Memphis Back To Work Saturday Against Tulane

Saturday, February 4

Memphis, Tenn.

1 p.m.

University of Memphis

Tulane

Tickets

Feb 03, 2023 | Men's Basketball

Live Stats Watch Live Listen Live Tickets Memphis Game Notes (PDF)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – With five home games remaining on the regular season schedule, the Memphis Tigers host Tulane Saturday afternoon as they make the turn on the American Athletic Conference slate. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. on ESPNU.

The Tigers (17-5, 7-2 AAC) currently sit third place in the league standings, one game behind first-place Houston (8-1) and half-game behind second-place Temple (8-2). The top five seeds receive a first-round bye in the AAC Tournament. Including Tulane, five of Memphis' final nine games are against teams in the top-five of the standings, with four of those being at home.

Tulane (14-7, 7-3) enters the matchup fourth in the AAC table after being picked fourth in the preseason coaches poll. The Green Wave's seven conference wins are already their second-most since joining the AAC in 2014-15.

Saturday's matchup will feature the top-three overall and four of the top-six scorers in the AAC this season.

Kendric Davis paces the conference and ranks eighth in the country at 21.5 points per game, while teammate DeAndre Williams is averaging 16.6 points, the sixth-best total in the league.

Tulane's Jaylen Forbes and Jalen Cook are tied for second in the AAC, pouring in 18.8 points each time out.

Memphis has won eight-straight games at FedExForum against the Green Wave, since dropping a 74-66 decision on Jan. 3, 2015. The Tigers lead the overall series with Tulane, 60-13, but the Green Wave handed Memphis its largest defeat of the season (96-89) in their first matchup on New Year's Day.

Memphis' 73 games against the Green Wave are its fourth-most against an opponent in program history, behind Southern Miss (91), Louisville (90) and Cincinnati (85).

Following Saturday's contest, the Tigers hit the road for a midweek trip to South Florida Wednesday at 6 p.m. on ESPN+, before returning home next weekend to host Temple (Feb. 12) at 11 a.m. on ESPN2.

Saturday's game is presented by Conway Services. Memphis will retire Lorenzen Wright's jersey at halftime and there will be 1,000 bobbleheads of Larry Finch handed out at the gates for his celebration game.

GAME DETAILS
Memphis Tigers (17-5, 7-2 AAC) vs. Tulane Green Wave (14-7, 7-3 AAC)
Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023 | 1 p.m. CT
FedExForum (18,400); Memphis, Tenn.
Television: ESPNU (Michael Eaves, pxp; Perry Clark, analysis)
Radio: 98.9 THE ROAR OF MEMPHIS (Dave Woloshin, pxp; Matt Dillon, analysis)

BY THE NUMBERS

3rd: Memphis' 16-game home win streak is the 3rd-longest active streak in Division I entering Saturday. The average margin of victory during the streak is 14.8 points.
55.0: Keonte Kennedy's 3-point percentage over the last four games (11-20), which is 2^nd-best in the AAC during that span. He is averaging 13.5 points and shooting 51-percent overall over the stretch.
10: Consecutive American Athletic Conference home wins for the Tigers, dating back to a 70-62 loss to SMU on Jan. 20, 2022.
11-0: Record for the Tigers this season when holding opponents to fewer than 70 points. They also are 16-1 when teams score 89 or fewer. Four of the five losses this season have come when the opposition scored at least 90 points in the game.
4.0: Memphis' average margin of defeat in its five losses this season, with three of them coming by three points or fewer including a one-point defeat to Seton Hall.
18: Consecutive games DeAndre Williams has scored in double figures. It's the most since Dedric Lawson hit 10+ in 19-straight games from Feb. 6 - Nov. 30, 2016.
25.7: Points per game average by Kendric Davis over the last six games. He's scored 20+ in all six games, 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

After a back-and-forth opening 20 minutes, the Memphis Tigers took control in the second half and walked out of Reynolds Center with an 80-68 victory Sunday evening in Tulsa.
Memphis shot 50.0 percent from the field in the second 20 minutes (16-32) and didn't miss a free throw (9-9). The Tigers only committed four turnovers after halftime and just 12 for the game, the second-fewest in conference play.
Point guard Kendric Davis went for 26 points en route to the 2,000-point milestone for his career. Davis scored 20+ points for the sixth-consecutive contest and added five assists and four rebounds. Davis' 1,799 career points in the AAC rank second all-time.
Forward DeAndre Williams contributed 17 points, 11 rebounds and five assists on an efficient 7-for-10 shooting. In addition, Keonte Kennedy (12) and Elijah McCadden (11) each scored in double digits.
Memphis trailed 50-49 with 13:40 left in the game, but from that point on, it was all Tigers. Davis rattled off nine points to ignite a 21-4 run over the next eight minutes to put Memphis ahead 70-55. Williams iced the game with eight of the team's final 12 points to give Memphis its fifth-straight win.
Tulsa was led by Tim Dalger's 17 points in 30 minutes.

NOTING THE OPPONENT

Tulane returns four starters from last season's team that went 14-15 and finished sixth in the AAC with a 10-8 league mark.
The Green Wave were picked to finish 4th place in the conference in the preseason coaches poll with 74 points.
Jalen Cook was voted to the preseason all-conference first team, while Kevin Cross and Jaylen Forbes were each named to the second team.
Memphis and Tulane are the only teams in the AAC with multiple players in the top-10 in scoring.
The Green Wave brings in the top scoring offense in the AAC, putting up 81.0 points per game and leads the league in thefts (9.0).
Tulane is the nation's second-best team at the free throw line, converting 80.9 percent of its trips. Its 17.7 makes per game are the sixth-most in Division I.
Cook and Forbes have been scorching in their eight games since the New Year's meeting with Memphis. The duo have combined to score 20-plus points 12 times, while Forbes has averaged 21.0 points and Cook 19.9 in that time.
Kevin Cross (14.4) and Sion James (10.9) give Tulane four players averaging double figures.
Cross is the team's top rebounder (6.0) and leads the squad with 80 total assists. His 49.8 field goal percentage ranks fourth in the conference.
James ranks seventh in the nation with a 3.08 assist/turnover ratio and 11^th in minutes played (36.6).
Tulane is one of the best teams in the country at protecting the ball, only coughing it up an average of 10.8 times per game. That is the 26^th-best mark in Division I.
Tigers head coach Penny Hardaway won at Tulane as a sophomore on March 4, 1992, 68-67, when Tulane was ranked 21st in the country.
The 20th-ranked Green Wave bested Hardaway and the Tigers the following year at The Pyramid in Memphis, 86-85, on Dec. 9, 1992.

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.