Tigers Open Season Monday Night at Home Against Missouri

Monday, November 4

Memphis, Tenn.

7:00 PM

University of Memphis

Missouri

Tigers Open Season Monday Night at Home Against Missouri

Nov 03, 2024 | Men's Basketball

Tickets ESPN+Live Stats Memphis Notes (PDF)Missouri Notes (PDF)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The anticipated 104th season of Memphis Tiger Basketball gets under way Monday at 7 p.m. when the Tigers host Missouri on ESPN+ inside FedExForum.

Memphis has secured at least 20 wins in all six seasons under head coach Penny Hardaway. The Tigers are in search getting back to the NCAA Tournament after missing the Big Dance last season. Hardaway has led Memphis to an NIT title in 2021, an AAC title in 2023 and two NCAA Tournaments in 2021-22 and 2022-23.

Last season, the Tigers captured four victories over Associated Press Top 25 opponents, including in three-straight games for the first time in program history in the month of December. The Tigers knocked off No. 20 Arkansas (84-79) in the Bahamas, then took down No. 21 Texas A&M (81-75) on the road. They followed that stretch up with back-to-back victories over No. 13 Clemson (79-77) and No. 22 Virginia (77-54) at home.

Fans can enjoy Memphis basketball in a variety of ways this season with different ticket plans for everyone. You can purchase your package at www.GoTigersGoTix.com or by calling the Memphis Ticket Office at (901) 678-2331.

GAME DETAILS
Memphis Tigers (0-0) vs. Missouri Tigers (0-0)
Monday, Nov. 4, 2024 | 7 p.m. CT
FedExForum (18,400); Memphis, Tenn.
Television: ESPN+ (Greg Gaston, pxp; Trey Draper, color)
Radio: 98.9 The Roar of Memphis (Dave Woloshin, pxp; Matt Dillon, analysis)
Live Stats: www.Memphis.StatBroadcast.com

BY THE NUMBERS

2: Players in the nation that averaged at least 21.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game last season: Drake's Tucker DeVries and PJ Haggerty.
3: Programs in the nation that have won at least 18 games in each of the last 23 seasons starting in 2000-01 (Memphis, Kansas, Gonzaga).
6.3: Percent of Memphis' returning 3-point production in 2024-25, just 17 of the Tigers 266 makes from a season ago.
8.1: Percentage of returning scoring (209 of 2,574) from last season's team, which includes none of Memphis' top-6 scorers. The Tigers also only return 8.6% of total assists (38 of 438), 10.7% of total rebounds (127 of 1185), and 11% of total minutes played (710 of 6,450).10.6: Percent of Memphis' returning three-point production in 2023-24, just 23 of the Tigers 215 makes from a season ago.
12: The number of transfer additions to the roster this season, eight of which were brought in from Division I programs. The Tigers lost 14 total players from last year's squad.
106: Texas transfer Tyrese Hunter has started all 106 games of his collegiate career and has averaged more than 31 minutes in those contests. He has amassed 1,143 points (13.8 ppg), 403 assists (4.8 apg), 332 rebounds (4.0 rpg) and 146 steals (1.8 spg) and has reached double figures in scoring 58 times.
779: The combined number of games of Division I experience the Tigers have amongst 14 players. Five of those have played 75-plus games in their career with four of them having at least 100 games under their belt.

OPENING NIGHT HISTORY

The Tigers are set to open the 2024-25 campaign at FedExForum on Monday, Nov. 4, marking the earliest Memphis men's basketball has ever opened a season in program history.

EXHIBITION ROUNDUP

Memphis played arguably the two toughest exhibitions of anyone in college basketball.
The Tigers played No. 9 North Carolina at FedExForum on Oct. 15 for the Hoops for St. Jude Tip Off Classic where Memphis led by as many as 10 before ultimately falling 84-76.
Then on Oct. 28, Memphis made the trip to Huntsville to play No. 2 Alabama in the Rocket City Classic. The Crimson Tide dominated early, but the Tigers got going and outscored them 59-47 in the second half en route to a 96-88 loss.
PJ Haggerty led the team over the two games, averaging 28.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game.
Tyrese Hunter had a team-best 5.0 assists.

ALL-TIME IN LID LIFTERS

In 103 seasons of Memphis basketball, the Tigers own a record of 73-30 (.708) in season openers.
They have won six-straight lid lifters with the last loss coming Nov.10, 2017 against No. 25 Alabama.

ABOUT THE ROSTER

This season's Tiger squad features two returners from last year's team along with 12 newcomers.
The newcomers are made up of eight Division I transfers, a Division II transfer, two junior college transfer and one freshmen.
Memphis had to replace 14 players who played in a game last season, which is the most of any team in college basketball.
The lone returning scholarship player is Nicholas Jourdain, who averaged 6.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game last season with 25 starts in 32 games.
Walk-on Noah Stansbury is also back for his second season with the Tigers.

PRESEASON HONORS

Memphis had four players honored on the AAC Preseason Awards list.
PJ Haggerty and Tyrese Hunter were each selected to the first team, while Colby Rogers landed second team recognition.
Jared Harris was also named the AAC Preseason Freshman of the Year.
Memphis was tabbed to finish 2nd in the coaches poll behind only 2024 AAC tournament champion UAB.

HOME-OPENING SUCCESS

Memphis has won 21-straight home openers, dating back to 2003.
The Tigers last loss in a home opener was Nov. 22, 2002 when Austin Peay snuck out of town with an 81-80 overtime victory.
The Tigers have also won six-striaght season openers, with the last loss coming to No. 25 Alabama in 2017-18.

SERIES HISTORY VS. MISSOURI

Memphis and Missouri have met 13 times before, with the Bluff City Tigers leading 8-5.
Last season, the teams met for the first time in 15 years with Memphis overcoming an early 14-point deficit to earn a 70-55 victory in Columbia.
Prior to last season's meeting, the teams last faced off in the 2009 NCAA Sweet 16 with Missouri posting a 102-91 victory.
Memphis owns a 5-1 home record versus Missouri, last facing off in 2003.
Missouri's only win in Memphis came on Dec. 27, 1989. It was a 71-65 victory.
The first-ever meeting came Dec. 21, 1965 with the Memphis Tigers winning 85-72 at home.

SCOUTING THE MISSOURI TIGERS

The Tigers are opening a season on the road for the first time in 21 years (at Oakland; 2003-04) when they come to the Bluff City on Monday.
Head coach Dennis Gates enters his third season at the helm after finishing 8-24 last season.
Gates signed the nation's No. 5 freshman class and added the nation's No. 13 transfer class in the spring.
Highlighting their new additions are Mark Mitchell (Duke), Tony Perkins (Iowa) and Marques Warrick (Northern Kentucky), who all ranked in the top-30 by respective publications.
Missouri also brought in two-time Arkansas Player of the Year Annor Boateng, who was a top-40 recruit nationally out of high school.
Missouri defeated Lincoln, 90-45, in their only exhibition last Saturday. The 45-point victory is the team's largest exhibition victory since 2011.

IT JUST MEANS MORE

Memphis has not been afraid to play the best teams in the country under Penny Hardaway, and that is especially true against Southeastern Conference opponents.
In six seasons under Hardaway, the Tigers have played 20 contests against SEC foes and are 12-8 in those games.
The Tigers are 8-2, however, in such games over the last two seasons. The only losses were a pair of three-point defeats at Ole Miss (80-77) last season and at No. 4 Alabama (91-88) in 2022-23.

HAGGERTY AS A FRESHMAN

Perhaps the most coveted transfer for Hardaway in the offseason was PJ Haggerty from Tulsa.
He was the second-leading scorer in the AAC last season (21.2) and only trailed Memphis' David Jones. He ranked 13th in the nation in scoring.
Haggerty became only one of two players in the last five seasons of Division I hoops to average at least 21.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game last season: Drake's Tucker DeVries was the other.
In fact, they are the only two players to do so in the last five seasons since Ja Morant in 2018-19.
Haggerty was named the Kyle Macy National Freshman of the Year and the AAC's Freshman of the Year after setting the league's record with 14 freshman of the week honors.

WELCOME HOME

Former Tiger big man Moussa Cisse will close his collegiate career right where it began.
Cisse signed with the Tigers in 2020-21 and helped guide Memphis to a 20-8 record and a NIT title while earning AAC Freshman of the Year honors.
He then transferred to Oklahoma State for the next two seasons (2021-23) before playing for Ole Miss in 2023-24.
He averaged 4.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks with 17 starts in 26 games for a Rebel squad that went 20-12.
He has appeared in 115 games at the Division I level and has proven to be one of the elite rim protectors in the country.
He was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year for Oklahoma State in 2021-22 and has blocked 198 shots in his career for an average of 1.7 per game.
Over four collegiate seasons, Cisse has averaged 6.3 points (56.3% shooting) and 6.4 rebounds.

MR. ROGERS

Colby Rogers is at his fourth stop on the Division I level, playing in his final season.
Rogers is one of only three players in the country that have averaged at least 10.0 points per game at three different DI schools.
He averaged 12.2 ppg at Cal-Poly (2020-21), 14.1 ppg at Siena (2021-22) and 16.4 at Wichita State (2023-24).
He has proven to be one of the most lethal three-point shooters in college basketball.
Last season with the Shockers, he broke the program's record with 99 made triples in a season.
He shot 40.9 percent from deep, tops in the AAC, and made at least one triple in 33-of-34 games.
Rogers has been his team's leading scorer in all four seasons of his career.

DAINJA ZONE

Transfer big man Dain Dainja comes to the 901 after spending the last two seasons at Illinois where he helped lead the program to 49 wins.
Prior to that, Dainja spent his first two collegiate seasons at Baylor (2020-22), winning a NCAA National Championship with the Bears in 2021.
Dainja started all 38 games for the Illini last season, averaging 6.1 points and 3.6 rebounds while shooting a team-high 66.9 percent from the field (101-of-151) in just 10.6 minutes per game.
He set the Illinois program record for consecutive field goals made at 20, a streak that spanned six postseason games.

IRON MAN

Tyrese Hunter has been Mr. Dependable over his first three years in college.
He has not only played in all 106 career games, but he has started every single one of those and averaged more than 31 minutes each time out.
He has amassed 1,143 points (13.8 ppg), 403 assists (4.8 apg), 332 rebounds (4.0 rpg) and 146 steals (1.8 spg) and has reached double figures in scoring 58 times.
Hunter has an abundance of experience in the NCAA Tournament, posting a 6-3 mark in nine career March Madness games.
He led the Iowa State Cyclones to the Sweet 16 (2021-22) and Texas to the Elite Eight (2022-23) and Round of 32 (2023-24).

GETTING TO THE LINE

PJ Haggerty ranked second in the nation last season in getting to the free throw line with 309 attempts at the charity stripe. He trailed only the unanimous National Player of the Year – Zach Edey.
Haggerty converted on 237 of those attempts, which ranked third in the country, and were the most by any freshman in the nation since at least 1947.
Oklahoma's Trae Young held the previous mark at 236.

UP NEXT
The Tigers will hit the road later in the week when they travel to Las Vegas on Saturday to take on the UNLV Runnin' Rebels in a 7 p.m. CT showdown on the Mountain West Digital Network. Memphis will then return home to host Ohio on November 15.

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.