Memphis Opens Regular Season Monday Hosting Jackson State

Monday, November 6

Memphis, Tenn.

7:00 PM

University of Memphis

Jackson State

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Team during the Memphis vs. LeMoyne-Owen Men’s Basketball game on 11022023.

Photo by: Matthew A. Smith

Memphis Opens Regular Season Monday Hosting Jackson State

Nov 05, 2023 | Men's Basketball

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The anticipated 103rd season of Memphis Tiger Basketball gets under way Monday at 7 p.m. when the Tigers host Jackson State inside FedExForum.

Memphis is the reigning American Athletic Conference champion after finishing last season 26-9 overall and 13-5 in league play. However, Penny Hardaway's Tigers are replacing 13 players, including two all-conference first team members, from that squad. The sixth-year head coach hit the transfer portal hard in the offseason and brought in a wealth of experience with 10 transfers.

Two of the top newcomers, according to most national pundits, are point guard Jahvon Quinerly from Alabama and center Jordan Brown from Louisiana.

Quinerly started 40 games the past three seasons for the Crimson Tide, averaging 11.7 points, 2.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. The Hackensack, New Jersey native was crucial in Alabama's three NCAA Tournament bids from 2021-2023, which included two Sweet Sixteen appearances. He averaged 12.9 points per game in seven NCAA Tournament games.

Quinerly was named a preseason first-team all-conference selection by the AAC's head coaches and landed on the Bob Cousy Award watch list last month as one of the nation's top-20 point guards entering the season.

Brown transferred to Memphis in July after spending the last two seasons at Louisiana. The 6-foot-11 big man played in 60 games for the Ragin' Cajuns, while starting 57. Last season, Brown averaged 19.3 points, 8.6 rebounds and grabbed a team-leading 10 double-doubles en route to being named first team all-conference and the Sun Belt Tournament MVP.

Brown also was named the Lou Henson Award winner, given annually to the top mid-major player in the country. Over his two seasons at Louisiana, the Roseville, California native averaged 17.5 points and 8.6 boards per game. Last month, he was one of 20 centers in the nation named to the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award watch list.

The Tiger veterans are joined by three true freshmen in Ashton Hardaway, Carl Cherenfant and JJ Taylor.

The Tigers were picked to finish second in the 2023-24 American Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, just behind 2023 Final Four participant and league newcomer, Florida Atlantic.

Memphis and Jackson State last met on the hardwood December 21, 2019, when the home Tigers got a 77-49 victory inside FedExForum. No. 11 Memphis got 20 points from Precious Achiuwa and 13 from D.J. Jeffries.

Memphis leads the all-time series with Jackson State, 17-1. The only loss came Dec. 27, 1993, by a score of 79-74. It was the first season for Memphis after Penny Hardaway went to the NBA.

In Monday's lid lifter, the Tigers will be going for their 21^st-straight win in home openers and their 6^th-straight win in season openers. The last loss in a home opener came November 22, 2002, when Austin Peay snuck out of town with an 81-80 victory in overtime.

GAME DETAILS
Memphis Tigers (0-0) vs. Jackson State Tigers (0-0)
Monday, Nov. 6, 2023 | 7 p.m. CT
FedExForum (18,400); Memphis, Tenn.
Television: ESPN+ (Greg Gaston, pxp; Jon Albright, color)
Radio: 98.9 The Roar of Memphis (Dave Woloshin, pxp; Matt Dillon, analysis)
Live Stats: www.Memphis.StatBroadcast.com

BY THE NUMBERS

9.7: Percentage of returning scoring (271 of 2,778) from last season's team, which includes none of Memphis' top-5 scorers. The Tigers also only return 4% of total assists (24 of 546), 8% of total rebounds (101 of 1256), and 11% of total minutes played (782 of 7,075).
10.6: Percent of Memphis' returning three-point production in 2023-24, just 23 of the Tigers 215 makes from a season ago.
10: The number of transfer additions to the roster this season, eight of which were brought in from Division I programs. The Tigers lost 13 total players from last year's AAC Championship squad.
3: Programs in the nation that have won at least 18 games in each of the last 22 seasons starting in 2000-01 (Memphis, Kansas, Gonzaga).
770: The combined number of games of Division I experience the Tigers have amongst 15 players. Seven of those have played 50-plus games in their career with four of them having at least 100 games under their belt.

THE LAST TIME OUT

The Tigers routed LeMoyne-Owen College, 104-63, Thursday in their final exhibition.
David Jones led the team in points (17), rebounds (8) and assists (5) while playing just 22 minutes.
Brown added 14 points and shot 5-of-7 from the floor, while Jaykwon Walton dropped 13 points and seven boards.
Nick Jourdain only played 17 minutes, but contributed 12 points, six rebounds and a pair of assists.
Malcolm Dandridge recorded 10 points and six boards in 18 minutes.
Memphis reached 100 points in back-to-back games, regardless of exhibition play or regular season, for the first time since November 2004 after steamrolling Lane College, 106-49, on Sunday, October 29.

SCOUTING JACKSON STATE

The visiting Tigers enter their second season under head coach Mo Williams after going 14-19 overall in 2022-23 and finishing third in the SWAC at 12-6.
JSU returns 11 letterwinners, including all five starters from a season ago.
Senior Ken Evans Jr. led the team in scoring last season, pouring in 11.3 points to go along with 4.6 rebounds per game.
Junior Coltie Young averaged 10.9 points and was the team's top three-point threat with 84 long-distance makes.
The Tigers will play their first 13 games of the season on the road, venturing to San Diego, Missouri, Georgetown, Houston and Gonzaga along the way. They won't play a home game until January 6 when Alcorn State visits the Williams Athletics and Assembly Center.
Head coach Mo Williams is a Jackson, Mississippi native and spent 13 seasons in the NBA after being drafted 47^th overall by the Utah Jazz in the famous 2003 NBA Draft.
Prior to joining Jackson State, Williams spent two seasons as the head man at Alabama State from 2020-22.

UP NEXT
The Tigers will hit the road later in the week when they travel to the Show-Me State on Friday to take on the Missouri Tigers in an 8 p.m. CT showdown on SEC Network. Memphis will then return home to host Alabama State on November 17.

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.