Tigers Tussle with Temple Sunday Morning at FedExForum

Sunday, February 12

Memphis, Tenn.

11 a.m.

University of Memphis

Temple

Tickets

Tigers Tussle with Temple Sunday Morning at FedExForum

Feb 11, 2023 | Men's Basketball

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. – With only four home games remaining in the regular season, the Memphis Tigers are back at FedExForum Sunday for an early morning tipoff against Temple. Game time is set for 11 a.m. on ESPN2.

Memphis (18-6, 8-3 American Athletic Conference) bounced back from its first home loss in over a year with a convincing 99-81 road victory over South Florida Wednesday night in Tampa.

The Tigers currently sit third place in the league standings at 8-3. Temple is right behind at 8-4, and the Owls also bring a 14-11 overall record into Sunday's contest.

Kendric Davis was named to the Midseason Team for the 2023 Jersey Mikes Naismith Trophy on Thursday, just three days after also being named to the Bob Cousy Award. He ranks sixth in Division I in scoring (21.8) and seventh in assists per game (6.1), and is the only player in the nation to rank in the top 10 of both categories.

Davis is on the verge of becoming the first player in Division I since Chicago State's David Holston in 2008-09 to average at least 21.0 points, 6.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game in a single season.

Memphis went to Temple on Jan. 15 for the first time in nearly four years. The Tigers got a game-winner from Davis as the buzzer sounded to leave town with a 61-59 victory.

The two head coaches in Sunday'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.

UP NEXT

Memphis will host UCF next Thursday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. for their Literacy/International Paper game before a highly-anticipated road trip to No. 2 Houston on Sunday, Feb. 19 at 2 p.m. on ESPN.

Memphis will hand out 1,000 bobbleheads Bill Laurie next Thursday as the 1972-73 Memphis State National Runners-Up celebration continues.

GAME DETAILS
Memphis Tigers (18-6, 8-3 AAC) vs. Temple Owls (14-11, 8-4 AAC)
Sunday, February 12, 2023 | 11 a.m. CT
FedExForum (18,410); Memphis, Tenn.
Television: ESPN2 (John Schriffen pxp; Mark Adams, analysis)
Radio: 98.9 THE ROAR OF MEMPHIS (Dave Woloshin, pxp; Matt Dillon, analysis)

BY THE NUMBERS
23: Points Kendric Davis needs from becoming the AAC's all-time leading scorer. He currently sits at 1,838 career points in The American and only trails former Temple Owl Quinton Rose (2016-20).

14.8: Keonte Kennedy's scoring average over the last six games (32-59) to go along with an AAC-leading 56.3-percent clip from three-point range. He leads the squad with 18 made triples over that stretch. He's upped his season average to 9.7 points per game.

18.1: Points per game by DeAndre Williams during his current 20-game double-digit streak; the fifth-year forward is also averaging a team-best 8.1 rebounds to go along with 2.9 assists in that time.

44.4: Combined points per game average by Kendric Davis and DeAndre Williams over the last five games. The duo is also averaging 14.6 rebounds and 11.4 assists over that stretch with seven outings of 20 or more points between them.

3.5: Memphis' average margin of defeat in its six losses this season, with four of them coming by three points or fewer including a pair of one-point defeats to Seton Hall and Tulane.

24.7: Points per game average by Kendric Davis in AAC action, the most in the league. Tulane's Jaylen Forbes is the next highest at 20.7. Davis has scored 20+ in eight consecutive outings, which is the longest such streak for Memphis since Jeremiah Martin did so in eight-straight games from Feb. 13 – March 14, 2019.

THE LAST TIME OUT

The Memphis Tigers went on the road Wednesday and defeated South Florida, 99-81, at the Yuengling Center after committing the fewest turnovers (8) of the season.
Fifth-year forward DeAndre Williams was Memphis' leading scorer (24) while adding five rebounds and a pair of assists. Fifth-year guard Kendric Davis scored 23 points, added eight dimes and five boards, while redshirt-senior Keonte Kennedy poured in a season-high 19 points, five rebounds and two assists.
The Tigers first got on the board 20 seconds into the game when Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu finished one off the glass and never looked back.
Memphis scored the final six points of the first half after USF came within seven to send the Tigers into the locker room with a 48-35 advantage. Davis had 14 points and four assists and Williams poured in 10 in the opening 20 minutes.
The Tigers took their largest lead of the night at the 14:34 mark of the second half when Williams converted an and-one to go up 67-48. South Florida continued to battle and got back to within eight with 5:46 remaining after former Tiger Tyler Harris scored six-straight to lead the charge.
From that point on Davis and Williams closed the game with 11 points down the stretch as Memphis outscored the Bulls 17-7 over the final five minutes to secure the 99-81 victory.
The Tigers scored a season high 30 points off 17 USF turnovers and outscored the Bulls 46-30 in the paint and 21-14 off fastbreaks.
The Tigers shot 52.9 percent overall (36-68) and made 6-of-14 from long range (42.9%) and connected on 21-of-24 at the free throw line, the seventh time this season they've gone over 20 makes.
The Tigers led for 39:10 and never trailed.

NOTING THE OPPONENT

Temple's roster features just two upperclassmen with 10 sophomores and three freshmen.
Among the scholarship players, only one - graduate Kur Jongkuch – is an upperclassmen.
The Owls were tabbed fifth in the preseason coaches poll with 66 points. Damian Dunn was named to the preseason All-AAC first team, while Khaliff Battle was tabbed second team.
The Owls are averaging 69.3 points per game and are shooting at a 42.0-percent clip.
They rank 16th in the nation in free throw percentage (76.6%) and are averaging 15.2 makes per game.
Khalif Battle leads the team and ranks fourth in the AAC in scoring (18.4 ppg) and second in the AAC in threes per game (2.92, 30th nationally) and free throw percentage (.891, 17th nationally).
Damian Dunn ranks second on the team in scoring (14.75ppg) and assists (2.9) while shooting .424 percent from the field. He tallied a career-high 38 points, the most points by an Owl since 2004, against Vanderbilt. He leads the Owls (28th in NCAA) in free throws made (115).
Jamille Reynolds who missed 10 games due to a thumb injury, is back. The 6-11 center ranks third on the team in scoring (10.7 ppg) while leading the team in rebounding (5.7 rpg).

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.