University of Memphis Athletics
Thursday, January 16
Philadelphia, Pa.
6:00 PM
University of Memphis
at
Temple
Photo by: Matthew A. Smith
No. 18 Tigers Travel to Temple Thursday Looking for 5th-Straight Win
Jan 15, 2025 | Men's Basketball
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The No. 18 Memphis Tigers put their winning streak on the line Thursday night with an American Athletic Conference trip to the City of Brotherly Love to take the Temple Owls in a 'white out'. Game time is set for 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2 inside the Liacouras Center.
It will be the third-straight trip to Philadelphia for the Tigers in the series after a four-year hiatus. In 2022-23, Memphis pulled out a 61-59 victory behind a buzzer beater from Kendric Davis in the final second. Last season, the Tigers put five players in double figures en route to an 84-77 win.
Memphis (13-3) sits atop the league standings as the only undefeated AAC squad at 3-0 entering the week. It's the second time the Tigers have started a conference season 3-0 since 2012-13, their final season as a member of Conference USA.
The Tigers will look to keep their momentum going after taking down East Carolina, 74-70, Saturday afternoon inside FedExForum. Leading scorer PJ Haggerty was at it again in the win, pouring in a game-high 25 points and four rebounds while going 10-of-10 at the free throw line.
The Crosby, Texas product enters Thursday as the nation's third-leading scorer at 22.4 points per game. He's led the team in scoring 10 times this season and has a league-high 11 games of 20-plus points. Haggerty is first in the conference in scoring, free throws made (120) and minutes per game (36.5), ranks second in steals per game (1.9) and eighth in free throw percentage (83.3).
Temple enters the contest 10-6 overall and 2-1 in AAC action after winning 73-70 on the road at Rice on Saturday. On the year, the Owls are 6-0 at home with an average margin of victory at 12.5 points.
The all-time series between the school dates to 1952-53 with Memphis holding a 15-11 advantage after winning the last six meetings.
It will be another 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 in 2022-23 and put up the best game of his Temple career when Memphis visited on January 15 with 16 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.
In last season's game against Temple, Jourdain recorded 10 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals in 28 minutes to lead the Tigers to an 84-77 victory.
Penny Hardaway's squad will have to contend with Owls star guard Jamal Mashburn Jr., who is third in the AAC in points per game (20.7). Memphis guard PJ Haggerty (22.4 ppg) leads the league in scoring.
Mashburn's father, who played for Rick Pitino at Kentucky, was drafted fourth overall in the 1993 NBA Draft. Hardaway was picked third overall the same year. Both Hardaway and Mashburn were members of the NBA All-Rookie First Team.
GAME DETAILS
No. 18/17 Memphis Tigers (13-3, 3-0 AAC) vs. Temple (10-6, 2-1 AAC)
Thursday, Jan. 16, 2024 | 6 p.m. CT
Liacouras Center (10,200); Philadelphia, Pa.
Television: ESPN2 (Dave Leno, pxp; Phil Martelli, analysis)
Radio: 98.9 THE ROAR OF MEMPHIS (Dave Woloshin, pxp; Matt Dillon, analysis)
BY THE NUMBERS
SCOUTING THE OWLS
UP NEXT
The Tigers finish up their two-game road swing on Sunday with a 2 p.m. CT tip at Charlotte on ESPN2. It will be the first visit to the 49ers as AAC foes.
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.
It will be the third-straight trip to Philadelphia for the Tigers in the series after a four-year hiatus. In 2022-23, Memphis pulled out a 61-59 victory behind a buzzer beater from Kendric Davis in the final second. Last season, the Tigers put five players in double figures en route to an 84-77 win.
Memphis (13-3) sits atop the league standings as the only undefeated AAC squad at 3-0 entering the week. It's the second time the Tigers have started a conference season 3-0 since 2012-13, their final season as a member of Conference USA.
The Tigers will look to keep their momentum going after taking down East Carolina, 74-70, Saturday afternoon inside FedExForum. Leading scorer PJ Haggerty was at it again in the win, pouring in a game-high 25 points and four rebounds while going 10-of-10 at the free throw line.
The Crosby, Texas product enters Thursday as the nation's third-leading scorer at 22.4 points per game. He's led the team in scoring 10 times this season and has a league-high 11 games of 20-plus points. Haggerty is first in the conference in scoring, free throws made (120) and minutes per game (36.5), ranks second in steals per game (1.9) and eighth in free throw percentage (83.3).
Temple enters the contest 10-6 overall and 2-1 in AAC action after winning 73-70 on the road at Rice on Saturday. On the year, the Owls are 6-0 at home with an average margin of victory at 12.5 points.
The all-time series between the school dates to 1952-53 with Memphis holding a 15-11 advantage after winning the last six meetings.
It will be another 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 in 2022-23 and put up the best game of his Temple career when Memphis visited on January 15 with 16 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.
In last season's game against Temple, Jourdain recorded 10 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals in 28 minutes to lead the Tigers to an 84-77 victory.
Penny Hardaway's squad will have to contend with Owls star guard Jamal Mashburn Jr., who is third in the AAC in points per game (20.7). Memphis guard PJ Haggerty (22.4 ppg) leads the league in scoring.
Mashburn's father, who played for Rick Pitino at Kentucky, was drafted fourth overall in the 1993 NBA Draft. Hardaway was picked third overall the same year. Both Hardaway and Mashburn were members of the NBA All-Rookie First Team.
GAME DETAILS
No. 18/17 Memphis Tigers (13-3, 3-0 AAC) vs. Temple (10-6, 2-1 AAC)
Thursday, Jan. 16, 2024 | 6 p.m. CT
Liacouras Center (10,200); Philadelphia, Pa.
Television: ESPN2 (Dave Leno, pxp; Phil Martelli, analysis)
Radio: 98.9 THE ROAR OF MEMPHIS (Dave Woloshin, pxp; Matt Dillon, analysis)
BY THE NUMBERS
- 4-0: Memphis is looking to start 4-0 in conference play for only the second time in the last 12 seasons. Prior to last season, the Tigers had not started 4-0 in league play since 2012-13.
- 7.3: The scoring average for Dain Dainja in the second halves of games this season, compared to 4.1 in the first halves. In 16 games, he has 66 points before halftime and 117 after, and only four times has he scored more points in the first 20 minutes than he did in the second half. He's reached double figures. In AAC action, he is averaging 2.0 points in the first half and 11.3 in the second.
- 8-0: Record for the Tigers this season when reaching 80 points in a game and 5-3 when failing to do so.
- 9.0: The Tigers' average margin of victory during its current six-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.
- 11: The number of teams in the country that are undefeated in true road games. Memphis enters Thursday 4-0 on the road and 7-1 in all games away from home.
- 11-0: Record this season when Memphis leads with 5 minutes remaining in the game. They are 1-3, however, when trailing at that mark. In the last five seasons, the Tigers are 88-12 when ahead at the 5-minute mark and 9-26 when trailing.
- 64.0: Field goal percentage for Dain Dainja in AAC play (16-of-25), which leads the Tigers. The big man is averaging 13.3 points and 4.3 rebounds against conference opponents.
SCOUTING THE OWLS
- Temple enters Thursday having won six of its last eight games, including conference victories over Wichita State (91-85) and Rice (73-70).
- The Owls only AAC defeat came on the road at East Carolina (80-79) on Jan. 8.
- Temple is the best team in the conference, and eighth nationally, with 19.2 makes and 26.4 attempts at the free throw line. Memphis is just behind at 18.6 and 25.2, respectively.
- Graduate guard Jamal Mashburn, Jr., ranks 10th in the country and third in the AAC in scoring with 20.7 points per game. He's also leads the league in three-point field goal percentage (.444) and is tied with Haggerty for the most 20-point games on the year (11).
- Redshirt senior forward Steve Settle III is second on the team with 11.1 points. He leads the squad with 6.7 rebounds per game, and is ninth in the conference with 1.25 blocks per game.
- Sophomore guard Zion Stanford is scoring 10.7 points per game, while redshirt sophomore guard Quante Berry is averaging 9.4 points and 5.0 rebounds, while leading the team with 24 steals.
- The Owls enter the game averaging 78.9 points per game and are allowing 74.2 to their opponents.
UP NEXT
The Tigers finish up their two-game road swing on Sunday with a 2 p.m. CT tip at Charlotte on ESPN2. It will be the first visit to the 49ers as AAC foes.
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.
Players Mentioned
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