Feb. 5, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
TOP-RANKED TIGERS TO HOST SMU IN C-USA GAME WEDNESDAY
The University of Memphis squad (21-0, 7-0 C-USA), ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll and No. 1 in ESPN/USA Today poll, continues a four-game homestand Wednesday, Feb. 6 when it hosts SMU (7-12, 1-5 C-USA) in a Conference USA encounter at FedExForum. The game, to be televised by CSS, is slated for an 8:00 p.m. (CT) start.
Wednesday's game is the second of four-straight home games for the Tigers. Memphis also hosts UCF Feb. 9 and Houston Feb. 13 during this stretch. The Tigers opened the homestand with a 70-64 win over UTEP Feb. 2.
In addition to the win over UTEP, the Tigers defeated East Carolina Jan. 9, Marshall Jan. 12, Rice Jan. 16, Southern Miss Jan. 19, Tulsa Jan. 23 and Houston Jan. 30 in C-USA play and also posted a non-league win over Gonzaga Jan. 26. Prior to opening league play, Memphis posted late December/early January wins over No. 5/4 Georgetown Dec. 22, No. 17/18 Arizona Dec. 29, Siena Jan. 3 and Pepperdine Jan. 5.
The Mustangs have dropped seven of their last eight games entering Wednesday's contest. SMU's lone victory in that stretch was a 69-67 overtime win over UCF. The Mustangs lost at Tulsa 72-60 in their last outing Feb. 2.
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS
SMU enters Wednesday's game with a 7-12 overall record and a 1-5 Conference USA mark. The Mustangs have dropped seven of their last eight games, and their lone victory in that stretch was a 69-67 overtime win over UCF. SMU lost at Tulsa 72-60 in its last outing Feb. 2.
The trio of Jon Killen (12.9 ppg), Bamba Fall (10.9 ppg) and Papa Dia (10.5 ppg) paces the SMU offense. Dia leads the Mustangs on the glass with a 6.8 rebounding average, while Fall is second at 5.9 rpg. Killen is tops on the team in assists with 93 (4.9 apg) and three-point field goal percentage at 41.1 percent.
SMU is shooting 43.0 percent from the field, 33.0 percent from the arc and 62.8 percent from the free throw line. Opponents are out-rebounding the Mustangs by a narrow margin of +0.9 boards per game (35.4-36.3). The Mustangs are averaging nearly 16 turnovers per contest (15.7).
THE KANSAS CONNECTION
Wednesday's game features two head coaches that also served on basketball staffs at the University of Kansas.
Memphis head coach John Calipari was an assistant on both Ted Owens' and Larry Brown's staffs at Kansas from 1982-85. The Jayhawks posted a 61-34 record in his three years in Lawrence.
SMU head coach Matt Doherty served on Roy Williams' staff as an assistant from 1992-99. Kansas was 202-35 in those seven seasons and advanced to one NCAA Final Four in 1993.
Memphis assistant John Robic also has Kansas ties as he served on Brown's staff for two years from 1986-88. The Jayhawks posted a 52-22 record in those two years and the 1987-88 squad won the NCAA title.
OPPONENTS BEWARE!
During its 25-game win streak last season, Memphis encountered a tough home game with Southern Miss in late January. Although tested, the Tigers managed to pull out a hard-fought 67-64 win over the Golden Eagles at FedExForum.
However, instead of giving the Tigers' the next few opponents a blueprint to defeat them, the narrow victory inspired Memphis. In the four games following last season's close call with Southern Miss, the Tigers' average margin of victory was 29.0 points.
TIGERS AT THE TOP (FOR A THIRD WEEK); UNANIMOUS NO. 1 IN FEB. 4 POLLS
For only the second time in school history, Memphis moved into the top spot in both national polls released Jan. 21. Well, after two wins over Houston and UTEP last week, the Tigers defended their No. 1 ranking and sit atop both Feb. 4 polls.
It is the third-straight week Memphis is No. 1 in the nation. This week was the first that the Tigers were a unanimous No. 1, as they received all 72 first-place votes in the Associated Press poll and all 31 votes in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll.
The last time Memphis was the nation's No. 1 team came in the 1982-83 season. The Tigers were voted No. 1 in the Jan. 10, 1983, poll, but then lost at Virginia Tech later that day. Memphis bounced back with a win over Cincinnati later that week, but the Tigers dropped to No. 6 in the Jan. 17 poll.
FRIENDLY FEBRUARY
While the Tigers have enjoyed success in the John Calipari era in the month of January (54-10; .844 winning percentage), February hasn't been too bad either. Under Calipari, Memphis has a 41-11 record (.788 winning percentage) in February.
Last year, the Tigers posted a perfect 7-0 record in February, and the program's current February win streak is at 15 straight. Also included in that 41-11 overall mark was a 16-game winning streak in the month of February from 2001-02 through 2003-04.
TIGERS STREAKING AT HOME
Don't look now, but the Tigers have put together another homecourt winning streak. Memphis finished the 2006-07 campaign with a 32-game homecourt winning streak, and the Tigers added to that total with 12 wins in 2007-08 to extend the nation's longest homecourt win streak to 44. BYU is second with 42-straight wins at home.
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. Since the 2005 Conference USA Tournament, Memphis has won 56 of its last 58 home games (.966 winning percentage). Overall, the Tigers have a 66-8 record (.892 winning percentage) at FedExForum. Memphis had a perfect 19-0 home mark in 2006-07, and is 12-0 at FedExForum this year.
CD-STAR ON A ROLL
If there is another player in the nation hotter (in terms of scoring) than Memphis' Chris-Douglas Roberts, then bring him forward. Since scoring only eight points versus Marshall Jan. 12, the 6-foot-7 guard has netted double figures in the last six games.
The Detroit, Mich., native is averaging 21.7 points in those six games. Included in his run of double-figure games was a 30-point performance in the Tigers' victory over Houston Jan. 30. The 30-point game was his career best in Conference USA play only.
But even more impressive is his shooting percentages from the floor. In the same six contests, Douglas-Roberts is shooting 60.5 percent (46-of-76) from the field and 43.8 percent from the arc (7-of-16).
DORSEY HITS 1,000 BOARD MILESTONE
With his 19-board performance versus Tulsa Jan. 23, Joey Dorsey became only the fifth player in Memphis basketball history to join the 1,000-rebound club. After four rebounds versus UTEP Feb. 2, the 6-foot-9 forward enters Wednesday's game with 1,053 career rebounds. The Baltimore, Md., native joins an elite group that includes Keith Lee, Forest Arnold, Kelly Wise and Ronnie Robinson. The following are the top five rebounders in Tiger history:
1. Keith Lee/1981-85 1,336
2. Forrest Arnold/1953-56 1,109
3. Kelly Wise/1998-2002 1,075
4. Ronnie Robinson/1970-73 1,066
5. Joey Dorsey/2004-present 1,053
DORSEY CLOSING IN ON C-USA REBOUND RECORD
Joey Dorsey is not only climbing the Memphis career rebounding list. He is also moving up the Conference USA all-time rebounding chart. The 6-foot-9 forward has 1,053 career boards, which is the second-most in C-USA history. Former Memphis standout Kelly Wise holds the league mark at 1,075 career rebounds. The following are the top five rebounders in C-USA history:
1. Kelly Wise (MEM)/1998-2002 1,075
2. Joey Dorsey (MEM)/2004-present 1,053
3. Ellis Myles (UL)/2000-05 998
4. B.B. Waldon (USF)/1998-2002 928
5. Jason Maxiell (CIN)/2002-05 908
STREAKING IN C-USA
The Tigers have their current 21-game win streak, and most everyone in the nation knows about the 44-game homecourt win streak. However, Memphis has another two streaks going in Conference USA play.
The Tigers have won 24-straight regular season Conference USA games and 30-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.
The 30-game win streak (includes C-USA Tournaments) is the longest in C-USA history. The 24-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.
CALIPARI AMONG COACHING ELITE
John Calipari already counted himself among the coaching elite in terms of coaching wins in the first nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 years. Well, with the Tigers' 21 wins in the 2007-08 season, he has moved up to a tie for the No. 2 spot for most coaching victories in his first 16 years (391 wins). The following lists the coaches with the most victories in their first 16 years:
Coach/School(s)/Yrs Wins
(First 16 yrs)
1. Roy Williams, Kansas, N.C. 437
1989-2004
2. John Calipari, UMass, Memphis 391
1989-96, 2001-08
t. Jim Boeheim, Syracuse 391
1977-92
t. Nolan Richardson, Tulsa, Ark. 391
1981-96
5. Denny Crum, Louisville 388
1972-87
6. Tubby Smith, Tulsa, Ga., Ky. 387
1992-2007
7. Jerry Tarkanian, Long Bch, UNLV 375
1969-84
8. Rick Pitino, Boston U., Prov., 371
Ky., Louisville/1979-83, 1986-87,
1990-97, 2002
9. John Thompson, G'town 370
1973-88
10. Billy Tubbs, Texas St., Lamar, 363
Okla./1972-73, 1977-90
ANDERSON BACK TO OLD FORM
In his first two seasons, Tiger Nation came to expect the "normal" game from Antonio Anderson, and that was some scoring, a few boards and an excellent floor game that included several assists and two turnovers or less. However, the 6-foot-6 guard went missing in Memphis' first seven games this year and had 19 assists (2.7 avg.) and 22 miscues (3.1 avg.).
That all changed Dec. 15, as the Lynn, Mass., native got back to playing his game. Since then, Anderson has 55 assists (3.9 avg.) and only 10 turnovers (0.7 avg.). To show further improvement in Anderson's game, the junior guard has 37 assists and only four miscues in his last eight contests for an impressive 9.3:1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE
The Tigers sure are doubling their pleasure in 2007-08. Memphis players have combined to post 11 double-doubles this year. Joey Dorsey leads the way with five double-doubles, followed by Robert Dozier with four.
For more on the Memphis-SMU game, click on pdf link at top of the page.
