Tigers Begin NCAA Tournament Friday Against FAU

Friday, March 17

Columbus, Ohio / Nationwide Arena

8:20 PM

University of Memphis

(9) #25/25 Florida Atlantic

Tickets

Mar 16, 2023 | Men's Basketball

Live Stats Memphis Game Notes (PDF)FAU Game Notes (PDF)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Memphis Tigers are in the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight season and open play Friday with a first-round matchup against Florida Atlantic at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The East Region game between the eighth-seeded Tigers and the ninth-seeded Owls is scheduled to tip off at 8:20 p.m. CT on TNT.

After falling to 12-5 on Jan. 21 after a fourth-straight road loss, the Tigers won 14 of their last 17 games en route to winning the American Athletic Conference's automatic bid to get back to the Big Dance. That stretch included six road victories and a 75-65 win over No. 1 Houston in the conference championship game on March 12, giving the program its first-ever win over the nation's top-ranked team in 11 tries.

Memphis is making its 28th NCAA Tournament in school history, and the Tigers have won at least one game in each of its last three NCAA Tournament trips.

Last season, the 9^th-seeded Tigers went to Portland, Oregon and downed 8^th-seeded (No. 23) Boise State, 64-53, before falling to the No. 1-overall seed Gonzaga, 82-78 in the second round.

In 2014, the Tigers were seeded eighth and defeated George Washington in Raleigh, North Carolina, 71-66, before losing to number-one seed Virginia, 78-60. The Tigers also advanced to the second round in 2013 as a six seed, before bowing out to third-seeded Michigan State in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

Memphis and FAU are not familiar foes, but they are soon to be.

The two programs have only met once in history, but are schedules to become conference members of the AAC in 2023-24 when the Owls make the move from Conference USA.

The lone meeting in the series was Feb. 3, 1993 in Memphis when the Tigers routed the Owls, 96-46. Penny Hardaway was a junior in his last season in college. He scored 10 points with 10 assists and 4 rebounds in 24 minutes.

Billy Smith led the Tigers with 21 points on 8-11 shooting and a 5-6 mark from deep.
Five Tigers scored in double figures as Memphis shot 34-of-59 overall (57.6%) and made 13-21 from long range (61.9%).

GAME DETAILS
No. 8 Memphis Tigers (26-8) vs. No. 9 FAU Owls (31-3)
2023 NCAA Tournament West Region First Round
Friday, March 17, 2023 | 8:20 p.m. CT
Nationwide Center (20,000); Columbus, Ohio
Television: TNT (Andrew Catalon, pxp; Steve Lappas, analysis; Jamie Erdahl, reporter)
Radio: 98.9 THE ROAR OF MEMPHIS (Dave Woloshin, pxp; Matt Dillon, analysis); Westwood One (Kevin Kugler pxp; and Jordan Cornette, analysis)

BY THE NUMBERS

4-3: Memphis' record this season against NCAA Tournament teams, with wins over Houston, Texas A&M, Auburn and VCU. The losses are to Alabama (by 3) and Houston twice (by combined 10 pts).
35: Points needed by Kendric Davis to pass Dajuan Wagner (762) for the most all-time in a single-season in program history. He currently has 728 and with 2 points Friday, he would take over Penny Hardaway's (729) spot for second most.
15-1: Memphis' record this season when allowing 69 points or fewer in a game; the Tigers have allowed 78 or fewer in 10-straight outings.
15: 20-point games for Kendric Davis in 15 of his last 17 games. In the other two, he scored 19 and left the other early after an injury. In that stretch he's averaging 24.0 ppg, 5.1 apg, 3.9 rpg and 1.8 spg.
26-12: DeAndre Williams is averaging 26.0 points and 12.3 rebounds over his last 3 games with 3 double-doubles. It's the first time in his career he's had 10+ rebounds in 3-straight games.

THE LAST TIME OUT

(AP) Kendric Davis scored 31 points, including 14 in a big run before halftime, and Memphis held on to beat No. 1 Houston 75-65 in the AAC title game.
DeAndre Williams had 16 points and 13 rebounds for coach Penny Hardaway and the Tigers.
Memphis took control behind a 16-2 run in the first half and led by as many as 18 before going into the break up 46-31. The Tigers shot 62.1 percent in the first 20 minutes (18-29) and handed No. 1 Houston its largest halftime deficit of the season.
Houston chipped away after the break and pulled to within 55-50 with 11:03 to play after Jamal Shead scored 8-straight to cap a 12-1 UH run.
Davis and Williams responded with the next five points to stretch the Tigers' advantage back to double figures. Houston would never get any closer than 8 points the rest of the way.
Memphis shot 50.9 percent overall (27-53) and drained 6-12 from deep while converting 15-21 at the stripe.
Memphis outscored UH 40-22 in the paint and led for 38:12 en route to earning the program's first-ever AAC crown and win over the No. 1 ranked team.

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.