Memphis Hosts UCF Thursday Night

Thursday, February 16

Memphis, Tenn.

7 p.m.

University of Memphis

UCF

Tickets

Feb 15, 2023 | Men's Basketball

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Memphis Tigers hit the hardwood looking for their third win in a row Thursday night when they take on UCF at FedExForum. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.

Thursday's game is the Coaching for Literacy #Fight4Literacy game, presented by International Paper. The game is designed to promote childhood reading and the local literacy work of Knowledge Quest, Streets Ministries and Memphis Teachers Residency. The coaching staff will be wearing green shoelaces, lapel pins and wristbands in support of the fight for literacy in Memphis.

Fans and local businesses can join the #Fight4Literacy to rally around literacy in their community. For every $10 raised, Coaching for Literacy can provide two books to local kids. To learn more, visit www.coachingforliteracy.org/memphis.

Memphis (19-6, 9-3 AAC) is coming off an 86-77 win over Temple on Sunday that moved the Tigers into second place in the American Athletic Conference. As the league standings currently sit, a victory would keep Memphis within at least two games of first-place Houston (11-1 AAC), depending on the Cougars outcome Thursday at SMU.

A win against the Knights would give Memphis its eighth win in nine games since falling 107-104 in double overtime at UCF on Jan. 11.

The Tigers have seen contributions from a number of players as of late, but none more so than seniors Kendric Davis and DeAndre Williams. The duo is combining to average 39.3 points, 12.0 rebounds, 8.8 assists and 3.6 steals per game this season.

UCF (16-9, 6-6 AAC) returns just two starters and four players overall from last season's team that went 18-12 overall and 9-9 in the AAC on its way to a sixth-place finish. After the victory at home over Memphis in January, the Knights went on a five-game skid before righting the ship with back-to-back victories at Wichita State (72-67) and against Tulsa (96-52) last week.

Fans should arrive early as there will be 1,000 bobbleheads handed out at the gates of former Tiger Bill Laurie as the celebration continues of the 1972-73 Memphis State squad that finished national runners-up.

UP NEXT
Following Thursday's game, the Tigers go back on the road for a nationally anticipated showdown with No. 2 Houston on Sunday at 2 p.m. on ESPN. It will be the first meeting of the season between the programs as they will also close out the regular season in Memphis on March 5.

The Tigers next home game is Sunday, Feb. 26 against Cincinnati.

GAME DETAILS
Memphis Tigers (19-6, 9-3 AAC) vs. UCF Knights (16-9, 6-6 AAC)
Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023 | 7 p.m. CT
FedExForum (18,400); Memphis, Tenn.
Television: ESPN+ (Greg Gaston, pxp; Jon Albright, analysis)
Radio: 98.9 THE ROAR OF MEMPHIS (Dave Woloshin, pxp; Matt Dillon, analysis)

BY THE NUMBERS

20.1: The Tigers' average margin of victory in their 20 home games against UCF. They are 19-1 all-time against the Knights in Memphis with the only loss coming Feb. 11, 2018 (68-64).
2: Points needed from Kendric Davis to become the AAC's all-time scoring leader. He is currently one point shy of the record (1,860) held by Temple's Quinton Rose (2016-20). Davis has 1,859 points between his time at SMU and Memphis.
65.4: Field goal percentage for Elijah McCadden over his last four games (17-26). The fifth-year transfer is averaging 10.8 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists in the stretch.
13.6: Keonte Kennedy's scoring average over the last seven games (34-63) to go along with an AAC-leading 55.9-percent clip from three-point range. He leads the squad with 19 made triples over that stretch. He's upped his season average to 9.6 points per game.
18.5: Points per game by DeAndre Williams during his current 21-game double-digit streak; the fifth-year forward is also averaging a team-best 8.3 rebounds to go along with 3.0 assists in that time. He has recorded four double-doubles in his last seven outings.
24.4: Points per game average by Kendric Davis in AAC action, the most in the league. Tulane's Jaylen Forbes is the next highest at 20.9. Davis has scored 20+ in nine consecutive outings, which is the longest such streak for Memphis since at least the 2009-10 season.

THE LAST TIME OUT

DeAndre Williams poured in 26 points and Kendric Davis added 21 to lead the Memphis Tigers to an 86-77 victory over Temple Sunday morning at FedExForum.
Williams hauled in his eighth double-double of the year with 26 points and 12 rebounds, while also adding a team-high six assists. Davis recorded four dimes and a game-high four steals to go along with his 21 points.
Elijah McCadden dropped 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while Jayden Hardaway dded 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
Memphis shot a season-high 56.7 percent from the floor (34-60). It's the second-highest field goal percentage for the Tigers over the last three seasons.
With two minutes to play before the break, McCadden drove the lane and finished a tough shot at the rim to give Memphis a seven-point lead, its largest of the half. The Tigers went into the locker room up 36-33.
Williams carried the Tigers offense in the first 20 minutes, pouring in 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting with six rebounds.
The Tigers grew their lead to as many as 18 points in the second half after a 9-0 run that saw three Tigers get buckets in that span, but then it was Temple's turn.
The Owls made six-straight baskets, including four three-pointers and pulled to within four after a 16-2 run, but that would be as close as they would get.
Williams made back-to-back buckets and then assisted on the next three makes to stretch the lead back out to 12 with less than two minutes to play. Davis iced the game at the line in the final seconds to secure the 86-77 victory.
Temple was led by Khaliff Battle's 25 points on 7-of-12 shooting.

NOTING THE OPPONENT

UCF is led by four players in double figures, with Taylor Hendricks leading the way at 14.8 points per game. He has reached double figures in 20 games and has scored 15 or more 14 times.
C.J. Kelly is adding 12.4 points, Darius Johnson is scoring at an 11.7-point-per-game clip, and Ithiel Horton is contributing 11.3 points per outing.
The Knights were picked sixth in the AAC preseason coaches poll with 51 points. Temple was fifth with 66.
The Knights buried the most three pointers in a single game in program history, netting 17 triples against Tulsa on Feb. 11, 2023. The mark beat the previous record by one as UCF's previous was 16 made threes against Memphis earlier this season on Jan. 11 and against Campbell on Feb. 28, 2004.
The Knights are first in the AAC in three-point percentage and 42nd in the country, making 37% of their tries.
UCF averages nine threes per contest, a mark that is second in the conference and 32nd nationally.
Not only can UCF make three pointers, but they defend them at a high level, holding opposition to just 30.6% from beyond the arc, a clip that's second in the conference and 33rd in the country.
The Knights rank second in the AAC and 21^st in the country in free throw percentage (76.5) after draining 312-of-408.

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.