Tigers Gear Up for Thursday Showdown at Temple on ESPN2

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The University of Memphis Tigers begin the back half of their American Athletic Conference schedule Thursday with a trip to the City of Brotherly Love to take the Temple Owls. Game time is set for 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2 inside the Liacouras Center.

It will be the second-straight trip to Philadelphia for the Tigers in the series after a four-year hiatus. Last season, Memphis pulled out a 61-59 victory there behind a buzzer beater from Kendric Davis in the final second.

The Tigers (16-6, 5-4 AAC) will look to keep some momentum going after taking down Wichita State, 65-63, Saturday inside FedExForum to break a four-game slide. Leading scorer David Jones was at it again in the win, pouring in a game-high 26 points while also drilling the game-winning shot on a midrange jumper with 2.8 seconds left to play.

The Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic product enters Thursday as the nation's fifth-leading scorer at 21.8 points per game. He's led the team in scoring 18 times this season and has a league-high 13 games of 20-plus points. Jones is first in the conference in scoring, second in three-pointers made (53), fourth in steals per game (2.0) and ninth in rebounding (6.8) and free throw percentage (82.1).

Temple enters the contest 8-14 overall and 1-8 in AAC action after falling 92-80 in overtime at Tulane on Sunday, despite 23 points from Riley Jordan and Jahlil White pouring in 21 points and 15 rebounds. On the year, the Owls are 4-5 at home with the last win coming January 7 against Wichita State (68-61).

The all-time series between the school dates back to 1952-53 with Memphis holding a 14-11 advantage after sweeping both meetings last season.

It will be a homecoming for Nicholas Jourdain, who transferred to Memphis after spending his first three seasons in college at Temple. The Clifton, New Jersey native averaged 6.3 points and 4.5 rebounds for the Owls last season and put up the best game of his Temple career when Memphis visited on January 15 with 16 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.

The Owls enter the game averaging 70.1 points per game and are allowing 73.4 to their opponents.

UP NEXT
The Tigers return home for Super Bowl Sunday to host Tulane in a 1 p.m. showdown at FedExForum on ESPN2. Memphis will then go on a Texas two-step next week with trips to North Texas (Feb. 15) and SMU (Feb. 18).

GAME DETAILS
Memphis Tigers (16-6, 5-4 AAC) vs. Temple (8-14, 1-8 AAC)
Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024 | 6 p.m. CT
Liacouras Center (10,200); Philadelphia, Pa.
Television: ESPN2 (Kevin Brown, pxp; Jon Crispin, analysis)
Radio: 98.9 THE ROAR OF MEMPHIS (Dave Woloshin, pxp; Matt Dillon, analysis)

BY THE NUMBERS

122: The number of games since Memphis last recorded a victory when shooting 37.5% or lower prior to Saturday's victory against Wichita State (24-of-64 FG). The previous win came Feb. 22, 2020 at Houston. The Tigers are just 4-15 when shooting 37.5% or lower in six seasons under Penny Hardaway.
9.4: The Tigers' average margin of victory during its current 5-game winning streak against Temple. Memphis has held the Owls to 65 or fewer points three times in that span without allowing more than 77.
65.0: Field goal percentage for Malcolm Dandridge in AAC play (39-of-60), which ranks 2nd in the league. The big man is averaging 11.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 1.2 steals against conference opponents.
17: Wins in the month of February for the Tigers over the last four seasons (17-3), dating back to Feb. 1, 2021; Memphis is 27-10 in February under head coach Penny Hardaway.
25.7: Scoring average for David Jones over the last five games, to go along with 7.2 rebounds, 2.6 steals and 1.4 assists. He's shooting 51.2% overall and 43.2% from three-point range.
46.2: Three-point percentage from Jaykwon Walton in conference play, which ranks 2^nd-best in the AAC. The senior guard has made 18-of-39 long ball attempts in his last nine games. Prior to that stretch, Jaykwon was shooting just 21.2% from distance over the first 13 games of the season (11-of-52).

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT

Temple's roster features nine upperclassmen with four freshmen and one sophomore.
Temple ranks dead last in the conference in field goal percentage (37.8) and blocks per game (2.5). They are next to last in rebound margin (-2.3), scoring margin (-2.8) and three-point percentage (29.8).
Despite the low percentage from deep, the Owls are one of the busiest teams in the country from beyond the arc, ranking 16^th in three-point attempts per game (28.4), but are only converting 8.5 makes per game.
Hysier Miller leads a trio of Owls in double-figure scoring at 15.9 points per game, which ranks seventh in the AAC. Miller also ranks sixth in the league in assists (4.3) and ninth in assist/turnover ratio (1.98).
Sam Hofman paces the squad with 6.1 rebounds per outing, while Riley Jordan is right behind him at 5.9 boards.
Jahlil White is third on the team in scoring at 11.7 points per game.

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.

Tigers Gear Up for Thursday Showdown at Temple on ESPN2

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Malcolm Dandridge

Kendric Davis

David Jones

Nicholas Jourdain

Jaykwon Walton

University of Memphis Athletics

Tigers Gear Up for Thursday Showdown at Temple on ESPN2

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Malcolm Dandridge

Kendric Davis

David Jones

Nicholas Jourdain

Jaykwon Walton

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