Tigers Head to Sin City to Take on UNLV

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Looking to keep the wins coming, the University of Memphis men's basketball team will take its first regular season road trip out to Las Vegas to take on the Rebels of UNLV. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT with coverage available on the Mountain West Network.

The Tigers (1-0) took an 83-75 win over Missouri on Monday night where Memphis faced a 10-point deficit at halftime and staged a 51-point second half to down the visiting Tigers.

In his debut game as a Tiger, redshirt-sophomore guard PJ Haggerty led the Tigers with a game-high 25 points – including 22 in the second half to lead the Memphis comeback. Last year's unanimous AAC Freshman of the Year went 10-for-11 from the charity stripe and added six boards and five assists.

Three more Tigers chipped in double-digit scoring efforts as former Big 12 Freshman of the Year Tyrese Hunter scored 14 points with four rebounds and a pair of assists. Fifth-year center Moussa Cisse added 14 points himself to accompany seven rebounds from the bench. Redshirt-senior guard Colby Rogers added 10 points.

GAME DETAILS
Memphis Tigers (1-0) vs. UNLV Rebels (1-0)
Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024 | 5 p.m. CT
Thomas & Mack Center (18,000); Las Vegas, Nev.
Television: Mountain West Network
Radio: 98.9 The Roar of Memphis (Jeff Brightwell, 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.
11: The number of transfer additions to the roster this season, seven of which were brought in from Division I programs. The Tigers lost 14 total players from last year's squad.
107: 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.

ABOUT THE ROSTER

This season's Tiger squad features two returners from last year's team along with 11 newcomers.
The newcomers are made up of seven 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.

SERIES HISTORY VS. UNLV

Memphis and UNLV have met five times in their history with the last game being during the 1996-97 season.
The Rebels have won the last four match-ups, including a neutral site overtime win in Maui, Hawaii during the '88-'89 season.
The last time the Tigers picked up a win over UNLV in Las Vegas was back in 1970-71 when Memphis came away with the 83-76 victory.

SCOUTING THE UNLV REBELS

The Rebels bring back six players from last year's roster, including the 2023-24 Mountain West Co-Freshman of the Year Dedan Thomas Jr. and senior forward Rob Whaley Jr. and sixth-year Jalen Hill.
Ten newcomers make their way to the desert this season. Four Division I transfers, a junior colelge transfer and five freshmen make up the roster this season.
In the team's season-opener against Alabama St, New Mexico Junoir College transfer Jeremiah "Bear" Cherry led the team with 24 points on 10-11 shooting and 11 boards.
Thomas Jr. added in 17 points with 10 of them coming from the charitry stripe while Julian Rishwain and Brooklyn Hicks both came off the bench for 13 and 11 points, respectively.

UP NEXT
The Tigers will return back to the Bluff City to host Ohio University Friday night at 7 p.m. at FedExForum. Memphis will be back on the road at San Francisco Thursday, Nov. 21. with tip-off at 9 p.m. CT. Both games can be viewed on ESPN+.

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

Moussa Cisse

PJ Haggerty

Tyrese Hunter

Nicholas Jourdain

Colby Rogers

Noah Stansbury

University of Memphis Athletics