Tigers Head to East Carolina to Close Out February

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Memphis Tigers men's basketball team starts down the home stretch of the regular season Thursday night at East Carolina. The 6 p.m. CT tipoff in Greenville, N.C. on ESPN2 is the first of a three-game stretch to conclude the regular season for the Tigers.

Just one game separates Memphis and East Carolina in the American Athletic Conference standings. The Tigers have won two-straight games and sit sixth in the league table, while the Pirates have won three of their last four and enter the matchup tied for seventh with North Texas.

A win for Memphis would give the Tigers 10 conference wins for the seventh-straight season and each of the six campaigns under head coach Penny Hardaway. Another 10-win season in conference play would also be the Tigers' 21^st of the 2000s.

Memphis versus East Carolina always seems to be a battle, but the Tigers have had the Pirates' number lately. The Tigers have won eight of the last nine meetings in the series but are just 3-3 in the last six trips to Greenville dating back to 2015. The last trip to Minges Coliseum saw ECU come from behind and win 72-71 on a buzzer beater on Jan. 15, 2022.

After scuffling through a four-game slide in late January, the Tigers (20-8, 9-6 AAC) have begun to pick up steam as we near March, picking up back-to-back wins over second-place teams in the conference. Memphis routed Charlotte 76-52 last Wednesday, then back it up with a 78-74 revenge victory over Florida Atlantic on Sunday.

Senior forward Nae'Qwan Tomlin was a big reason for last week's success, earning the AAC's Player of the Week after averaging 18.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.5 steals per game.

Thursday's matchup will be the 31st meeting all-time with East Carolina (14-13, 7-7). The Tigers lead the series 25-5 overall and sport a 9-4 advantage on the road in Greenville. It will be the Tigers' first visit to Minges Coliseum in more than two years.

East Carolina was picked fifth in the AAC Preseason Coaches Poll after finishing the 2022-23 season in ninth place. RJ Felton was tabbed a preseason all-conference second team selection.

UP NEXT
The Tigers conclude the week with their home finale Sunday afternoon at FedExForum against UAB. The senior day contest will get under way at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN2.

Memphis will then get a week off before traveling to Boca Raton to take on Florida Atlantic in the final matchup of the regular season on CBS. The AAC Tournament then runs March 13-17 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.

GAME DETAILS
Memphis Tigers (20-8, 9-6 AAC) at East Carolina (14-13, 7-7 AAC)
Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024 | 6 p.m. CT
Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum (7,100); Greenville, N.C.
Television: ESPN2 (Kevin Brown, pxp; Mark Adams, analysis)
Radio: 98.9 THE ROAR OF MEMPHIS (Dave Woloshin, pxp; Matt Dillon, analysis)

BY THE NUMBERS

5.8: Assists per game from Jahvon Quinerly over the last eight games. He has recorded at least six dimes in six of the eight.
16-2: Record this season when Memphis leads with five minutes remaining in the game. They are 3-5, however, when trailing at that mark.
18.0: Scoring average for Nae'Qwan Tomlin over the last three games, while also grabbing 6.0 rebounds per contest. He leads the team with a 67.9 shooting percentage (19-28) and an 80.0-percent clip from the stripe (12-15) in that span.
21-10: Over the last six games, David Jones is averaging 21.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, 3.8 steals and 2.3 assists per game with five double-doubles in that span. He currently ranks second in the AAC with nine double-doubles and leads the league with 17 games of 20-plus points.
28: Points needed by David Jones to tied Rodney Carney (2005-06) for 10^th-place on Memphis' single-season leaderboard for total points. He currently has 608, while Carney recorded 636.
53.3: Field goal percentage from Jaykwon Walton in Memphis' last two games (8-15), both of which are wins. In the seven games prior, he was only shooting 23.9 percent (11-46) and failed to reach even 50.0 percent in a single game.

SCOUTING EAST CAROLINA

The Pirates enter Thursday night looking to win four of their last five games after seeing their three-game winning streak snapped on the road against Rice last Saturday.
ECU is seeking to win its 12th home game of the season which would mark the second time in the past three seasons that the Pirates have won 12 games inside Minges Coliseum.
RJ Felton leads East Carolina with 16.5 points per game (6th in AAC) and has scored 10 or more points in 19 consecutive games.
Brandon Johnson and Ezra Ausar round out the Pirates' top scorers with 13.7 and 12 points per game respectively.
Johnson leads the team on the glass with 8.5 rebounds per contest which is third in the league and is third in the AAC in double-doubles this season with eight.
Bobby Pettiford Jr. leads the Pirates with 3.5 assists per game and is first in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.17 (15th in NCAA).
East Carolina compiled a 16-17 overall record and a 6-12 mark in American Athletic Conference play during the 2022-23 season. The 16 wins were the most for the program since the 2013-14 season and the six league wins were previously the most since the team joined the AAC prior to the 2014-15 season until the Pirates recorded their seventh league win this season, beating Tulane 81-67.

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

Jahvon Quinerly

Nae'Qwan Tomlin

Jaykwon Walton

University of Memphis Athletics