Tigers, Gonzaga Square Off Saturday in NCAA Tournament Second Round

Saturday, March 19

Portland, Ore. / Moda Center

8:40 p.m.

University of Memphis

Gonzaga

Tickets

Photo by: Matthew A. Smith

Tigers, Gonzaga Square Off Saturday in NCAA Tournament Second Round

Mar 18, 2022 | Men's Basketball

Memphis Game Notes (PDF)Gonzaga Game Notes (PDF)AAC Notes (PDF)

PORTLAND, Ore. – The Memphis Tigers are set for a showdown with the nation's number-one overall seed and top-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Saturday night. Tip-off at Moda Center in Portland, Ore., is scheduled for 8:40 p.m. CT on TBS.

The ninth-seeded Tigers, making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2014, earned a 64-53 win over eighth-seeded Boise State Thursday in the first round. Memphis has now won 13 of its last 15 games overall since falling to 9-8 after a loss on Jan. 20.

With the win over Boise State, head coach Penny Hardaway became the first Tiger head man since his former coach and mentor, Larry Finch, to win an NCAA Tournament game in their first appearance in the Big Dance. Hardaway also matched Finch for the third-most wins in his first four seasons as Memphis head coach with 85.

Gonzaga, playing in its 23rd-straight NCAA Tournament, earned the nation's top overall seed in the 2022 NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs lead the nation in scoring offense (88.0), scoring margin (+22.4) and field goal percentage (.527) this season, sit second in field goal percentage defense (.377) and rank in the top-five in five other statistical categories.

Gonzaga was the national runner-up last season, losing to Baylor in the title game, 86-70. Memphis went 2-1 this regular season against Houston, who also played in the 2021 Final Four.

With a victory Saturday against Gonzaga, Memphis would advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2009. The West Region semifinals and final will be next Thursday and next Saturday, March 24 and March 26, at Chase Center in San Francisco.

GAME DETAILS
No. 9 Memphis Tigers (22-10) vs. No. 1 Gonzaga Bulldogs (27-3)
2022 NCAA Tournament West Region Second Round
Saturday, March 19, 2022 | 8:40 p.m. CT
Moda Center (19,393); Portland, Ore.
Television: TBS (Andrew Catalon, pxp; Steve Lappas, analysis; Andy Katz, reporter)
Radio: 98.9 THE ROAR OF MEMPHIS (Dave Woloshin, pxp; Matt Dillon, analysis); Westwood One (Ryan Radtke, pxp; Dan Dickau, analysis)

BY THE NUMBERS

0-9: Memphis' all-time record against the nation's number-one team; the Tigers last faced the top-ranked team, Kansas, on Nov. 17, 2009 and lost 57-55 in the Hall of Fame Showcase in St. Louis, Mo.
13.7: Jalen Duren's points per game over his last 15 games, with 13 double-figure outings, along with 9.1 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game; the other two games were eight- and nine-point showings.
100: Saturday's game can be the 100th in Tyler Harris' Memphis career, joining fellow Memphian Alex Lomax in reaching the milestone this season.
23: Consecutive free throws converted by Tyler Harris, whose 85.6 percent career free throw shooting is tops all time by a Tiger.
1,854: Memphis' approximate mileage to fly to Portland, which is the seventh-longest of any NCAA Tournament team's first-weekend travel; Seton Hall leads the way traveling 2,425 miles to San Diego.

THE LAST TIME OUT

(AP) DeAndre Williams had 14 points, Jalen Duren made a crucial basket down the stretch and No. 9 seed Memphis held off a second-half rally by Boise State for a 64-53 victory Thursday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Duren finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Tigers, who were 9-8 after 17 games but went on a late-season charge to reach the tournament for the first time since 2014.
Abu Kigab had 20 points to lead the eighth-seeded Broncos (27-8), the Mountain West regular-season and tournament champs, who were making their first appearance in the tournament since 2015.
Boise State trailed by 19 at the half but, taking advantage of a cold snap by the Tigers, narrowed the gap to 42-35 with 9:45 left.
The Tigers had scored just four second-half points before Williams' dunk with 9:18 left got them going again.
Kigab hit a 3-pointer and a short jumper to get Boise State within 49-43 with 5:55 remaining, but Williams answered again with a 3-pointer for the Tigers.
And when the Broncos closed to 56-51 with 1:26 left on Naje Smith's layup, and the teams traded foul shots, Duren's layup pushed the margin to 60-53 and gave Memphis some breathing room.
Alex Lomax, hobbled in the first half by an ankle injury, added some clinching free throws for the Tigers.
Lomax hit a 3 a few minutes later that gave Memphis a 38-19 lead at the break, but he came down hard and appeared to injure his left ankle.
He was limping as he headed for the Tigers' bench but returned to start the second half.

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