Memphis, Cincinnati Renew Rivalry Sunday at FedExForum

Sunday, February 26

Memphis, Tenn.

1 p.m.

University of Memphis

Cincinnati

Tickets

Memphis, Cincinnati Renew Rivalry Sunday at FedExForum

Feb 25, 2023 | Men's Basketball

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Memphis Tigers close the month of February Sunday afternoon against longtime rival Cincinnati, looking to extend their stretch of nine wins in the last 11 games. Tip-off at FedExForum is scheduled for 1 p.m. on ESPN2.

With three games remaining in the regular season, Memphis remains in second place in the American Athletic Conference with an 11-4 league record. The top-five teams in the conference standings receive a first-round bye in the upcoming AAC Tournament. The Tigers clinched their bye with Thursday's win at Wichita State.

Since the calendar flipped to 2023 the Tigers are 10-4, which includes a three-game winning streak and a five-game winning streak, while two of the losses came in overtime.

Sunday is a 901 game, with 6,000 t-shirts being handed out in the arena. Additionally, there will be pre and post-game wrestling matches.

Memphis is fresh off an 83-78 win at Wichita State Thursday and has won four of its last five outings. Kendric Davis made his return in the win after being sidelined at No. 2 Houston, and produced a team-high 19 points with five rebounds and four assists in 35 minutes.

Sunday's game is the 86th in the longtime series between the Tigers and the Bearcats, and Memphis has won four-straight meetings.

Last season, Memphis earned a regular-season series sweep over Cincinnati for the first time since 1994-95 in the Great Midwest Conference. Since then, the two schools have played twice in the regular season eight times. The Tigers won 87-80 in Memphis last season before going on the road to claim an 81-74 victory on Feb. 15.

Earlier this season, Memphis went into Cincy and grabbed a 75-68 victory on Jan. 22 behind 47 combined points from Kendric Davis and DeAndre Williams.

Tiger fans will see a familiar face Sunday roaming the court for the Bearcats in Landers Nolley II.

The 6-foot-7 guard spent the previous two seasons at Memphis before transferring to Cincinnati in April. Nolley II was named the Most Outstanding Player in Memphis' run to the NIT championship in 2021 and averaged 12.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists in his 89 career games as a Tiger. He was 3-0 against the Bearcats while at Memphis.

Cincinnati enters the game having won two-straight and three of its last four games after an 88-83 overtime victory against Temple on Wednesday, courtesy of Nolley II (20 points, nine in overtime) and David DeJulius (20 points, six assists).

The Bearcats are led by Landers Nolley II, who averages a team-high 16.4 points per game and 2.6 three-pointers per outing. He has topped 20 points on nine occasions this season. Nolley II's scoring output ranks ninth in the AAC, and he is tops in the league in 3-point percentage (41.7%).

After Sunday's game, the regular season concludes next week with games at SMU Thursday night and at home against No. 1 Houston next Sunday. The AAC Tournament runs March 9-12 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.

Sunday's game is presented by FedEx and will feature Larry Kenon's celebration with 1,000 bobbleheads being given away

GAME DETAILS
Memphis Tigers (21-7, 11-1 AAC) vs. Cincinnati Bearcats (19-10, 10-6 AAC)
Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023 | 1:00 p.m. CT
FedExForum (18,400); Memphis, Tenn.
Television: ESPN2 (Kevin Brown, pxp; Mark Adams, analysis)
Radio: 98.9 THE ROAR OF MEMPHIS (Dave Woloshin, pxp; Matt Dillon, analysis)

BY THE NUMBERS

86th: All-time meeting between Memphis and Cincinnati is Sunday, which is the third-longest running series in Tiger history.
13.4: Points per game by Elijah McCadden in the last five games to go along with 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per outing and a 69.7 percent shooting clip from the field (23-33).
3: Consecutive games with a new starting lineup for the Tigers; Memphis has used seven different starting lineups overall with 10 different players making a start.
12-0: Record this season for Memphis when holding opponents to 69 points or fewer; the Tigers were 17-1 when limiting foes to 69 points or fewer last year.
17-3: Record in AAC home games for the Tigers under head coach Penny Hardaway. They are 10-1 over the last three seasons with the only defeat coming Feb. 4 of this season against Tulane (90-89/OT). Memphis has won 21 of its last 22 games overall at FedExForum.

THE LAST TIME OUT

Memphis went on the road and defeated Wichita State, 83-78, Thursday night inside Charles Koch Arena, clinching a first-round by in next month's AAC's Conference Championship.
The game saw 16 lead changes before the Tigers persevered thanks to 19 and 18-point efforts from Kendric Davis and DeAndre Williams. Davis grabbed five rebounds and four assists, while Williams just missed his ninth double-double of the season with nine boards and five dimes.
Damaria Franklin recorded his second-straight double-digit effort with a season high 12 points, while Johnathan Lawson added nine points as each connected on a pair of long balls.
Memphis shot 54.7 percent as a team (29-53) and held its largest lead at 69-62 with 5:52 to play in the game.
James Rojas took over for the Shockers and Memphis had no answer in the first half as the big man scored 19 points on 7-of-7 shooting. The Tigers did shoot 59.3 percent (16-27) and got 14 points from Davis, but they were tied at 40 going into the locker room.
Memphis shot 50 percent in the second half (13-26), but Wichita State stayed within striking distance throughout.
After the Shockers took a 62-61 lead on a three with 8:20 to play, the Tigers used an 8-0 run behind back-to-back 3-pointers from Franklin and Lawson to go back in front by seven.
With 1:15 remaining Johnathan Lawson drilled a dagger triple from the right wing to deflate the home crowd Memphis drained six free throws in the final minute to secure the victory.
Wichita State (14-13, 7-8 AAC) was led by James Rojas' 19 points, but the Tigers held him scoreless and only allowed one field goal from the big man in the second half.

NOTING THE OPPONENT

Cincinnati is scoring 77.4 points per game (3^rd AAC) and allowing 69.3 (4^th AAC).
The Bearcats rank 16th nationally in assist/turnover ratio (1.49) and 25th in assists per game (15.8).
Landers Nolley II leads the team at 16.4 points per game, one of three players averaging double figures. He has scored double figures in 19-straight games, including seven 20-point performances in the stretch. His 41.7 three-point percentage is tops in the conference.
David DeJulius is chipping in 14.6 points and ranks fourth in the AAC with 5.2 assists per game. His 3.0 assists/turnover ratio is second in the league and 12^th in the country.
Viktor Lakhin, a 6-foot-11 big man, paces the squad on the glass with 7.0 rebounds per outing to go along with 12.4 points and an AAC-leading field goal percentage of 62.4 (12^th in DI).
A season ago, Cincinnati reached the championship game of the American Athletic Conference Tournament before bowing out to eventual Final Four participant Houston.
The Bearcats finished 12-11 on the season, and from that squad they bring back three starters and seven letterwinners.
Two of the starters back this season are Davenport, who averaged 11.7 points per game last season, and DeJulius, who was fifth in the league with 4.2 assists per game.
Davenport was a Preseason All-Conference Second Team pick this year and was named to last year's All-Tournament Team.
The Bearcats were picked to finish sixth in this season's preseason coaches poll.
Miller is the nation's winningest coach under 40 years old, with his 185 wins entering the season ranking ahead of LSU's Will Wade (177) and New Mexico's Richard Pitino (159).

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.