and Temple's Nick Jourdain. Duren leads the league in swats per game at 2.3, and Jourdain is right behind at 1.8.

The two head coaches in Thursday's game, Memphis' Penny Hardaway and Temple's Aaron McKie, are both former NBA players who are coaching at their alma maters. Hardaway and McKie also played against each other in both college and in the NBA. Not only that, but McKie and Memphis assistant coach Larry Brown have a long-standing connection. Brown coached McKie with the Philadelphia 76ers for six seasons from 1997-98 to 2002-03, which included the 2000-01 NBA Finals squad.

After Thursday's game, Memphis remains home to host Wichita State on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. The regular season concludes next week at South Florida (March 3) and at home against Houston (March 6). The AAC Tournament runs March 10-13 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.

GAME DETAILS
Memphis Tigers (15-9, 9-5 AAC) vs. Temple Owls (15-9, 8-5 AAC)
Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022 | 6 p.m. CT
FedExForum (18,400); Memphis, Tenn.
Television: ESPN2 (Mike Corey, pxp; Mark Adams, analysis)
Radio: 98.9 THE ROAR OF MEMPHIS (Dave Woloshin, pxp; Matt Dillon, analysis)

BY THE NUMBERS

750: Days since the Tigers last played Temple; two 2020-21 meetings were not played due to COVID-19, and the teams were only scheduled to play once this regular season.
6.5: The average margin of victory in the 22 all-time meetings between Memphis and Temple.
1st: Alex Lomax' assist-to-turnover ratio of 6.3:1 over the last four games (25 assists, 4 turnovers) is the best in the AAC.
1: Block needed by Jalen Duren to enter the Memphis freshman single-season top-10 list.
12.7: Lester Quinones' scoring average during his six-game double-figure streak, which includes a 3-point percentage of 41.0 (16-39) that ranks third in the AAC.

THE LAST TIME OUT

Down five points at the half, the Tigers tied the game at 41 at the start of the second half, but RV/RV SMU then went on a 10-minute scoring run that powered the Mustangs to a 73-57 win Sunday afternoon in Dallas.
The loss snapped Memphis' six-game winning streak.
The Tigers have won nine of their last 13 games.
SMU has won 15-straight games at Moody Coliseum, which is the 10th-longest active streak in the nation.
Lester Quinones led the Tigers with 13 points, and he hit three 3-pointers.
Landers Nolley II added 12 points, and Jalen Duren had 11.
DeAndre Williams led Memphis with seven rebounds and three steals, and Chandler Lawson grabbed six rebounds in 13 minutes off the bench.
The Tigers rattled off eight-straight points and opened up a 32-25 lead with 3:40 to play in the first half, but after that SMU scored the final 12 points of the half to lead 37-32 at the break.
The game was tied at 41 after a 5-0 Memphis scoring run, but SMU then scored 27 of the next 30 points to take a 68-44 advantage.
Memphis had 18 assists on its 25 field goals.
Kendric Davis, the AAC's leading scorer, led all players with 27 points.
Marcus Weathers added 20.

NOTING THE OPPONENT

Temple sports the second-youngest roster in the nation according to KenPom (0.47 years of experience), with just one senior, walk-on guard Colin Daly, on the team.
Among the scholarship players, only two - juniors Jake Forrester and Sage Tolbert III - are upperclassmen.
The roster includes seven freshmen.
Damian Dunn, along with freshmen Jeremiah Williams, Jahlil White and Jourdain, are all current starters with redshirt-sophomore Arashma Parks rounding out the starting five.
Dunn made the AAC's all-rookie team a season ago after averaging 13.5 points per game, which ranked 10th in the conference.
The Owls were picked to finish eighth in the preseason coaches poll.
Temple's 15 wins so far this season are its most since winning 23 games in 2018-19.

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.