No. 23 Memphis Hosts No. 22 Virginia Tuesday in Blue Out on ESPN2

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Riding high off its third-straight win, the No. 23 Memphis men's basketball team will host No. 22 Virginia on Tuesday in a "Blue Out" at 6 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

It will serve as the first ranked-versus-ranked matchup inside FedExForum since March 8, 2014, when the No. 20 Tigers hosted No. 18 SMU.

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Memphis is 8-2 after its 79-77 win against No. 13 Clemson on Saturday. The win was the fifth of the season for the Tigers against a Power Five opponent. It also marks the best start to a season for Memphis since 2019-20.

No. 22 Virginia improved to 9-1 after its 56-54 home win against Northeastern on Saturday, despite trailing for more than 32 minutes and having to overcome a 13-point deficit in the second half.

The series has a short history with only one previous matchup between Memphis and Virginia. The two sides met in the second round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament in Raleigh, North Carolina where the Cavaliers won 78-60 to earn their first Sweet 16 berth since 1995.

Virginia enters Tuesday ranked second in the nation in scoring defense (53.3 ppg) and turnovers per game (8.0). Their 35.9-percent mark in field goal defense stand fourth-best in the country.

Memphis brings into the matchup an offense that is averaging 79.6 points per game with a plus-5.2 scoring margin. The Tigers are one of the best teams in the nation in taking the ball away, averaging 8.6 steals per game, while also finding a way to get to the free throw line more than 22 times.

Jahvon Quinerly was named to the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll on Monday after pouring in 17 points, six assists and three steals in Saturday's win. He leads the team with 4.9 assists per game this season and ranks second in scoring (13.7). He has reached double figures six times, including the last three outings.

Memphis is led offensively by do-it-all forward David Jones. The Dominican Republic native produced his fourth-straight game of 20-plus points against Clemson, and is the team's leading scorer (20.3), rebounder (6.5) and theft man (2.3).

Memphis is No. 34 in the NET rankings through games of Dec. 17 and has another Quadrant 1 opportunity Tuesday. Virginia comes to town ranked No. 23 in the NET with a 3-1 record against Q1 and Q2 teams.

GAME DETAILS
No. 23/23 Memphis Tigers (8-2) vs. No. 22/20 Virginia (9-1)
Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023 | 6 p.m. CT
FedExForm (18,400); Memphis, Tennessee
Television: ESPN2 (Jay Alter pxp; Randolph Childress analyst)
Radio: 98.9 The Roar of Memphis (Dave Woloshin pxp; Matt Dillon, analysis)
Live Stats: www.Memphis.StatBroadcast.com

BY THE NUMBERS

1st: Memphis forward Nicholas Jourdain ranks first in the nation in two-point percentage. He has made 82.6 percent of his shot attempts from inside the arc (19-23). If qualified, he would also rank third nationally in offensive rating (156.3), per KenPom.
1: The number of players in the country averaging 20.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game this season. David Jones has recorded 20-6-2 in four games this season and enters Tuesday with an AAC-high five games of 20-plus points.
3: Memphis ranks No. 3 in the nation in RPI with a 0.688 mark. Only Purdue (0.735) and Clemson (0.712) are higher.
4: Memphis is one of only four teams in the nation that have a combined five wins against Q1 and Q2 programs. The others are Purdue, Tennessee and Colorado State.
5: The number of teams in Division I that have eight or more wins this season with only three or less coming at home. (Memphis, Maine, Delaware, Cornell and UNC Wilmington).
20: The number of years since Memphis last entered the AP poll in the regular season after not being ranked in the preseason poll.
11-2: The Tigers's record against Power Five opponents the last two seasons, including five wins this season. The only two defeats were at No. 4 Alabama (91-88) and at Ole Miss (80-77).
2007-08: The last time Memphis defeated three-straight ranked opponents was in the 2007-08 NCAA Tournament. The Tigers knocked off No. 19 Michigan State, No. 6 UCLA and No. 3 Texas en route to a national title game appearance.
2017-18: The last time Memphis hosted consecutive Top 25 opponents inside FedExForum (Cincinnati, Wichita State).

LAST TIME OUT

Memphis defeated previously undefeated and 13th-ranked Clemson, 79-77, Saturday afternoon in a "White Out" at FedExForum in Memphis.
The Tigers (8-2) extended their win-streak to three games in front of 15,052 raucous fans and picked up its fifth Power Five win of the season, three of which have come against a ranked opponent.
Four Tigers were in double figures, led by David Jones' 22 points on 6-of-14 shooting. Jahvon Quinerly added 17 points to go along with a team-high six assists and three steals. Nicholas Jourdain connected on 5-of-6 field goals en route to 11 points and a team-high two blocks.
Jaykwon Walton made several big plays and finished with 10 points in 28 minutes off the bench.
Memphis trailed by seven at the break, 39-32, but a swift 13-1 run just four-and-a-half minutes into the second half put the Tigers in front en route to outscoring Clemson 47-38 in the second half.
Memphis shot 43.3 percent from the field (29-67), made 73.9 percent of its free throws (17-23) and dished out 12 assists while swiping nine steals.
The Tigers turned the ball over a season-low six times, the fewest in a game since coughing it up just five times against Gonzaga on March 19, 2022 in the NCAA Tournament.

SCOUTING VIRGINIA

Virginia comes to town No. 22 in the AP Poll after compiling a 9-1 record this season.
Their only loss came against Wisconsin (65-41) on Nov. 20 and they enter Tuesday riding a 5-game winning streak after escaping with a 56-54 victory against Northeastern on Saturday.
The Cavaliers have been the nation's standard on defense under head coach Tony Bennett and things are no different this year.
UVA ranks second nationally in scoring defense (53.3 ppg) and turnovers per game (8.0), fourth in field goal percentage defense (35.9), fifth in assist/turnover ratio (1.96) and turnover margin (6.4), seventh in 3-point percentage defense (26.1) and 12th in blocks per game (6.0) and fouls per game (13.5).
The Cavaliers return one starter – Reece Beekman – from last season's ACC regular season champion and NCAA Tournament team that finished 25-8.
Beekman, who earned All-ACC third team a season ago, leads the Cavaliers in scoring (12.5) and assists (5.7) per game.
Isaac McKneely ranks second on the team in scoring (12.3), and is the top 3-point threat in all of college basketball. The sophomore guard ranks first nationally in 3-point percentage at 55.1 percent after draining 27-of-49 shots from deep. Over two seasons, he has connected on 43.6 percent.

UP NEXT
Memphis welcomes Vanderbilt Saturday, Dec. 23 for a pre-Christmas showdown on CBS at 3 p.m. It will be the fifth SEC opponent the Tigers have faced this season.

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.

No. 23 Memphis Hosts No. 22 Virginia Tuesday in Blue Out on ESPN2

Next Event

Players Mentioned

David Jones

Nicholas Jourdain

Jahvon Quinerly

Jaykwon Walton

University of Memphis Athletics

No. 23 Memphis Hosts No. 22 Virginia Tuesday in Blue Out on ESPN2

Next Event

Players Mentioned

David Jones

Nicholas Jourdain

Jahvon Quinerly

Jaykwon Walton

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