No. 15 Memphis Opens New Year, AAC Play at Tulsa

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – No. 15 Memphis (11-2) rings in the New Year when the Tigers travel west to battle Tulsa (9-3) Thursday night in their American Athletic Conference opener. Tip-off at Reynolds Center is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.

The Tigers take a six-game winning streak on the road to a place they've won each of the last two seasons and Memphis will look to win its fifth AAC opener in six years under head coach Penny Hardaway.

Despite the success in league openers, the Tigers haven't had much luck in AAC road lid lifters, winning just once in the last five seasons. Memphis defeated Tulane (80-74) on Dec. 16, 2020.

Memphis closed out 2023 with an 81-70 victory over Austin Peay on Saturday, giving the Tigers their 11^th win of the nonconference season. The victory matched the most wins for Memphis before its conference season in the last 12 years. The Tigers also won 11 prior to their AAC debut in 2019.

Tulsa brings a four-game win streak into Thursday after having not lost a game since Dec. 10 against Oklahoma State. The Golden Hurricane are coming off a 95-54 win over Southwestern Oklahoma State on Dec. 29.

Tulsa touts the second-longest home winning streak in the AAC at nine games. Only North Texas (14) has a longer streak, which is the ninth-longest streak in the country.

UP NEXT
Memphis returns home to host a pair of games against SMU (Jan. 7) and UTSA (Jan. 10). The Mustangs come to town 9-4 overall and No. 45 in the NET rankings for a 4 p.m. showdown on ESPN.

GAME DETAILS
15/15 Memphis Tigers (11-2, 0-0 AAC) vs. Tulsa (9-3, 0-0 AAC)
Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024 | 7 p.m. CT
Reynolds Center (18,400); Tulsa, Okla.
Television: ESPN+ (Chad McKee, pxp; Pooh Williamson, analysis; Michelle Montaine, sideline)
Radio: 98.9 THE ROAR OF MEMPHIS (Dave Woloshin, pxp; Matt Dillon, analysis)

BY THE NUMBERS

2009: Memphis moved to No. 15 in the AP poll this week. It is the highest ranking by the Tigers entering January since 2009. It also marks the highest ranking in general for Memphis since being No. 9 on Nov. 22, 2021.
3: Thursday marks the 3^rd-straight trip to Tulsa for Memphis in the series. The Tigers are 2-0 the last two seasons inside Reynolds Center.
6: Winning streak for the Tigers entering the matchup with Tulsa. Memphis has scored at least 77 points in all six matchups.
10: David Jones ranks 10th in the country in scoring at 21.2 points per game. He is also the only player in the nation averaging at least 21.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg and 2.0 spg this season, with at least four games played.
16: Nae'Qwan Tomlin is the first Tiger in at least 16 years to total 15 points and 15 rebounds in 23 minutes or fewer. He's also only the 4th Tiger in the last five years to have 15-15 in a game.
2015: The last time Memphis totaled at least 25 made free throws and 45 rebounds in a single game (Nov. 23, 2015 against UT Arlington). The Tigers had 27 free throws and 48 boards against Austin Peay on Saturday.
79.4%: Two-point field goal percentage from Nicholas Jourdain this season, which leads the nation. He enters Thursday 27-of-34 on the season from inside the arc. If qualified, he would also rank 3rd in the country in offensive rating (156.2), per KenPom.

SCOUTING TULSA

The Golden Hurricane enter the game 9-3 overall this season, with all nine wins coming at home.
PJ Haggerty has been the leader for Tulsa this season. He's averaging 17.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.3 steals per game.
Cobe Williams is pouring in 12.0 points per game and a team-high 3.5 assists while Jared Garcia is adding 10.1 points.
Tulsa ranks fifth in the country in free throws made per game (19.4) and eighth in free throw attempts (26.3).
The Golden Hurricane has also been stingy on defense, swiping 9.5 steals each time out, which rank 28^th nationally, and are holding opponents to a 28.4-percent mark from deep, the 28^th-best mark in the country.

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.

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Players Mentioned

David Jones

Nicholas Jourdain

Nae'Qwan Tomlin

University of Memphis Athletics