Feb. 2, 2010

Complete Release in PDF Format

Tigers On TV/Radio/Web
Television: CBS College Sports/Comcast digital channel 222 (Tom McCarthy, play-by-play; Greg Anthony, color analyst)
Radio: WREC 600 AM (Dave Woloshin, play-by-play; Matt Dillon, color analyst; Forrest Goodman, studio host)
Web: Game to be streamed live on Memphis athletics web site at gotigersgo.com via All-Access (must register to view game)

TIGERS OPEN THREE-GAME HOMESTAND VERSUS RIVAL UAB WEDNESDAY
The University of Memphis squad (15-6, 5-2 C-USA) returns to the friendly confines of FedExForum on Wednesday, Feb. 3 to open a three-game homestand versus longtime rival UAB (18-3, 6-1 C-USA) in a Conference USA showdown. The game, to be aired on CBS College Sports, is slated for a 7 p.m. (CT) start.

After having their 64-game Conference USA win streak snapped Jan. 20 with a 72-67 loss to UTEP, the Tigers bounced back with consecutive league wins over Houston 92-77 on Jan. 23 and at Marshall 75-72 on Jan. 27. Memphis, though, dropped a 70-60 decision at SMU in its last outing on Jan. 30. Prior to the Jan. 20 UTEP loss, Memphis opened Conference USA play with three-straight league victories over Southern Miss 59-57, East Carolina 77-57 and Rice 80-68.

Memphis entered league play with a 10-4 non-conference record. The Tigers' four non-league losses were to then-No. 1/1 Kansas 57-55 in St. Louis, UMass 73-72 in Boston, then-No. 14/14 Tennessee 66-59 at FedExForum and then-No. 7/7 Syracuse 74-57 at the Carrier Dome.

Memphis, picked to finish between second and fourth in Conference USA in most preseason polls, returns only one starter and six letterwinners from last year's squad that won 33 games (33-4 record) and advanced to the NCAA Tournament West Region semifinal (Sweet Sixteen). En route to the Sweet Sixteen, the Tigers swept the Conference USA regular season and tournament crowns.

UAB had its seven-game win streak snapped with a 74-65 double overtime loss to UTEP at Bartow Arena on Jan. 30. Prior to the loss, the Blazers were 6-0 in C-USA action with league wins over East Carolina, Tulane, SMU, Southern Miss, Marshall and Tulsa.

SCOUTING THE BLAZERS
UAB brings an 18-3 overall record and a 6-1 Conference USA mark into Wednesday's encounter. The Blazers had their seven-game win streak snapped with a 74-65 double overtime loss to UTEP at Bartow Arena on Jan. 30. Prior to the loss, UAB was 6-0 in C-USA action with league wins over East Carolina, Tulane, SMU, Southern Miss, Marshall and Tulsa. The Blazers also posted solid non-conference victories over Georgia, Cincinnati, Butler and Arkansas.

Junior guard Elijah Millsap leads UAB in scoring (16.2 ppg) and rebounding (9.6 rpg). He also leads Conference USA on the glass with his 9.6 rebounding average. Howard Crawford (12.2 ppg) and Jamarr Sanders (10.7 ppg) also average double figures in the scoring column for the Blazers. Crawford is the team's second-leading rebounder at 4.9 rpg, while Aaron Johnson has dished out a team-high 90 assists (4.3 apg). Johnson is the squad's top shooter from the arc, hitting 38.8 percent from long range.

The Blazers are shooting 42.5 percent from the floor, 30.5 percent from the arc and 70.5 percent from the charity stripe. UAB is out-rebounding its foes by an average margin of +6.3 boards per game (37.3-31.0).

FINAL FOUR FEEL ON WEDNESDAY
Although it's a regular season Conference USA game Wednesday, the Memphis-UAB match-up has an NCAA Final Four "feel" to it since both head coaches have participated in the "Big Dance's" largest stage.

Tigers' head coach Josh Pastner was a part of two Arizona squads that advanced to the NCAA Final Four in 1997 and 2001. Pastner was a player on the 1997 Wildcat team that won the NCAA crown. He was also a member of Lute Olson's staff at Arizona in 2001 when the Wildcats advanced to the NCAA championship game.

On the other bench, UAB head coach Mike Davis directed his former team, Indiana, to the 2002 NCAA Final Four. Davis and his Hoosiers fell to Maryland in the title game.

ANOTHER MILLSAP VISITS MEMPHIS
It's been five years ago, but some Tiger fans may remember. In the 2004-05 campaign ­-- Memphis' first year in FedExForum -- a Paul Millsap-led Louisiana Tech team visited the Tigers' brand-new arena and left with a 64-55 victory.

On Wednesday, Paul's younger brother, Elijah, makes his initial visit to FedExForum, and Tiger Nation hopes he doesn't have as good a game as his older brother did in that Dec. 20, 2004, contest. In that game, Paul posted a double-double of 19 points and 15 rebounds and added five blocks in the Bulldogs' win. Since that first visit, Paul has made more appearances at FedExForum when his Utah Jazz squad played the Grizzlies the past few seasons.

But, for Tiger fans, the hope is that Elijah won't do what his brother did, but the outlook doesn't look promising. Elijah enters Wednesday's game averaging nearly a double-double with 16.2 points and 9.6 rebounds.

FEBRUARY FRIENDLY FOR TIGERS
While the Tigers have enjoyed success in the month of January (72-17; .810 winning percentage) since 1999-2000, February hasn't been too bad either over that same period of time. Since 1999-2000, Memphis has a 58-16 record (.784 winning percentage) in February.

Last year, the Tigers posted an 8-0 record in February. Memphis has won 29 of its last 30 games (.967 winning percentage) in the month of February, with the lone setback a narrow 66-62 loss to No. 2/2 Tennessee on Feb. 23, 2008.

TIGER SUCCESS AT FEDEXFORUM
After a rough first year at their new home in 2004-05, the Tigers have bounced back quite nicely and made FedExForum one of the toughest arenas for opponents to play in. The Tigers have a 104-12 overall record (.897 winning percentage) at FedExForum.

Since the 2005 Conference USA Tournament, Memphis has won 94 of its last 100 home games (.940 winning percentage). Furthermore, the 2009-10 seniors -- Pierre Henderson-Niles, Willie Kemp and Doneal Mack -- are 69-4 (.945 winning percentage) at home in FedExForum.

The 2009-10 seniors' only four losses at home were to Tennessee (66-62) in the 2007-08 season, Syracuse (72-65) in the 2008-09 season and Tennessee (66-59) and UTEP (72-67) in the 2009-10 season.

MEMPHIS IN CONFERENCE USA
The Tigers have an all-time record of 168-57 (.747 winning percentage) in Conference USA play. Memphis posted double-digit league wins in 11 of its previous 14 seasons in Conference USA, including a school-record and league-record tying 16 games in 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09.

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 three campaigns (2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09), 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, 2007-08 and 2008-09. Memphis also tied for the C-USA regular season crown in 2003-04 (12-4 record) and 1995-96 (11-3).

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

DEFENSIVE BATTLE ON WEDNESDAY
Points may be hard to come by in Wednesday's Memphis-UAB encounter at FedExForum. The Blazers lead Conference USA in scoring defense, allowing opponents to score only 59.9 points per game. In its first seven C-USA games, UAB held four of its foes to under 60 points.

Memphis is third in the league in scoring defense, holding opponents to 62.0 points per contest. The Tigers held two C-USA foes to under 60 points.

In the NCAA rankings, UAB is 18th in scoring defense, while Memphis is 44th in the same statistical category.

TIGERS ON T"ARC"-GET
Memphis head coach Josh Pastner said in the preseason that he expected his squad -- which is guard-oriented -- to shoot the ball well from the perimeter. The Tigers' three-point percentage in Conference USA play is proving Pastner right.

Memphis leads Conference USA in three-point field goal percentage in league play only (seven games) at 42.1 percent. In fact, the Tigers are the only team in C-USA shooting over 40 percent from the three-point line in conference games only.

The Tigers also lead C-USA in three-pointers made per game in league play only at 9.1 treys per contest. In overall games, Memphis is third in C-USA in trey percentage at 37.6 percent and second in three-pointers made per game at 8.6.

On the other side, UAB is last in Conference USA in three-point field goal percentage at 30.5 percent for overall games and 11th at 25.4 percent for league contests only.

TIGERS TURNING 1,400
With the opening of the 2009-10 season, the countdown is on for Memphis. The Tiger basketball program entered the 2009-10 year with 1,383 all-time victories and needed 17 to reach the 1,400-win plateau. After the Jan. 27 victory over Marshall, the Tigers now have 1,398 wins.

If successful, Memphis, the winningest program in Conference USA, would be the first school in the league to reach 1,400 victories.

CALL HIM MR. SWIPE
All Tiger fans knows about Roburt Sallie's ability to hit the trey, but they have learned in 2009-10 that he is quite the defensive player. After 21 games, the Sacramento, Calif., native leads the team with 45 steals and has nearly doubled his steals total of a year ago (27). Sallie is ranked fourth in Conference USA in steals with 45 (2.1 spg).

Sallie set a career high with four steals in the season-opening win over Jackson State, and then tied the mark with four steals against No. 1/1 Kansas and Tennessee Tech. Sallie also had three swipes against Oakland, Montana State, Southeast Missouri State, No. 7/7 Syracuse, UTEP, Marshall and SMU.

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