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Memphis/Conference USA Tournament Notes
March 8, 2011
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format
Tigers On TV/Radio/Web
MEMPHIS TO MEET SOUTHERN MISS-TULANE WINNER IN C-USA TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINAL ON THURSDAY The Memphis-Southern Miss/Tulane C-USA Tournament quarterfinal encounter is slated to air on CBS College Sports (Memphis Comcast digital channel 222). Memphis finished the regular season with a 2-2 mark in its last four outings with home victories over Houston 69-58 Feb. 22 and Tulane 66-61 Mar. 5 and road setbacks at UTEP 74-47 Feb. 26 and East Carolina 68-57 Mar. 2. After dropping its February opener to Tulsa 68-65 at FedExForum on Feb. 2, Memphis bounced back with four-consecutive, single-digit victories over Gonzaga 62-58 Feb. 5, UCF 63-62 Feb. 9, Southern Miss 67-61 Feb. 12 and UAB 62-58 Feb. 16. The Tigers' win streak came to an end at Rice Feb. 19 with a 67-52 loss to the Owls. The Gonzaga and UCF victories came on the road. The home loss to Tulsa was only the second C-USA setback for the Tigers at home since 2005-06 (45-2 record; .957 winning percentage). Southern Miss closed the regular season with three-straight, single-digit losses, including two at the buzzer. The Golden Eagles dropped decisions to UCF 65-64, UAB 67-66 and Tulsa 78-70. Southern Miss' last victory was a non-league win over Loyola (New Orleans) 78-67 on Feb. 22. Tulane closed the 2010-11 regular season with 13 losses in its last 14 games. The lone victory in that stretch was an 80-77 win over Houston Mar. 2. Of those 13 setbacks, nine were by single digits, including the regular season finale 66-61 loss at Memphis Mar. 5. The Green Wave opened Conference USA play with back-to-back wins over Rice and SMU in early January. SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES The senior tandem of Gary Flowers and R.L. Horton paces the Golden Eagles' offense. Flowers leads the team with a 19.0 scoring average, followed by Horton at 12.5 ppg. Flowers, Conference USA's third-leading scorer, is Southern Miss' top rebounder at 7.8 rpg (sixth in C-USA), while freshman D.J. Newbill is second at 6.4 rpg. Angelo Johnson (42.9 percent), Newbill (42.9 percent) and Flowers (41 percent) all shoot 40 percent or better from the arc. Johnson is tops on the team with 125 assists (4.2 apg) and 30 steals. Johnson is also the best in Conference USA in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.2 (125 ast-39 TO). The Golden Eagles are shooting 45.4 percent from the field, 36.9 percent from the arc and 73.3 percent from the free throw line. Southern Miss is leading Conference USA in rebound margin at +7.7 boards per game (38.5-30.8). SCOUTING THE GREEN WAVE Tulane closed the 2010-11 regular season with 13 losses in its last 14 games. The lone victory in that stretch was an 80-77 win over Houston Mar. 2. Of those 13 setbacks, nine were by single digits, including the regular season finale 66-61 loss at Memphis Mar. 5. The Green Wave opened Conference USA play with back-to-back wins over Rice and SMU in early January. Sophomore Kendall Timmons leads a trio of Green Wave double-figure scorers with a 17.0 average (sixth in C-USA). Sophomore Jordan Callahan (13.9 ppg) and senior Kris Richard (11.2 ppg) are also averaging double digits in the scoring column for Tulane. Timmons leads the squad on the glass with an 8.5 rebounding average (fourth in C-USA), while Richard is second at 6.1 rpg (12th in C-USA). Callahan is tops on the team with 120 assists (4.1 apg), and Timmons leads the Green Wave with 58 steals (2.0 spg; second in C-USA). Richard is second on the team and fourth in C-USA with 50 steals (1.7 spg). Johnny Mayhane (42.5 percent), Timmons (40 percent) and Callahan (37.7 percent) all shoot over 35 percent from the three-point line. Tulane is shooting 43.3 percent from the field, 36.6 percent from the arc and 69.3 percent from the free throw line. Opponents are out-rebounding the Green Wave by an average margin of +1.1 boards per game (32.1-33.2). Memphis-Southern Miss Notes
GET YOUR TRACK SHOES ON In the two regular season encounters, Memphis averaged 71.5 points and Southern Miss averaged 68.0 points (76-75 UofM win in Hattiesburg; 67-61 UofM win in Memphis). TIGERS, BEWARE THE LEADING SCORER Last year, Memphis didn't fare so well in its three meetings against C-USA's leading scorer, Houston's Aubrey Coleman. The Tigers dropped two of the three games to the Cougars, and Coleman averaged 29.0 points in the three contests. In the two regular season Memphis-Southern Miss match-ups, Flowers averaged 17.5 points. He scored 21 points in the game in Hattiesburg and netted 14 in the contest in Memphis. Flowers was limited by foul trouble in the encounter at FedExForum. BOARD BATTLE AWAITS THURSDAY The Golden Eagles lead Conference USA in rebound margin at +7.7. Memphis is seventh in C-USA in rebound margin at +0.7. However, the Tigers hung with the Golden Eagles on the glass in the two regular season encounters. Southern Miss entered the Jan. 19 game with an +8.1 rebounding margin, but Memphis was narrowly out-done on the glass 32-30. In the Feb. 12 meeting, the Golden Eagles brought an +8.2 rebounding margin into the contest, but only posted a one-rebound edge over the Tigers, 37-36. TO TURN OVER OR NOT TO TURN OVER? It was a split decision in the two regular season meetings. Memphis forced 14 Southern Miss turnovers in the Jan. 19 game in Hattiesburg. But, in the Feb. 12 contest in Memphis, the Golden Eagles took care of the ball with only seven miscues. Memphis-Tulane Notes
BEWARE, THIEVES ON COURT THURSDAY In fact, six of Conference USA's top steals leaders could be in action Thursday. Tulane's Kendall Timmons is second in C-USA in steals at 2.0 spg, followed by teammates Kris Richard (fourth; 1.7 apg) and Jordan Callahan (ninth; 1.4 spg). For Memphis, Will Barton is seventh (1.6 spg) and Chris Crawford is seventh (1.6 spg), while Charles Carmouche is 14th (1.3 spg). In the Mar. 5 match-up, Tulane won the steals battle with 10 swipes to only five by Memphis. Both squads did a solid job of protecting the ball, as the Tigers had only 13 turnovers and the Green Wave 10 miscues. PASTNER TO MEET A C-USA TOURNAMENT NEWBIE THURSDAY? Conroy was hired during the 2010 off-season and is in his first year leading the Green Wave program after head coaching stints at The Citadel and Francis Marion. Conroy also served as an assistant at Tennessee from 2003-05. During the regular season, Pastner had a 4-3 record in his C-USA "newbie" games versus East Carolina's Jeff Lebo (1-1), Marshall's Tom Herrion (1-1), Houston's James Dickey (1-0), UTEP's Tim Floyd (0-1) and Tulane's Conroy (1-0). TO THREE OR NOT TO THREE ... THAT IS THE QUESTION In overall games, Tulane averages nearly 7.0 treys made per game and shoots 36.6 percent from the arc (fifth in C-USA). On the other side, Memphis is sixth in three-point defense at 33 percent. The contrast is more evident in Conference USA play only. Tulane leads the league in treys made per game (8.2) and is third in three-point field goal percentage at 37.6 percent. In C-USA games only, the Memphis defense is holding foes to 31.5 percent from the arc (fourth in C-USA). VERSUS THE HOMETOWN SCHOOL... PART I Memphis assistant coach Glynn Cyprien would face his hometown school for a third time in his short tenure at Memphis if the Tigers meet the Green Wave Thursday. In the first two encounters with Tulane, the Tigers pulled out a 77-64 win in New Orleans in 2009-10 and a 66-61 victory in Memphis on Mar. 5, 2011. Cyprien played his collegiate years up the road in Baton Rouge, La., at Southern University from 1985-87. He helped lead the Jaguars to the 1987 NCAA Tournament. VERSUS THE HOMETOWN SCHOOL... PART II In his two years at New Orleans, Carmouche played Tulane twice, and the Privateers won both encounters (49-39 in 2008-09; 51-50 in 2009-10). In the 2009-10 meeting, Carmouche had 11 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals in 34 minutes. In fact, Carmouche gave his Privateers their first lead of the game at 49-48 with a free throw with 1:12 left. In the Mar. 5 game versus the Green Wave, Carmouche did not score, but had a key assist in the Tigers' 15-3 second-half run to secure the win. With Memphis trailing 53-51 with six minutes left, Carmouche assisted on D.J. Stephens' dunk to tie the game at 53-all and give the Tigers momentum. Memphis/Conference USA Tournament Notes
MEMPHIS IN C-USA TOURNEY Memphis is this year's C-USA Tournament No. 4 seed, and it is the third time the Tigers are the tournament's fourth seed. The previous two times Memphis was a No. 4 seed was in the 1997 and 2001 C-USA Tournaments (1-2 record). Memphis has also been the No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, No. 7, No. 8 and No. 11 seed in past C-USA Tournaments. In Conference USA Tournaments held in Memphis (1996, 2000, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009), the Tigers have a 17-3 mark (.850 winning percentage). The Tigers won the championship in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009, and reached the semifinals in 1996, the second round in 2000 and the championship game in 2005. In C-USA Tournament games played outside Memphis, the Tigers have a 2-8 record (.200 winning percentage). The following shows the Tigers' seed and record in the C-USA Tournament year-by-year:
Year Seed Record
TIGERS GOING FOR C-USA TOURNEY TITLE RECORD In 2009, Memphis tied Cincinnati for the most C-USA Tournament titles with four. The Tigers won the C-USA postseason classic from 2006-09, while the Bearcats won the 1996, 1998, 2002 and 2004 C-USA Tournaments. Memphis is the only C-USA program to have won four-straight league tournament championships. POSTSEASON OUTSIDE THE BLUFF CITY The following shows the Tigers' record in conference tournaments hosted outside Memphis:
Conference Record Outside No. of Memphis Notes
PASTNER IN SECOND YEAR AT HELM OF TIGER PROGRAM With the Tigers' 22 wins in 2010-11, Pastner now has an overall record of 46-19 (.708 winning percentage). In his first season in 2009-10, Pastner guided the Tigers to a 24-10 overall record and a 13-3 Conference USA mark. Memphis earned a National Invitation Tournament (NIT) berth and advanced to the postseason classic's second round. Prior to joining the Memphis basketball family for the 2008-09 season, Pastner spent the previous 12 years of his college basketball life at Arizona as a player, staff member and assistant coach. While in Tucson, Pastner was a member of Wildcat squads that made 12-straight NCAA Tournament appearances and posted a 290-103 record (1997-2008). Pastner was a player on the 1996-97 Arizona team that won the NCAA title. A GOOD OMEN? After it dropped back-to-back games earlier this season to Marshall Jan. 29 and Tulsa Feb. 2, Memphis responded with four-consecutive clutch wins over Gonzaga, UCF, Southern Miss and UAB. If the same happens following recent two-game skid (Feb. 26 to UTEP, Mar. 2 to East Carolina), the Tigers would close with a regular season home finale win over Tulane and then win three Conference USA Tournament games. Memphis started what it hopes is another winning streak with a Mar. 5 win over Tulane (66-61). NO TEXAS LOVE FOR THE TIGERS TIGERS POST 13TH DOUBLE-DIGIT WIN SEASON IN C-USA In 2007-08, Memphis posted its 10th season of double-digit league wins, which set the C-USA record. Before the shift in C-USA prior to the 2005-06 campaign, the Tigers were tied for the second-most, double-digit conference win seasons with seven. The following lists the top-five teams in C-USA history with double-digit conference win seasons:
No. of C-USA Seasons
MARCH IS WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT Since 1999-2000, Memphis have an impressive 62-23 record (.729 winning percentage) when playing in March. The Tigers' record is even better in March the last seven seasons, as they went 43-12 (.782 winning percentage) since 2004-05. CHANGING IT UP
Team No. of Different Lineups
CLOSE CALLS UNDER PASTNER In games decided by four or fewer points, Memphis is 11-3, winning 11 of its last 12. This season, the Tigers have a 14-2 record in single-digit outcome games. SINGLE-DIGIT WIN HISTORY However, the 16 single-digit outcome games so far in 2010-11 are not even in the top-10 for most games of its kind since the 1970-71 season. The following lists the top-10 years with single-digit outcome games and the top-10 years with single-digit wins (since 1970-71; research by Matt Dillon):
Top-10 Since 1970-71
TIGER CUBS LEAD THE WAY In research done by University of North Dakota men's hoops contact and former Memphis media relations graduate assistant Ryan Powell, Memphis is one of three schools in NCAA Division I to get over 60 percent of its scoring from freshmen. To be exact, the Tigers are getting 63.5 percent of their points from freshmen. The following shows the three NCAA Division I schools getting over 60 percent of their scoring from freshmen and also the total points from freshmen:
School Pct. Freshman Total Pts
TIGERS SEVENTH YOUNGEST IN NCAA Memphis is one of only four teams to be ranked in the top-25 national polls at some time this season with a top-50 youngest team. Connecticut (12th), Kentucky (36th) and North Carolina (40th) are the other three schools with a top-50 young team that was also ranked in the top-25 of the national polls at some point during 2010-11. The next youngest team in Conference USA is UCF at 102. Thursday's foe -- either Southern Miss or Tulane -- brings a more experienced squad to the floor. Tulane is the nation's 256th-youngest team (90th most-experienced), while Southern Miss is the country's 289th-youngest team (57th most-experienced). The following lists the top-10 youngest teams and where the C-USA schools fall on the kenpom.com list:
Top-10 Youngest C-USA on Youngest List
For more notes on Memphis' Conference USA Tournament quarterfinal game, click on issuu and pdf links at the top of the page.
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