Feb. 25, 2009
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TIGERS TO TRAVEL TO BIRMINGHAM FOR C-USA SHOWDOWN VERSUS UAB
The University of Memphis squad (24-3, 12-0 C-USA), ranked No. 5 in the Associated Press poll and No. 4 in ESPN/USA Today poll, remains on the road Thursday, Feb. 26 when it travels to Birmingham, Ala., to face longtime league rival UAB (19-8, 9-3 C-USA). The Conference USA contest, to be televised by ESPN2, is scheduled for an 8 p.m. (CT) start.
Thursday's meeting is for the Conference USA regular season title. With a win, Memphis would clinch its fourth-straight C-USA regular season crown. A UAB win would keep the race for the league regular season championship going into the final week of play.
Memphis enters Thursday's encounter on an 18-game win streak, which is currently the longest in the nation. The win streak began on Dec. 22 with an 87-49 victory over Drexel. The streak also includes wins over Cincinnati 60-45, Northeastern 80-48, Lamar 108-75, Marshall 80-57, UCF 73-66, Tulsa 55-54, UAB 81-68, Rice 80-52, Tennessee 54-52, East Carolina 85-64, Houston 83-68, SMU (away) 79-66, No. 18/18 Gonzaga 68-50, Tulsa 63-37, Southern Miss 72-47, SMU (home) 90-47 and UTEP 70-63.
UAB enters Thursday's encounter having won six straight and nine of its last 10. The lone setback in that stretch was a narrow 75-74 loss at Tulsa on a game-winning shot at the buzzer. The Blazers, who are 12-0 at Bartow Arena in 2008-09, won their last outing on Feb. 21, an 86-56 home victory over Southern Miss.
SCOUTING THE BLAZERS
UAB brings a 19-8 overall record and a 9-3 Conference USA mark into Thursday's encounter. The Blazers have won six straight and nine of their last 10. The lone setback in that stretch was a narrow 75-74 loss at Tulsa on a game-winning shot at the buzzer. UAB, who is 12-0 at Bartow Arena in 2008-09, won its last outing on Feb. 21, an 86-56 home victory over Southern Miss.
The trio of Robert Vaden (18.3 ppg), Paul Delaney III (16.6 ppg) and Lawrence Kinnard (15.1 ppg) paces the UAB offense. Vaden, the 2008-09 C-USA preseason Player of the Year, is the fourth-leading scorer in Conference USA, and Delaney is the league's eighth-leading scorer. Kinnard leads the Blazers and C-USA on the glass with a 9.0 rebounding average. Aaron Johnson is tops on the team with 99 assists (3.7 apg). Vaden (36.5 percent) and Delaney (34.7 percent) are the Blazers' top threats from the three-point line.
UAB is shooting 47 percent from the floor, 34.8 percent from the arc and 71.4 percent from the free throw line. Opponents are out-rebounding the Blazers by a narrow margin of +0.5 board per game (33.7-34.2).
TIGERS IN TOP FIVE IN BOTH NATIONAL POLLS
Last week (Feb. 16), Memphis jumped into the top five of the Associated Press (AP) poll for the first time in 2008-09, coming in at the No. 5 spot. This week (Feb. 23), the ESPN/USA Today coaches followed suit and placed the Tigers in the No. 4 position, after ranking them No. 6 in their Feb. 16 poll.
Memphis remained No. 5 in this week's AP poll.
CALIPARI'S TEAMS TOUGH AT THE TOP
When teams are ranked in the top five, they become huge targets for all opponents they play. That has been true for John Calipari-coached teams at both UMass and Memphis.
But, while some top-ranked teams fall easily, Calipari squads have done quite well, and in turn, have had staying power near the top of the polls. Calipari's UMass and Memphis teams have an impressive combined record of 127-12 when ranked in the top five of the national polls (.914 winning percentage).
At Memphis, Calipari's teams are 72-6 (.923 winning percentage) when ranked in the top five. During his time at UMass, the Minutemen went 55-6 (.902 winning percentage) when ranked in the top five. The following shows Calipari's record when ranked at or near the top:
Memphis UMass
No. 1 9-1 31-4
No. 2 23-1 6-0
No. 3 14-1 4-0
No. 4 12-2 4-0
No. 5 14-1 10-2
Totals 72-6 55-6
DID YOU KNOW?/PART I
When the Tigers defeated UAB in the regular season finale in 2007-08, the victory gave Memphis a 30-1 record. It was the first time in Tiger basketball history that Memphis finished the regular season (before league and NCAA Tournaments) with 30 or more victories.
DID YOU KNOW?/PART II
When the Tigers defeated UAB in the regular season finale in 2007-08, the victory gave Memphis a 30-1 record. With their 30-1 mark, the 2007-08 Tigers became only the fourth team in NCAA Division I history to win 30 regular season games. Memphis joined Bradley (1949-50), UNLV (1986-87) and Kansas (1997-98) as the only teams in NCAA Division I history to have 30 wins in the regular season (before league and NCAA Tournaments).
C-USA REGULAR SEASON TITLE ON THE LINE THURSDAY
Thursday's game is not only a C-USA rivalry contest between Memphis and UAB. It is also a game that will decide the Conference USA regular season champion.
With a win Thursday, Memphis would clinch its fourth-straight C-USA regular season crown. The Tigers enter the game with a 12-0 league record, while UAB is in second place in the conference standings with a 9-3 mark. The following shows the top four in the C-USA standings:
C-USA Standings (Through Feb. 23)
Memphis 12-0
UAB 9-3
Houston 8-4
Tulsa 8-4
A NO-THREE ZONE ON THURSDAY?
Both Memphis and UAB have players that can light it up from the arc, but threes could be hard to come by in Thursday's contest. The Tigers and Blazers are two of the top defensive teams at the arc in Conference USA.
Memphis is second in Conference USA in three-point field goal percentage defense at 31.1 percent, and UAB is fourth at 32.5 percent.
GET YOUR TRACK SHOES ON...
If fans like scoring, then they will love Thursday's Memphis-UAB game. The Tigers are second in Conference USA in scoring offense at 76.2 ppg, while the Blazers are fifth at 73.8 ppg.
The game also features three of C-USA's top 10 scorers. UAB's Robert Vaden is fourth in the league in scoring at 18.3 ppg, and his teammate, Paul Delaney III, is eighth at 16.6 ppg. The Tigers' Tyreke Evans is seventh in the league in scoring at 17.1 ppg.
...OR MAYBE NOT?
While both offenses can put points on the scoreboard, the Memphis and UAB defenses can shut down their opponents, and it can be seen in their scoring defense statistics. The Tigers lead Conference USA in scoring defense, holding their foes to 59.1 points per game. The Blazers are just as strong in scoring defense, ranking third in C-USA at 65.8 ppg.
A BATTLE OF WILLS
Thursday's game offers a battle of wills in three statistical areas -- field goal percentage, rebounding and turnovers. The following shows the battles that will go on within the game (C-USA rank follows stat):
Memphis Stat UAB
37.4/1st 47.0/1st
+4.9/2nd Rebound Margin -0.5/8th
16.9/1st 11.4/3rd
HERE WE GO AGAIN/PART I
For a third-consecutive year, Memphis has the longest win streak in the nation. The Tigers' current win streak is 18 straight entering Thursday's game at UAB. Memphis' streak is the second-longest for the 2008-09 season, as Utah State's streak reached 19 games before its Feb. 14 loss.
The previous two years, the Tigers posted the longest win streak for each season. Memphis won 25 straight in 2006-07 and 26 straight in 2007-08.
HERE WE GO AGAIN/PART II
For the third-straight year, Memphis is vying to go unbeaten in conference play. The Tigers enter Thursday's game with a 12-0 Conference USA mark, and is one of two schools in NCAA Division I with an undefeated mark in league play to date.
In 2006-07, Memphis and Winthrop were the only two teams in the nation to finish unbeaten in their respective leagues. Last year (2007-08), the Tigers and Davidson were the only two schools in the country to go undefeated in conference play.
The following shows the current unbeaten teams in league play (through Feb. 24):
Team Conf. Record Next Conf. Game
Memphis 12-0 (C-USA) UAB/Feb. 26
Gonzaga 12-0 (WCC) Santa Clara/Feb. 26
COUNTDOWN TO A SECOND 500
Everyone knows Antonio Anderson's game is an all-around one, and the stats prove it. Earlier this season, the senior became the 45th member of the Tiger 1,000-point club in a win over Northeastern (Dec. 31, 2008).
Against UAB on Jan. 17, the 6-foot-6 guard grabbed his 500th rebound and now has 558 career boards. Up next for Anderson is to reach the 500-assists mark.
The Lynn, Mass., native has 485 career assists (seventh on career assists list), and on his pace of 4.2 dishes per game this year, he would reach the mark. If he is successful in reaching 500 assists, Anderson would become the only player in Memphis history to have 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists in a career.
Even more proof of his all-around game is that he has 202 career steals (fifth on career steals list).
"TAG" TEARING UP THE GLASS
Whatever has inspired Shawn Taggart of late, Tiger Nation hopes it continues the remainder of the regular season and into postseason play. In the four recent Memphis victories over No. 18/18 Gonzaga, Tulsa, Southern Miss, SMU and UTEP, the 6-foot-10 forward averaged 7.6 boards per game.
Taggart pulled down 11 rebounds versus Southern Miss Feb. 14, and outplayed Tulsa's Jerome Jordan on the glass Feb. 11, winning the board battle 8-3. Taggart also played outstanding defense on Jordan, holding the Tulsa center to eight points and forcing him to turn the ball over six times. After a slow start at UTEP, Taggart tied for team rebounding honors with eight boards.
Taggart also shot the ball well from the charity stripe in those five games. The Richmond, Va., native was 24-of-26 from the foul line (92.3 percent). In the victory over SMU Feb. 18, Taggart netted 19 points on 5-of-7 field goals and 9-of-10 free throws.
For more notes on the Memphis-UAB game, click on pdf link at the top of the page.
