Tigers Begin AAC Title Defense Thursday Against Wichita State

FORT WORTH, Texas – The reigning American Athletic Conference champion Memphis Tigers begin postseason play Thursday afternoon in the second round of the 2024 AAC Championship in Fort Worth, Texas.

The fifth-seeded Tigers will play at 1:30 p.m. on ESPNU against 12^th-seeded Wichita State. The Shockers defeated No. 13 Rice 88-81 in the first round Wednesday.

Memphis enters postseason play winners of seven of its last 10 games, with all three losses coming on the road.

The Tigers have won 20-plus games for the seventh-straight season, including all six under head coach Penny Hardaway. The 22 victories are tied for the second-most under Hardaway.

Memphis leads the all-time series 20-12 after sweeping both of its meetings with Wichita State during the regular season. The Tigers hit a school-record 19 three-pointers to win 112-86 in Wichita on Jan. 14, then had to come from 14-points down to win 65-63 in Memphis on Feb. 3.

The Tigers and Shockers have never met in the AAC Championship, their only meeting on a neutral floor came on Nov. 18, 2014, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota where Wichita State won 71-56.

With a victory Thursday, Memphis would advance to the quarterfinals of the AAC Tournament where it would face No. 4 UAB at 2 p.m. Friday on ESPN2. The Tigers will need to win twice to advance to the semifinals for the sixth-straight season.

The semifinal matchup would be played at 2 p.m. Saturday on ESPN2 while the championship game is slated for 2:15 p.m. Sunday on ESPN.

Memphis is looking to improve its resume for a third-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament.

GAME DETAILS
No. 5 Memphis Tigers (22-9) vs. No. 12 Wichita State (14-18)
2024 American Athletic Conference Championship Second Round
Thursday, March 14, 2024 | 1:30 p.m. CT
Dickies Arena (14,000); Fort Worth, Texas
Television: ESPNU (Mike Corey, pxp; Perry Clark, analysis)
Radio: 98.9 THE ROAR OF MEMPHIS (Dave Woloshin, pxp; Matt Dillon, analysis)

BY THE NUMBERS

6th: With David Jones' all-conference selection, it marks the sixth-straight season Memphis has been represented on the first team and the ninth time in 11 seasons since joining the AAC.
24.0: Points per game from Nae'Qwan Tomlin over the last four games, which includes 28 and 27 in his last two. He has scored 20+ in all four and has reached double figures in 11 of his last 12. He's shooting 74.5% (38-51) overall and 60.0% (9-15) from deep in that span.
34-7: Record for Memphis in Texas during the month of March (.829). The Tigers have won four straight and 10 of their last 11 dating back to 2021, which includes an NIT and AAC Championship. Head coach Penny Hardaway is 11-4 with all four losses coming to Houston.
50.0%: Shooting better than 50.0 percent in games seems to be a great indicator of success for the Tigers in recent years. The Tigers have won 62 of the last 64 games when shooting better than 50.0% from the floor. That stretch included a streak of 38-straight games before falling at East Carolina (72-71) on Jan. 15, 2022. Memphis is 91-4 in the last decade when reaching 50%, including a 51-2 mark under Hardaway.
63.1: Points per game average over the last three games combined from the Tigers' three-headed monster of Nae'Qwan Tomlin, David Jones and Jahvon Quinerly. The rest of the team has averaged 24.4 points combined in that span.
258: Three-pointers made this season from the Tigers, which is tied for the 7^th-most in the program's single-season history. Two makes will move them into the top-5. The school record is 302 set in 2007-08.
674: Total points from David Jones this season, which currently ranks eighth on the all-time single-season chart. With 26 points at the Championship, he would become only the seventh Tiger all-time to reach 700 points in a single season. Dajuan Wagner holds the record of 762 in 2001-02.

THE LAST TIME OUT

Nae'Qwan Tomlin led the way with 27 points, including five 3-pointers, but the Memphis Tigers came up short in the final game of the regular season, falling 92-84 at Florida Atlantic Saturday afternoon in Boca Raton, Florida.
The Tigers were hot to start the game, hitting eight of their first 14 shots, which included four three-pointers.
They were in front for nearly the first 13 minutes of the game and led by as many as six following back-to-back triples from Jayden Hardaway and David Jones.
Florida Atlantic rode its big man Vlad Goldin and eventually took its first lead at the 7:04 mark of the first half.
Goldin scored 15 of his 21 points in the first half and helped lead the Owls into the break with a 41-35 advantage.
The Tigers pulled to within three at 48-45 at the 15:10 mark early in the second half, but the Owls reeled off a 12-3 run to help build a 14-point lead with six minutes to play.
Memphis managed to get it back to within six points on multiple occasions but were unable to get over the hump.
FAU was led by Goldin's 21 points and 12 rebounds, while Bryan Greenlee also chipped in 21.

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 Begin AAC Title Defense Thursday Against Wichita State

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jayden Hardaway

David Jones

Jahvon Quinerly

Nae'Qwan Tomlin

Tigers Begin AAC Title Defense Thursday Against Wichita State

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jayden Hardaway

David Jones

Jahvon Quinerly

Nae'Qwan Tomlin

Related Videos