Jan. 2, 2009

Complete Release in PDF Format

TIGERS TO OPEN NEW YEAR WITH NONLEAGUE GAME VERSUS LAMAR AT FEDEXFORUM SATURDAY
The University of Memphis squad (9-3, 0-0 C-USA), ranked No. 30 in the Associated Press poll (fifth in Also Receiving Votes) and No. 29 in ESPN/USA Today poll (fourth in Also Receiving Votes), continues its seven-game homestand at FedExForum on Saturday, Jan. 3 when it hosts Lamar (9-3, 0-0 SLC). The game, to be televised by Comcast Sports Southeast, is scheduled for a 7 p.m. (CT) start.

The Tigers wrap up this seven-game homestand on Jan. 7 against Marshall. The Jan. 7 contest is the Conference USA opener for Memphis. Memphis opened its seven-game homestand Dec. 17 with a 59-51 victory over Arkansas-Little Rock and followed with a 72-65 setback to No. 11/11 Syracuse Dec. 20. The Tigers bounced back with an 87-49 pre-Christmas victory over Drexel on Dec. 22, a 60-45 post-Christmas win over Cincinnati on Dec. 29 and an 80-48 New Year's Eve victory over Northeastern on Dec. 31.

Prior to its Dec. 17 victory over Arkansas-Little Rock, Memphis dropped its road opener of the 2008-09 campaign with a 79-70 overtime setback at No. 19/19 Georgetown Dec. 13. The loss ended the Tigers' 19-game road win streak that stretched back to the middle of the 2006-07 season.

Lamar, picked to finish second in the Southland Conference West Division preseason poll by the league's coaches, brings a 9-3 record into Saturday's game. The Cardinals enter Saturday's contest on a three-game win streak with victories over Texas Tech, Huston-Tillotson and St. Gregory's. Lamar began 2008-09 with fi ve-straight victories, including road wins at Louisiana-Lafayette and Rice.

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
Lamar, picked to finish second in the Southland Conference West Division preseason poll by the league's coaches, brings a 9-3 record into Saturday's game. The Cardinals enter Saturday's contest on a three-game win streak with victories over Texas Tech, Huston-Tillotson and St. Gregory's. Lamar began 2008-09 with five-straight victories, including road wins at Louisiana-Lafayette and Rice.

The trio of Kenny Dawkins (17.3 ppg), Brandon McThay (14.5 ppg) and Jay Brown (14.2 ppg) leads the Cardinals' offense. Brown is Lamar's and the Southland Conference's top rebounder at 9.6 rpg. Charlie Harper is the Cardinals' second-leading rebounder at 5.3 rpg. Dawkins, a 2009 Bob Cousy Award candidate, leads Lamar with 57 assists (4.8 apg). McThay (36.6 percent) and Dawkins (32.4 percent) are the Cardinals' top three-point threats.

Lamar is shooting 46 percent from the floor, 29.9 percent from the arc and 74.7 percent from the charity stripe. The Cardinals are out-rebounding their opponents by an average margin of +5.5 boards per contest (38.5-33.0). Lamar is forcing its foes to turn the ball over nearly 17 times a game (16.9 to/g).

WELCOME BACK, COACH "ROC"
Saturday's game is a homecoming for Lamar's third-year head coach Steve Roccaforte, who took over the Cardinals' program prior to the 2006-07 campaign, returns to Memphis after serving as a Tiger assistant on John Calipari's staff from 2001-03. In fact, it is the second time that Roccaforte has made a return trip to the Bluff City as Lamar's head coach, as his 2006-07 Cardinals met the Tigers that year. A season earlier (2005-06), Lamar also played the Tigers, and Roccaforte was an assistant on Billy Tubbs' staff that year.

Roccaforte was a member of the Memphis teams that posted a combined record of 71-31 and earned three postseason berths (1 NCAA, 2 NIT). The Tigers won the 2002 NIT national championship and reached the 2001 NIT final four. The 2003 squad earned an NCAA Tournament bid, the program's first in seven years.

Following the 2002-03 campaign, Roccaforte returned to Lamar, his alma mater (1989 Lamar graduate), to join Tubbs' staff.

CALIPARI VERSUS FORMER ASSISTANTS
John Calipari doesn't like to play former assistants, but one couldn't tell that from the Tigers' schedule in 2008-09. Saturday's game against Lamar is the fourth of five games in which Calipari will match wits versus a former assistant this season.

Calipari already faced Derek Kellogg (UMass), Chuck Martin (Marist) and Bruiser Flint (Drexel) this year. Following Saturday's encounter against Lamar's Steve Roccaforte, Calipari will face Tony Barbee (UTEP) on Feb. 21.

Prior to this season, Calipari had coached against Roccaforte in 2006-07 and Barbee in 2006-07 and 2007-08.

PRICE MAKES RETURN TO MEMPHIS
Tic Price, the Tigers' former head coach, makes his first trip back to the Bluff City as an assistant coach on the Lamar coaching staff. Price led the Memphis program for two seasons from 1997-99 and compiled a 30-27 record. He guided the 1997-98 Tiger squad to an NIT appearance, and Memphis reached the second round.

HOMECOMINGS FOR MORE CARDINALS
Saturday's contest is a homecoming for two players on the Cardinals' roster. Seniors Kenny Dawkins and Justin Nabors both call Holly Springs, Miss., home. Holly Springs is located just 52 miles southeast of Memphis. Dawkins and Nabors attended Holly Springs High School and helped lead the Hawks to back-to-back Mississippi state titles in 2004 and 2005.

TIGERS SO-SO TO OPEN NEW YEAR
Memphis has a 5-3 record in the John Calipari era in its first game of the new year. The Tigers won its 2008 new year opener in impressive fashion with a 102-58 victory over Siena on Jan. 3, 2008. Siena went on to earn an NCAA Tournament bid and pulled a first-round upset over Vanderbilt. The Tigers have won their last two "first-game-of- the-New-Year" contests with victories over Siena (2007-08) and Cincinnati (2006-07). Prior to 2006-07, Memphis had dropped its last two first games of the new year with consecutive setbacks to Texas (69-58 in 2005-06; 74-67 in 2004-05).

TIGERS LOVE DECEMBER...
Under head coach John Calipari, the Tigers have a 44-16 record (.733 winning percentage) when playing in the month of December. Memphis was 5-0 last December and has won 23 of its last 27 December contests, dating back to the 2004-05 season.

...BUT JANUARY COULD BE BETTER
While Memphis has had a lot of success in December in the John Calipari era, January has proven to be a better month for the Tigers. Since Calipari took over the Memphis hoops program in 2000-01, the Tigers have an impressive 54-10 record (.844 winning percentage) in the month of January. The Tigers have won their last 25 January games, with their last January setback coming to Texas on Jan. 2, 2006 (69-58 loss).

MEMPHIS VS. THE SOUTHLAND
The Tigers have an all-time record of 15-1 (.938 winning percentage) versus schools in the Southland Conference. Memphis has played eight -- Lamar, McNeese State, Nicholls State, Northwestern State, Sam Houston State, Southeastern Louisiana, Texas-Arlington and Texas-San Antonio -- of the Southland's 12 institutions. Stephen F. Austin, Texas State, Central Arkansas and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi are the four Southland programs the Tigers have not played.

The lone Memphis setback to a Southland school was the loss to Lamar in 1968-69. The last time the Tigers played a Southland Conference school was the 2007-08 season when Memphis defeated Texas-Arlington 87-63 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Mar. 21, 2008.

CALIPARI VS. THE SOUTHLAND
Head coach John Calipari is a perfect 5-0 against Southland Conference members. Calipari has coached against Lamar (2-0), Northwestern State (1-0), Southeastern Louisiana (1-0) and Texas-Arlington (1-0).

HIDE YOUR EYES
If fans enjoy seeing threes going in, then Saturday's game may not be for them. Memphis and Lamar both defend the arc well, but also shoot poorly from the three-point line.

The Tigers shoot only 27.5 percent from the arc, which is 12th in Conference USA. Memphis, however, defends the three-point line well, holding foes to 29.6 percent (third in C-USA). On the other side, the Cardinals hit 29.9 percent from the three-point (ninth in SLC) and hold their opponents to 29.8 percent from the perimeter (third in SLC).

F-G DE-FENSE, F-G DE-FENSE!
Back in the 2005-06 season, head coach John Calipari inspired his club to become the best field goal percentage defensive team in NCAA Division I history. At times during that season, the Tigers flirted with Stanford's record of 35.2 field goal percentage defense (1999-2000), but finished the year at 38 percent, which is tops in Memphis basketball history. Now, the 2008-09 team is making its run at the mark.

Twelve games into the campaign, Memphis is holding opponents to 36.9 percent shooting from the floor. In the last three wins, the Tigers held their opponents to a combined 29.9 percent shooting from the field (47-of-157).

For more notes on the Memphis-Lamar game, click on the pdf link at the top of the page.