Tigers Open NCAA First Round Friday Against Colorado State

SEATTLE - The Memphis Tigers are in the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four seasons and open play Friday with a first-round matchup against Colorado State at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington.

The West Region game between the 5th-seeded Tigers and the 12th-seeded Rams is scheduled to tip off at 1:00 p.m. CT on TBS.

After falling to 9-3 on Dec. 21 after a second home loss before Christmas, the Tigers won 20 of their last 22 games en route to winning the program's first American Conference regular season crown and its second AAC Tournament title. They are the first team since Houston in 2022 to win both conference championships in the same season.

That stretch included an 87-70 blowout win over rival Ole Miss just after Christmas and a victory over every other team in The American. The Tigers defeated preseason favorite UAB three times.

Memphis is making its 29th NCAA Tournament in school history, and the Tigers have won at least one game in three of its last four NCAA Tournament trips.

In Memphis' last NCAA Tournament appearance in 2023, the Tigers were seeded eighth and was matched up with ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic in Columbus, Ohio. The Owls scored with 2.5 seconds left in the game to take down Memphis, 66-65, and begin a magical run to the Final Four.

In 2022, the Tigers were handed the No. 9 seed and shipped across country to Portland, Oregon. They knocked off No. 8 Boise State, 64-53, before falling to the No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga in the second round, 82-78. The Tigers led by as many as 12 early in the second half, but 51 second-half points from the Zags proved too much to overcome.

In Memphis' NCAA Tournament appearance in 2014, the Tigers were seeded eighth and defeated George Washington in Raleigh, N.C., 71-66, before losing to number-one seed Virginia, 78-60.

The Tigers also advanced to the second round in 2013 as a six seed, before bowing out to third-seeded Michigan State in Auburn Hills, Mich.

With a win Friday against Colorado State, the Tigers would advance to play the winner of a first-round game between number-four seed Maryland and 13th-seeded Grand Canyon on Sunday.

GAME DETAILS
No. 5 Memphis Tigers (29-5) vs. No. 12 Colorado State Rams (25-9)
2025 NCAA Tournament West Region First Round
Friday, March 21, 2025 | 1:00 p.m. CT
Climate Pledge Arena (17,000); Seattle, Washington
Television: TBS (Lisa Byington, pxp; Robbie Hummel & Jalen Rose, analyst; Andy Katz, sideline reporter)
Radio: 98.9 THE ROAR OF MEMPHIS (Dave Woloshin, pxp; Matt Dillon, analysis); Westwood One (Ryan Radtke pxp; P.J. Carlesimo, analyst)

BY THE NUMBERS

5-2: Memphis' record this season against NCAA Tournament teams, with wins over No. 2 UConn, No. 16 Clemson, No. 16 Ole Miss, Michigan State and Missouri. The losses are to No. 4 Auburn in the Maui Invitational title game and Mississippi State.
8.3: Moussa Cisse's rebounding average over the last 10 games. He's also putting up 6.1 points and 2.0 blocks in that span, while shooting 53.5 percent (23-43). He was named AAC All-Tournament Team after putting up 7.3 points and 9.7 rebounds over three days in Fort Worth.
20.6: Dain Danija's points per game over his last eight games, with five 20-point outings, along with 10.0 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game; the other three games were 16, 19 and 18-point showings. He also has five double-doubles in that span.
22: Number of offensive rebounds Memphis pulled down on last Saturday against Tulane in the AAC semis. Not only was it a season-high, but it's the most O-Rebounds the Tigers have had in a game since December 12, 2020 against Auburn.
25-0:Record when leading with 5:00 minutes to play in a game this season. The Tigers are also 18-0 when leading at the half, 18-1 when they dish more assists and 21-0 when they win the rebounding battle.
27: Consecutive free throws converted by
PJ Haggerty, who is shooting a career-best 81.4 percent career from the line this season. His 221 makes at the line are 2nd-most in Division I, just one behind the leader.
50%: d Shooting better than 50.0 % in games has been an indicator of success for the Tigers in recent years. They have won 74 of the last 77 games when shooting better than 50.0% from the floor. Memphis is 64-3 under Hardaway.
741: PJ Haggerty's total points scored this season, which ranks 5th all-time in a single season in program history. Dajuan Wagner's 762 points in 2001-02 are the most all-time. Penny Hardaway is third on the list (729).

SCOUTING COLORADO STATE

Colorado State punched its ticket to its third NCAA Tournament in four years and second straight by winning the Mountain West Tournament last week with wins over Nevada (67-59), Utah State (83-72) and Boise State (69-56).
- The Rams are making their 13th appearance in the Big Dance with a record of 5-13.
The Rams extended their win streak to 10-games with the win over Boise State last Saturday and are winners of 15 of the past 17 games.
- During the win streak, CSU has won every game by at least eight points, the longest such streak in program history.
During the 10-game streak, the Rams' defense is allowing just 61.4 points per game and holding opponents to 40.8% leading to a margin of victory of 16.9 points.
Two Rams earned All-Mountain West honors in Nique Clifford and Kyan Evans. Clifford was unanimous first team selection and on the all-defense team, while Evans earned honorable mention.
- Clifford earned MVP for the Mountain West Tournament averaging 25.0 points, 10.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.0 steals per game while shooting 50.0% from the field and 43.8% behind the arc.
  - He is averaging 19.0 points, 9.7 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.2 steals per game.
Clifford became the first Ram in program history to have 500 points, 300 rebounds and 100 assists. Clifford is also the only Division I player to have 625 points, 325 rebounds and 125 assists this season.
He became the fourth player in program history to eclipse the 600 point mark in a season. Hie is currently third on the list with 646.
Clifford is third in the nation with 8.29 defensive rebounds per game and 13th for total rebounds at 9.7.
The Rams are averaging 16.6 assists per game to rank 25th in the nation. Their assist rate of 62.8% is the eighth best in the NCAA.
CSU ranks 25th in the nation making 77.5% of its free throw attempts this season.
Colorado State is the top 3-point shooting team in the Mountain West making 36.6% of their attempts to rank 55th in the nation.
Head coach Niko Medved is in his seventh year leading Colorado State. He is 142-84 as the Rams' head coach. He has the second most wins in program history, trailing only Jim Williams (1955-80) and his 352.
He became the fifth coach at CSU to reach 100 wins and only coach to have five season's of 20 wins.

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.

University of Memphis Athletics

Tigers Open NCAA First Round Friday Against Colorado State

Players Mentioned

Moussa Cisse

PJ Haggerty

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