Jan. 6, 2009

Complete Release in PDF Format

TIGERS TO HOST MARSHALL IN C-USA OPENER AT FEDEXFORUM WEDNESDAY
The University of Memphis squad (10-3, 0-0 C-USA), ranked No. 32 in the Associated Press poll (seventh in Also Receiving Votes) and No. 31 in ESPN/USA Today poll (sixth in Also Receiving Votes), closes its seven-game homestand on Wednesday, Jan. 7 when it hosts Marshall (7-6, 0-0 C-USA) at FedExForum in the Conference USA opener for both teams. The game, to be televised by Comcast Sports Southeast, is scheduled for an 8 p.m. (CT) start.

The Tigers' seven-game homestand is the longest in the John Calipari era. Heading into Wednesday's game, the Tigers have a 5-1 record in this homestand.

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 four-consecutive victories over Drexel (87-49) Dec. 22, Cincinnati (60-45) Dec. 29, Northeastern (80-48) Dec. 31 and Lamar (108-75) Jan. 3.

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.

Marshall brings a 7-6 overall record into Wednesday's Conference USA opener. The Thundering Herd have dropped two of their last three games entering league play, including an 80-70 setback at San Diego in their last outing Jan. 2. Prior to its last three contests, Marshall put together a four-game win streak from Dec. 6-20.

SCOUTING THE THUNDERING HERD
Marshall brings a 7-6 overall record into Wednesday's Conference USA opener. The Thundering Herd have dropped two of their last three games entering league play, including an 80-70 setback at San Diego in their last outing Jan. 2. Prior to its last three contests, Marshall put together a four-game win streak from Dec. 6-20.

The trio of Damier Pitts (11.2 ppg), Chris Lutz (10.9 ppg) and Tyler Wilkerson (10.6 ppg) paces the Thundering Herd offense. Wilkerson leads Marshall on the glass with a 6.0 rebounding average, while Tirrell Baines is second at 5.6 rpg. Pitts is tops on the squad with 53 assists (4.1 apg) and 18 steals. Lutz (46.5 percent) and Shaquille Johnson (42.9 percent) are Marshall's top threats from the three-point arc.

The Thundering Herd are shooting 45.9 percent from the field, 35.9 percent from the three-point line and 72.7 percent from the charity stripe. Marshall is out-rebounding its opponents by an average margin of +4.5 boards per game (34.3-29.5).

A MEMPHIS-MARSHALL TIE
There are not many ties, but there is one connection between Memphis and Marshall. Tiger head coach John Calipari worked with Marshall Director of Athletics Bob Marcum in the early-to-mid 1990s at UMass.

Calipari served as the UMass head coach from 1988-96, while Marcum served as the school's athletics director from 1993-2002. Current Memphis assistant coach John Robic served on Calipari's staff during that time.

OLD FRIENDS MEET AS FOES
Wednesday's contest will bring old friends back together on the same court. Memphis' Robert Dozier and Marshall's Markel Humphrey (Atlanta, Ga.) played AAU ball together before their collegiate careers. As collegiate foes, Dozier (Tigers) has won all four meetings against Humphrey (Marshall).

MEMPHIS IN CONFERENCE USA OPENERS
The Tigers have a 9-4 record in their previous 13 Conference USA openers. Memphis has won its league opener the last four years, including a 99-58 victory over East Carolina at FedExForum on Jan. 9, 2008.

Memphis won its first three Conference USA openers from 1996-98, and then dropped its next three league openers from 1999-2001. The Tigers then won its next two C-USA openers (2002, 2003) before dropping its 2003-04 league opener at Southern Miss.

Wednesday's game is the 12th time in the 14-year history of C-USA that the Tigers open league play at home. Memphis played its C-USA opener at home eight-straight years from 1996-2003, and also played at home in 2005, 2007 and 2008. The only two times Memphis' C-USA opener was on the road were 2004 and 2006.

Under head coach John Calipari, Memphis is 6-2 in Conference USA openers (.750 winning percentage).

TIGERS IN C-USA HOME OPENERS
Memphis has a 10-3 record (.769 winning percentage) in Conference USA home openers. The Tigers have won their last seven league home openers, defeating East Carolina 99-58 in 2007-08, Marshall 77-59 in 2006-07, SMU 73-53 in 2005-06, Southern Miss 60-46 in 2004-05, Charlotte 91-69 in 2003-04, Tulane 85-73 in 2002-03 and Southern Miss 75-53 in 2001-02.

The last time Memphis dropped a C-USA home opener was the 2000-01 campaign, a 75-67 setback to Southern Miss. The 2000-01 season was John Calipari's first in the Bluff City.

WHEN THEY'RE ONE IN THE SAME
The Tigers have an 8-3 record (.727 winning percentage) when their Conference USA opener is also their league home opener. Memphis played its first eight C-USA openers at home from 1996-2003. The last time Memphis' C-USA opener was also its league home opener was the 2007-08 campaign, and the Tigers posted a 99-58 win over East Carolina at FedExForum.

MEMPHIS IN CONFERENCE USA
The Tigers have an all-time record of 147-55 (.728 winning percentage) in Conference USA play. Memphis has posted double-digit league wins in 10 of its 13 seasons in Conference USA, including a school-record and league-record tying 16 games in 2006-07 and 2007-08.

Last year's 16 C-USA victories tied the Tiger record for most league wins in a season in school history. Prior to the previous two campaigns (2006-07, 2007-08), Memphis' most C-USA wins were 13 on two occasions in 2002-03 (13-3) and 2005-06 (13-1).

Memphis won its first outright C-USA regular season title in 2005-06, and followed that with out-right regular season crowns in 2006-07 and 2007-08. Memphis also tied for the C-USA regular season crown in 2003-04 (12-4 record) and 1995-96 (11-3).

Memphis also won three National Division titles in 1997-98, 2001-02 and 2002-03, and captured two league White Division championships in 1995-96 and 1996-97.

CALIPARI IN CONFERENCE USA
Head coach John Calipari has a 101-25 (.802 winning percentage) in Conference USA play. Calipari's teams have posted double-digit C-USA win seasons in seven of his eight years, and have averaged 12.6 C-USA victories per season.

Calipari has guided Memphis to four C-USA regular season titles in 2003-04, 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08, and two league National Division championships in 2001-02 and 2002-03.

STREAKING IN C-USA
Entering league play in 2008-09, the Tigers still have two streaks going in Conference USA.

The Tigers have won 33-straight regular season Conference USA games and 42-straight C-USA overall contests, including the league's postseason tournaments. The last time Memphis suffered a setback to a C-USA foe was Mar. 2, 2006, when the Tigers fell at UAB 80-74 -- a span of 1,041 days.

The 42-game win streak (includes C-USA Tournaments) is the longest in C-USA history. The 33-game regular-season win streak is also tops in C-USA history, moving past Cincinnati's 21-game regular season win streak from 1998-99 through 2000-01.

ANOTHER CLASH ON THE BOARDS SET FOR WEDNESDAY
In their two recent encounters when the Tigers had to step up to the challenge on the glass, they passed with flying colors. Memphis out-rebounded Drexel 42-39 in a Dec. 22 win over the Dragons. Drexel entered the game with a +6.7 rebound margin. A week later, Cincinnati brought an incredible +11.4 rebound margin into FedExForum. The Tigers, though, won the board battle that night 44-32.

On Wednesday, Memphis faces its first Conference USA test on the glass versus Marshall. The Tigers are ranked third in rebound margin in C-USA at +5.8, but the Thundering Herd are not far behind. Marshall is fourth in C-USA at +4.5.

TIGER SUCCESS IN JANUARY
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 55-10 record (.846 winning percentage) in the month of January. The Tigers have won their last 26 January games, with their last January setback coming to Texas on Jan. 2, 2006 (69-58 loss).

CALL HIM MR. TRIPLE-DOUBLE
The Jan. 3 game versus Lamar is one that Tiger Nation won't soon forget, as those fans in attendance and television viewers witnessed history in the making. Senior Antonio Anderson became only the second player in Memphis basketball history to record a triple-double. The 6-foot-6 guard is a member of a select club whose only other member is former Tiger All-America Anfernee Hardaway. "Penny" recorded consecutive triple-doubles in the 1992-93 season.

Anderson posted his triple-double performance with 12 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high 13 assists. The following lists the triple-doubles in Memphis basketball history:

Player/Date	Opponent	P-R-A

Anderson/1-3-09	Lamar	12-10-13

Hardaway/1-6-93	Vanderbilt	26-12-10

Hardaway/1-4-93	Georgia St.	21-15-14

MORE ON ANDERSON'S NIGHT
In posting his triple-double, Antonio Anderson put his name in another section of the Tiger record book. His 13 assists are tied for fourth-most in a single game in Memphis hoops history. The last time a Tiger played dished out 13 assists in a game was back in the 1995-96 campaign. Chris Garner had 13 assists in a 96-76 Tiger win over Louisiana-Monroe on Dec. 23, 1995.

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. Thirteen games into the campaign, Memphis is holding opponents to 36.8 percent shooting from the floor. In the last four wins, the Tigers held their opponents to a combined 31.6 percent shooting from the field (72-of-228).

DOZIER LOVES PLAYING THE HERD
You see it in college basketball across the country. A player always seems to have his best games against a certain opponent. For Memphis' Robert Dozier, that foe is Marshall.

In four career games versus the Thundering Herd, the Lithonia, Ga., native is averaging 14.3 points and 9.3 boards per contest. Dozier is also shooting 56.8 percent from the field and 82.4 percent from the foul line against Marshall.

'REKE AT POINT=BETTER OFFENSIVE FLOW
Just before Christmas, head coach John Calipari made the decision to move freshman Tyreke Evans to the point guard spot. And, my how things have changed offensively for the Tigers. The following shows the before and since Evans' move to the point Dec. 22::

	Before 12-22	Stat	Since 12-22

	76.6	Points/Game	83.8

	41.1	FG Pct.	45.9

	26.3	3-pt. FG Pct.	34.9

	5.7	3-pt. Made/Game	7.3

	14.7	Assists/Game	16.3

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