March 29, 2008

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NO. 1 SEED TIGERS TO MEET NO. 2 SEED TEXAS FOR NCAA SOUTH REGION TITLE ON SUNDAY
The University of Memphis squad (36-1, 16-0 C-USA), ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press poll and No. 3 in ESPN/USA Today poll, continues its quest for the 2008 NCAA title Sunday, Mar. 30 when it meets No. 2 seed Texas (31-6, 13-3 Big 12) in the NCAA Tournament South Region title contest in Houston's Reliant Stadium. The game, to be televised by CBS Sports, is slated to start at approximately 1:20 p.m. (CT).

Memphis advanced to the NCAA Tournament South Regional championship game with victories over Texas-Arlington 87-63, Mississippi State 77-74 and Michigan State 92-74. Prior to the NCAA Tournament, the Tigers swept the Conference USA regular season and tournament crowns for a third-straight year in 2007-08. The Tigers posted a perfect 16-0 league mark in regular season play for a second-consecutive year.

Memphis enters Sunday's NCAA Tournament South Region title game on a 10-game win streak after a Feb. 23 setback to then-No. 2 Tennessee. The Tigers defeated Tulsa, Southern Miss, SMU and UAB to close the regular season and then posted victories over Tulane, Southern Miss and Tulsa in the C-USA Tournament. Memphis defeated Texas-Arlington, Mississippi State and Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament.

The Longhorns advanced to the South Region title contest with wins over Austin Peay, Miami and Stanford in NCAA Tournament play. Prior to the NCAA Tournament, Texas advanced to the Big 12 Tournament title game, where it lost to Kansas.

SCOUTING THE LONGHORNS
Texas brings a 31-6 overall record into the NCAA Tournament South Region championship game Sunday. The Longhorns won the Big 12 Conference regular season title with a 13-3 league mark. Texas advanced to the South Region title contest with wins over Austin Peay, Miami and Stanford in NCAA Tournament play. Prior to the NCAA Tournament, the Longhorns made it to the Big 12 Tournament title game, where it lost to Kansas.

The trio of D.J. Augustin (19.3 ppg), A.J. Abrams (16.5 ppg) and Damion James (13.3 ppg) paces the Texas offense. James leads the Longhorns on the glass with a 10.6 rebounding average, while Augustin tops the squad with 216 assists (5.8 apg). Augustin (38.3 percent), Abrams (37.8), James (43.7) and Connor Atchley (42.4) all shoot the ball well from the arc.

Texas is shooting 45.4 percent from the field, 38.9 percent from the arc and 68 percent from the free throw line. The Longhorns out-rebound their foes by an average margin of +2.9 boards per game (38.2-35.3).

CALIPARI IN EIGHTH YEAR AT HELM OF TIGER PROGRAM
John Calipari (Clarion State, 1982) is in his eighth season at the helm of the Memphis Tiger basketball program. He has a 217-64 record (.772 winning percentage) at Memphis.

The 2007-08 season is his 16th as a collegiate head coach. The Moon, Pa., native has an overall collegiate coaching record of 410-135 (.752 winning percentage). While at Memphis, Calipari has led the Tigers to eight-straight 20-win seasons and eight-consecutive postseason berths.

AND THE WINNER GETS...
Sunday's Memphis/Texas NCAA Tournament South Region championship game winner will meet the UCLA/Xavier West Region winner in the NCAA Final Four on Saturday, Apr. 5 in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. UCLA is the West Region's No. 1 seed, while Xaiver is the No. 3 seed.

TIGERS IN SEASON WINS ELITE GROUP
With its win over Michigan State Mar. 28, Memphis posted its 36th victory of the season and also joined an elite NCAA Division I elite group. The Tigers are one of six teams in NCAA Division I history to have 36 or more wins in a single season, and the following shows that:

Year/Team	Wins	Year/Team	Wins
1987/UNLV*	37	1986/Duke*	37
1999/Duke*	37	2008/Memphis	36
2005/Illinois*	37	1948/Kentucky*#	36
* made NCAA Final Four
# won NCAA title

WINS IN THREE-YEAR PERIOD
With its win over Michigan State Mar. 28 in the NCAA Tournament South Region semifinal game, Memphis has won an incredible 102 games the last three seasons. The 102 victories since 2005-06 place Memphis in a tie for the No. 2 spot on the all-time NCAA Division I list for most wins in three years. Kentucky tops the list with 104 wins from 1996-98.

The following shows the top five teams on that list (head coaches) and where Memphis stands:

Most Wins In a Three-Year Period
NCAA Division I
1.	 Kentucky/Pitino-Smith	1996-98	104
2.	 Memphis/John Calipari	2006-pres.	102
t. 	Kentucky/Adolph Rupp	1947-49	102
t.	 Montana St./Ott Romney	1927-29	102
5.	 Duke/Mike Krzyzewski	1999-2001	101

MATCH-UP OF NATIONAL POY FINALISTS
Sunday's Memphis-Texas contest features a match-up of two players up for National Player of the Year awards in the Tigers' Chris Douglas-Roberts and the Longhorns' D.J. Augustin. Both players are finalists for the 2007-08 Wooden Award and Oscar Robertson Trophy.

Douglas-Roberts and Augustin also are consensus All-America first team picks in 2007-08.

MEMPHIS VS. THE BIG 12 CONFERENCE
The Tigers have an all-time record of 36-19 (.655 winning percentage) against members of the Big 12 Conference. Memphis has played Baylor (6-1), Kansas (2-3), Kansas State (2-1), Missouri (7-4), Nebraska (1-0), Oklahoma (6-0), Oklahoma State (2-3), Texas (1-4), Texas A&M (4-4) and Texas Tech (5-0). The Tigers have never played Iowa State and Colorado.

The last time Memphis played a Big 12 Conference opponent was earlier in the 2007-08 campaign when the Tigers defeated Oklahoma 63-53 in the semifinals of the 2k Sports College Hoops Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

In NCAA Tournament play, Memphis is 4-1 versus Big 12 Conference foes in its history. The Tigers defeated Kansas State in 1973, Oklahoma in 1985, Baylor in 1988 and Texas A&M in 2007. Memphis lost to Oklahoma State in the 2004 NCAA Tournament.

Furthermore, Memphis defeated a Big 12 opponent in the state of Texas en route to the 1973 (Kansas State) and 1985 (Oklahoma) Final Fours.

CAL VS. THE BIG 12 CONFERENCE
Head coach John Calipari has a 9-9 record (.500 winning percentage) against Big 12 Conference opponents. Calipari has coached against Colorado (1-1), Iowa State (1-0), Kansas (0-2), Kansas State (1-0), Missouri (1-1), Oklahoma (4-1), Oklahoma State (0-2), Texas (0-2) and Texas A&M (1-0).

A BATTLE OF WILLS AT THE ARC SUNDAY
Analysts look for keys in all NCAA Tournament games, and an important one in the Memphis-Texas NCAA Tournament South Region championship game could be at the three-point line.

The Tigers are tops in Conference USA in defending the arc, holding their foes to 30.2 percent. However, the Longhorns shoot the ball well from the arc at 38.9 percent, which is second in the Big 12 Conference and 26th in the nation.

THIS CAN'T BE COINCIDENCE, CAN IT?
For the third-straight year, the Tigers advanced to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight. But, in its attempt to get to the Final Four, Memphis is playing a lower seed in its home state for a third-straight year.

In 2006, the Tigers were the Oakland (California) Region No. 1 seed, but had to play No. 2 seed UCLA in the Elite Eight. The Bruins won that game 50-45.

Last year, Memphis was the South Region No. 2 seed and had to play No. 3 seed Texas A&M in the Sweet Sixteen in San Antonio, Texas. The Tigers, though, were able to pull out a 65-64 win to get to the Elite Eight.

Well, this year is the same story for Memphis. The Tigers are the South Region's No. 1 seed and will play No. 2 seed Texas in Houston.

TIGERS LOVE TEXAS AT TOURNEY TIME
There must be something in the water in Texas that the Tigers must like because they have had tremendous NCAA Tournament success in the Lone Star State. Memphis has made eight NCAA Tournament stops (14 games; includes 2008) in Texas and is 12-2 in those 14 contests.

The Tigers are 5-0 in Houston, 2-0 in Austin, 1-1 in San Antonio and 4-1 in Dallas. In fact, Memphis had won 11-straight games in NCAA Tournament games played in Texas before last year's loss to Ohio State in the South Region title game. The Tigers' only other Texas/NCAA Tournament setback was an 87-83 loss to Creighton in the 1962 tourney. The following shows the Tigers' success in Texas at NCAA Tournament time:

Tigers' NCAA Tournament Results in Texas
Year	Opponent/Site	Result
2008	Michigan State/Houston	92-74, W
2007	Ohio State/San Antonio	76-92, L
2007	Texas A&M/San Antonio	65-64, W
2006	Bucknell/Dallas	72-56, W
2006	Oral Roberts/Dallas	94-78, W
1995	Purdue/Austin	75-73, W
1995	Louisville/Austin	77-56, W
1985	Oklahoma/Dallas	63-61, W
1985	Boston College/Dallas	59-57, W
1985	UAB (ot)/Houston	67-66, W
1985	Penn/Houston	67-55, W
1973	Kansas St./Houston	92-72, W
1973	South Carolina/Houston	90-76, W
1962	Creighton/Dallas	83-87, L

TIGERS KEEP ADDING TO FIRST
Last year, Memphis made school history last year when it made back-to-back NCAA Tournament Elite Eight appearances (2006, 2007). Well, with their win over Michigan State Mar. 28, the Tigers are making their third-straight Elite Eight. It is the first time in school history Memphis has made three-consecutive Elite Eights.

TIGERS ONE OF TWO
Memphis is once again in elite company in this year's NCAA Tournament. The Tigers joined UCLA as the only two teams to advance to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight the last three years (2006, 2007, 2008).

MICHIGAN STATE GAME NOTES
• The 92 points scored are tied for the third-highest offensive output in NCAA Tournament play. The 98 points vs. Providence (1973) and 95 vs. Ball State (1986) are the only higher scoring games in Memphis NCAA Tournament history.
• The 30-point halftime lead over Michigan State (50-20) was the Tigers' largest halftime lead in 2007-08. The previous best was 29 points over Tulsa in the C-USA Tournament title game (42-13).
• The 30-point halftime lead over Michigan State was the largest in Tiger NCAA Tournament history. The previous largest halftime advantage was 15 points (39-24) over South Carolina in the 1973 NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional in Houston.
• Memphis hit 26-of-35 free throws versus Michigan State. The 26 free throws made are tied for the second-most in Tiger NCAA Tournament history. Memphis also hit 26 free throws versus Nevada in the 2007 NCAA Tournament.
• Derrick Rose netted a career-high 27 points versus the Spartans. His previous career best was 26 points versus Cincinnati on Dec. 19, 2007.

CD-R NEEDS NINE TO MOVE INTO 10
Chris Douglas-Roberts just keeps climbing the Memphis career scoring chart. With nine more points, he will move into the top 10 on the Tiger all-time scoring list. He enters Sunday's NCAA Tournament South Region final with 1,470 career points and is in the No. 11 spot on the career scoring list. Phillip Haynes holds down the No. 10 spot with 1,479 points.

Douglas-Roberts is the 43rd player in Tiger history to score 1,000 points in a career. The following is an abbreviated list of the top scorers in Tiger history:

Memphis Career Scoring
	1.	Keith Lee/1981-85	2,408
	.
	.
	.
	8.	Bill Cook/1972-76	1,629
	9.	Kelly Wise/1998-2002	1,487
	10.	Phillip Haynes/1980-84	1,479
	11.	Chris Douglas-Roberts/2005-pres.	1,470
	12.	Andre Turner/1982-86	1,442

ROSE NEARING FROSH ASSISTS MARK
Derrick Rose entered collegiate play as a guard that could distribute the rock, and he hasn't disappointed. The 6-foot-3 guard goes into the NCAA Tournament South Region title game with 168 assists, which are the second-most dimes for a freshman in school history.

Vincent Askew holds the Tiger freshman mamrk for assists with 170 in the 1984-85 campaign. Head coach John Calipari has coached two other Tiger freshmen ranked in the top six for assists in school history (144 by Darius Washington Jr. in 2004-05; 128 by Dajuan Wagner in 2001-02).

CALIPARI IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
John Calipari is coaching his 10th team in the NCAA Tournament in 2008. He has a 21-9 record (.700 winning percentage) in his 10 NCAA Tournament trips.

Calipari guided the UMass Minutemen to five-straight NCAA Tournaments, including a trip to the 1996 NCAA Final Four. The 2007-08 Tiger squad is Calipari's fifth NCAA Tournament team at Memphis. The 2002-03, 2003-04, 2005-06 and 2007-08 teams also made the "Big Dance." Memphis' 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 teams reached the Elite Eight.

CAL'S TEAMS STREAKING
Although the Tigers' win streak came to an end Feb. 23, it still goes down as the longest in school history at 26 straight. It is the second-consecutive year Memphis had a win streak of 25 or more games.

In John Calipari's collegiate coaching career, winning streaks have become common. Calipari is in his 16th season as a college head coach in 2007-08, and in those 16 years, his teams have had winning streaks of 10 or more games 11 seasons.

Memphis enters the NCAA Tournament South Region championship game on its second 10-game win streak of 2007-08. The following is a breakdown of Calipari's win streaks:

	Win Streaks	No.
	25+	3 (2 at UofM)
	15+	5 (3 at UofM)
	10+	12 (7 at UofM)*
* two 10+ streaks in 2007-08

For more notes on the Memphis-Texas NCAA Tournament South Region title game, click on the pdf link at the top of the page.