Tigers, SMU Tussle Saturday Afternoon in AAC Tournament Semifinals

Saturday, March 12

Fort Worth, Texas / Dickies Arena

4 p.m.

University of Memphis

SMU

Tickets

Photo by: (Ben Solomon/American Athletic Conference)

Tigers, SMU Tussle Saturday Afternoon in AAC Tournament Semifinals

Mar 12, 2022 | Men's Basketball

2022 AAC Tournament Bracket (PDF)Memphis Game Notes (PDF)SMU Game Notes (PDF)AAC Notes (PDF)

FORT WORTH, Texas – The third-seeded Memphis Tigers and the second-seeded SMU Mustangs meet for the third time this season Saturday afternoon in the semifinals of the 2022 American Athletic Conference Championship in Fort Worth, Texas. The game is scheduled to tip off at 4 p.m. on ESPN2.

After its 85-69 quarterfinal win over UCF Friday night, Memphis has won five-straight games and 11 of its last 12 overall. Also with Friday's win the Tigers have logged five-straight 20-win seasons, including all four seasons under head coach Penny Hardaway. Of 14 NCAA Division I head coaches who were first-time head coaches heading into the 2018-19 season, only Darian DeVries of Drake has more wins than Hardaway's 83.

Since Jan. 15 the red-hot Tigers are 11-2, with their only losses coming to SMU. The Mustangs are led by AAC Player of the Year Kendric Davis, who is the conference's leading scorer at 19.7 points per game. Memphis and SMU have never met in conference tournament action, and their all-time series dating back to 1953-54 is tied at 15 games apiece.

With a victory Saturday, the Tigers would advance to Sunday's AAC Tournament title game, which is slated to tip off at 2:15 p.m. on ESPN. The winner of the Memphis-SMU semifinal would face the winner of the other semifinal matchup between top-seeded Houston and fifth-seeded Tulane.

Following the AAC Tournament, NCAA Tournament bids are awarded Sunday evening during CBS' Selection Show, which starts at 5 p.m.

GAME DETAILS
No. 3 Memphis Tigers (20-9) vs. No. 2 SMU Mustangs (23-7)
2022 American Athletic Conference Championship Semifinals
Saturday, March 12, 2022 | 4 p.m. CT
Dickies Arena (14,000); Fort Worth, Texas
Television: ESPN2 (Kevin Brown, pxp; Jon Crispin, analysis; Myron Medcalf, reporter)
Radio: 98.9 THE ROAR OF MEMPHIS (Dave Woloshin, pxp; Matt Dillon, analysis)

BY THE NUMBERS

2013: Memphis' last conference tournament championship, which came in its last season in Conference USA; the Tigers received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament in 2014 in its last NCAA appearance.
2016: The last time Memphis reached the championship game of the AAC Tournament.
5: Straight games the Tigers have led by at least 15 points at one point; in three of those five Memphis has had a 20-plus point lead.
21:41: Time Memphis has trailed in its last 10 wins out of the possible 400:00 of game time; that includes six games it did not trail at all, four straight, and another game it was behind for a total of 20 seconds.
2: 20-point, 20-rebound games by Tigers in the last 12 seasons (Jalen Duren, 3/11/22; Precious Achiuwa at Tulane, 2/29/20).

THE LAST TIME OUT

Third-seeded Memphis took the sixth-seeded UCF Knights' best shot, but the Tigers pulled away for an 85-69 win Friday night in the quarterfinals of the 2022 American Athletic Conference Championship in Fort Worth, Texas.
AAC Freshman of the Year Jalen Duren turned in a 21-point, 20-rebound game for the Tigers, and Lester Quinones scored a career-high 22 points.
DeAndre Williams added 14 and six rebounds, and Josh Minott contributed 12 points and seven boards.
Duren's 20 rebounds set an AAC Tournament record, and his 20-20 game is the 14th in the nation this year.
The Tigers stormed out of the gate Friday night, leading 26-5 and 30-9 before taking a 41-31 lead into the halftime locker room.
But UCF scored eight of the first nine points in the second half to pull within three, and the Knights made it a two-point game at 44-42 after a 3-pointer by Dre Fuller Jr.
In what became the game-changing sequence of the night, Memphis then ripped off an 8-0 run in 49 seconds to regain a double-digit lead. Duren laid in an Alex Lomax dish, Williams had a steal that led to a Lomax triple and Lomax then stole the UCF inbounds play which contributed to a Quinones 3-pointer.
The Tigers ended the game shooting 49.2 percent from the field (30-61), and the Tigers were 19-for-23 from the free throw line (.826).
Memphis outrebounded UCF, 47-24, and the Tigers had 21 assists on their 30 baskets.
UCF (18-12) was led by Darius Perry's 23 points.

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.