Tigers Travel to Wichita State Thursday

Thursday, February 23

Wichita, Kan.

6 p.m.

University of Memphis

Wichita State

Feb 22, 2023 | Men's Basketball

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Memphis Tigers gear up for an American Athletic Conference showdown at Wichita State Thursday night. Game time is set for 6 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN2.

The Tigers are looking to rebound from a 72-64 loss at No. 2 Houston Sunday afternoon, when the short-handed Tigers battled from a 13-point deficit with 7:08 to play to five points and had three chances to get it to one possession but could not finish the comeback.

Elijah McCadden and DeAndre Williams starred against the Cougars, with McCadden scoring a season-high 20 points – all in the second half – with six rebounds and Williams adding 18 points, three boards and two assists.

Memphis (20-7, 10-4 AAC) sits third in the league standings, just a half game behind Tulane (10-3). The Tigers are still looking to lock up a top-5 seed and first-round bye in next month's AAC Championship.

Memphis has won five-straight games against the Shockers and seven of the last eight meetings overall. Wichita State's only win over the Tigers at home in the last 47 years came Jan. 9, 2020 (76-67). Wichita State is 1-7 against Penny Hardaway with five-straight setbacks.

The Shockers (14-12, 7-7 AAC) are coming off back-to-back wins against SMU (91-89) and at Temple (79-65). Offensively they are led by Jaykwon Walton's 14.4 points per game and 53.2 percent field goal percentage.

Craig Porter Jr is the only other Shocker averaging double figures at 12.7 points each time out. He does lead the team in rebounding (6.2), assists (4.2) and blocks (1.6).

UP NEXT
After Thursday's game, the Tigers return home to welcome Cincinnati at 1 p.m. Sunday on ESPN2 before travelling to SMU next Thursday (March 2) at 8 p.m. for the final road test of the regular season.

GAME DETAILS
Memphis Tigers (20-7, 10-4 AAC) at Wichita State (14-12, 7-7 AAC)
Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023 | 6 p.m. CT
Charles Koch Arena (10,506); Wichita, Kan.
Television: ESPN2 (Kevin Brown, pxp; Tim Welsh, analysis)
Radio: 98.9 THE ROAR OF MEMPHIS (Dave Woloshin, pxp; Matt Dillon, analysis)

BY THE NUMBERS

4.1: Memphis' average margin of defeat in its seven losses this season, with four coming by three points or fewer.
16.0: The Tigers' average margin of victory during its current five-game winning streak against Wichita State.
71.0: Field goal percentage for Elijah McCadden over his last four games (22-31). The fifth-year transfer is averaging 15.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists in the stretch.
51.2: Memphis' field goal percentage over the last nine game, which is tops in the AAC (270-527). Tulane is the next highest at 48.4. The Tigers also lead the league in 3-point shooting over that stretch (39.7, 60-151).
14: Wins in the month of February for the Tigers over the last three seasons (14-3), dating back to Feb. 1, 2021; Memphis is 24-10 in February under head coach Penny Hardaway.
10: Opponents in which Memphis defense has held under 40.0 percent shooting from the field this season. The Tigers are 10-0 in those games.
18.2: Points per game by DeAndre Williams during his current 23-game double-digit streak; the fifth-year forward is also averaging a team-best 8.0 rebounds to go along with 2.9 assists in that time.

THE LAST TIME OUT

The Memphis Tigers went into the Fertitta Center Sunday afternoon shorthanded and gave No. 2 Houston all it could handle, but ultimately dropped a 72-64 decision.
Elijah McCadden continued his strong play with a season-high 20 points and six rebounds, while DeAndre Williams added 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting.
Damaria Franklin also had his best game in a Tiger uniform with a season-high 10 points and five boards.
Alex Lomax made his return to the floor after being sidelined since the second half at UCF on Jan. 11.
It was a defensive battle early on with the game tied 13-13 at the 9:03 mark of the first half. Houston got a three-pointer and used a 9-0 run to take the lead for the remainder of the game.
The offense struggled in the first half holding on to the ball, turning it over 14 times to go into the break down 32-21. Williams led the team with 10 points in the first 20 minutes.
In the second half, McCadden took over for the Tigers scoring all 20 of his points.
He scored six early points as he and Franklin nailed back-to-back triples to bring Memphis to within four at 38-34 with 16 minutes to play.
From there, Houston pushed its advantage out to 13 and looked to be on its way to victory. But the Tigers never faltered.
The defense tightened up and held the Cougars without a field goal for nearly four minutes as the Tigers chipped away at the free throw line.
McCadden hit three at the stripe before Williams went coast-to-coast to lay it in and pull Memphis to within 63-58 with 2:24 on the clock. That would be as close it would get.
Houston hit nine free throws over the final two minutes to secure the 72-64 win.

NOTING THE OPPONENT

Wichita State returns just one of its top-five scorers from last season's team that went 15-13 and 6-9 in American Athletic Conference play to finish seventh.
The Shockers were picked to finish eighth in this seasons' preseason poll, behind Temple, UCF and SMU.
Since starting AAC play 0-3, the Shockers have taken 7-of-11 and are in search of their first 3-game conference winning streak since 2021.
Shocker foes are shooting just 39.8 from the field, which ranks 18th best mark in the country, only trailing Houston (35.8) in the AAC.
Wichita State is holding its opponents to just 67.5 points per game, which also ranks third in the conference.
The Shockers foul the fewest times per game (15.0) than any other team in the AAC.
On the historic side, Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway's first conference win as head coach came over Wichita State on Jan. 3, 2019 (85-74).
Jaykwon Walker averages a team-high 14.4 points per game and has reached double figures in each of the 10 games since returning Jan. 14 from an ankle injury.
In that span, he's averaging 18.2 points.
Craig Porter Jr. ranks second on the team at 12.7 points, but leads the way and ranks among the AAC leaders in rebounding (12^th, 6.2), assists (5^th, 4.2) and blocks (3^rd, 1.6).

The Shockers have posted a winning home record in every season since 1996-97 but will need to win their last two against Memphis and South Florida in order to keep that streak alive. They're currently 7-7 at the Roundhouse.
On the historic side, Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway's first conference win as head coach came over Wichita State on Jan. 3, 2019 (85-74).

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