Nov. 20, 2009

Complete Release in PDF Format

Tigers On TV/Radio/Web
Television: None
Radio: WREC 600 AM (Jeff Brightwell, 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 TO HOST IN-STATE FOE TENNESSEE TECH FRIDAY AT FEDEXFORUM
The University of Memphis squad (1-1, 0-0 C-USA) returns home to the friendly confines of FedExForum Friday, Nov. 20 to host in-state foe Tennessee Tech (2-1, 0-0 OVC). The game, scheduled for a 7 p.m. (CT) tip, is the second of four contests in the 2009 Hall of Fame Showcase.

Memphis began play in the 2009 Hall of Fame Showcase on Nov. 17 when it dropped a narrow 57-55 decision to No. 1/1 Kansas in St. Louis. The Tigers continue Hall of Fame Showcase action with games versus Central Arkansas Nov. 24 and Oakland Nov. 30 at home.

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.

Tennessee Tech returns four starters and eight letterwinners from last year's squad that posted a 12-18 overall record and a 6-2 Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) mark. The Golden Eagles finished in eighth place in the 2008-09 OVC regular season standings. Tennessee Tech is 2-1 record to date in 2009-10.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Tennessee Tech is off to a 2-1 start in the 2009-10 campaign. The Golden Eagles dropped their season opener at Minnesota 87-50 Nov. 13, but rebounded with back-to-back wins over Central Arkansas 71-67 Nov. 16 and Lipscomb 92-89 Nov. 19.

Kevin Murphy leads a trio of double-figure scorers for the Golden Eagles with a 16.7 average. Frank Davis (13.0 ppg) and Elijah Muhammad (12.0 ppg) also average double digits in the scoring column. Murphy (5.3 rpg) and Terrell Barnes (5.0 rpg) lead Tennessee Tech on the glass. Davis is the squad's top three-point threat, hitting 61.5 percent of his trey attempts.

Tennessee Tech is shooting 43.8 percent from the field, 40.4 percent from the three-point line and 66.7 percent from the foul line. Opponents are out-rebounding the Golden Eagles by an average of 1.0 boards per contest (35.7-36.7).

Tennessee Tech returns four starters and eight letterwinners from last year's squad that posted a 12-18 overall record and a 6-2 Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) mark. The Golden Eagles finished in eighth place in the 2008-09 OVC regular season standings.

Mike Sutton is in his eighth season as the head coach of the Golden Eagles. He has a 116-101 record in his time at Tennessee Tech.

PASTNER IN FIRST YEAR AT HELM OF TIGER PROGRAM
Josh Pastner (Arizona, 1998) is in his first season as the head coach of the University of Memphis basketball program. The Kingwood, Texas, native was hired Apr. 7, 2009, after serving the 2008-09 season as an assistant on the Tiger staff.

Pastner has a 1-1 record at Memphis. He won his head coaching debut Nov. 13 with an 82-53 victory. He suffered his first coaching loss in a narrow 57-55 setback to No. 1/1 Kansas Nov. 17.

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.

IS IT DEJA VU WEEK?
It may seem that way for Tiger Nation. Memphis played Kansas in a rematch of the 2008 NCAA national title game on Nov. 17. And Friday, the Tigers host Tennessee Tech in another rematch of a postseason contest in the 21st century.

In the 2002 postseason, Memphis hosted Tennessee in a National Invitation Tournament (NIT) quarterfinal contest at The Pyramid. The Tigers overcame a six-point deficit at the break to defeat the Golden Eagles 79-73 and earn a trip to the NIT final four at Madison Square Garden. Memphis went on to claim the NIT title with a championship game victory over South Carolina.

MEMPHIS VS. OHIO VALLEY CONFERENCE
Memphis has an all-time record of 98-62 against members of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). The Tigers have played Austin Peay (15-4), Eastern Kentucky (3-0), Jacksonville State (1-1), Morehead State (0-2), Murray State (34-26), Southeast Missouri State (1-2), Tennessee Martin (11-3), Tennessee State (7-0) and Tennessee Tech (26-24).

The Tigers have never played Eastern Illinois and SIU-Edwardsville.

The last time Memphis played an OVC foe was the 2007-08 campaign. In fact, the Tigers played two OVC opponents in the first month of that season. Memphis defeated Tennessee Martin 102-71 in the 2007-08 season opener, and then three weeks later, posted a 104-82 victory over Austin Peay. Both games were played at FedExForum.

MEMPHIS IN REGULAR SEASON TOURNEYS/CLASSICS
The Tigers have an overall record of 84-56 (.600 winning percentage) in regular season tournaments/classics in the program's history. Memphis has won 16 in-season tournament titles/classics. The Tigers are 0-1 in this year's 2009 Hall of Fame Showcase.

The last time the Tigers carried home the trophy from an in-season tournament (more than one game) was in the 2007-08 campaign. Memphis won the 2k Sports College Hoops Classic (Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer) with an 81-70 win over Connecticut at Madison Square Garden. The Tigers also posted a narrow 62-58 overtime win over Southern Cal in the Jimmy V Classic in New York City that same season.

Last year, Memphis finished as the runner-up in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off in San Juan. The Tigers defeated Fairfield, Chattanooga and Seton Hall en route to the championship game. Memphis dropped a 63-58 decision to Xavier in the title game.

BATTLE OF (NCAA) CHAMPIONSHIP COACHES
No, Memphis' Josh Pastner and Tennessee Tech's Mike Sutton haven't won NCAA national titles as head coaches yet. However, both have NCAA title winning experience.

As a freshman in 1996-97, Pastner was a member of the Arizona squad that won the NCAA title with a victory over Kentucky in the 1997 championship game. On the other sideline, Sutton was an assistant coach on Tubby Smith's staff at Kentucky in 1997-98. That year, the Wildcats claimed their second NCAA title in three seasons with a championship-game win over Utah.

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
Memphis has had a long history of success in non-league games, and that has continued in recent years. Since 1999-2000, the Tigers have a non-conference record (including postseason) of 136-46 for a 74.7 winning percentage.

In 2008-09, Memphis had a 17-4 record against non-conference opponents (including postseason).

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 94-10 overall record (.904 winning percentage) at FedExForum.

Since the 2005 Conference USA Tournament, Memphis has won 84 of its last 88 home games (.955 winning percentage). Furthermore, the 2009-10 seniors -- Pierre Henderson-Niles, Willie Kemp and Doneal Mack -- are 59-2 (.967 winning percentage) at home in FedExForum.

TIGERS IN NOVEMBER
While all head coaches focus on March and their teams ready to make postseason runs, the Tigers have done quite well in the month of November. Since 1999-2000, Memphis has a 37-15 record (.712 winning percentage) in November.

One reason for the 15 early setbacks is the rugged national schedule the Tigers have played. Of the 15 November losses, 10 were to nationally-ranked teams.

The Tigers are 24-6 (.800 winning percentage) in November since 2004-05, with five of the six setbacks coming to ranked opponents.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE DEBUT
Junior college transfer Will Coleman played in his first NCAA Division I game Nov. 13 versus Jackson State, and the 6-foot-9 forward had quite the debut. The Columbus, Ga., native posted a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. He also blocked five shots in 21 minutes of action.

Coleman is the first Tiger to post a double-double in his collegiate debut since Joey Dorsey did so as a freshman in the 2004-05 season opener. In that game, Dorsey had 10 points and 16 rebounds in a win over Savannah State on Nov. 12, 2004.

Coleman followed his impressive debut with a solid performance in the narrow 57-55 setback to No. 1/1 Kansas. He had eight points, five boards, two blocks and two steals versus the Jayhawks.

TIGER GUARDS HIT THE GLASS
In preseason practices, head coach Josh Pastner has stressed that the Memphis guards are going to have to "rebound, rebound, rebound" if the Tigers are going to have success in 2009-10. Well, the guards have listened to their coach in the first two games of the season.

The Tiger guards combined for 17 of the team's 43 boards (39.5 percent) in the season-opening win over Jackson State. Leading the way was junior Roburt Sallie, who grabbed a career-high seven rebounds.

In the 57-55 loss to No. 1/1 Kansas, the Memphis guards grabbed 11 of the team's 25 boards (44.0 percent). Elliot Williams led the Tiger perimeter players on the glass with six rebounds.

TIGERS HAUL IN NATION'S NO. 1 RECRUITING CLASS
While head coach Josh Pastner has been doing great things with his Tiger team on the court, he and his staff have been equally impressive outside the gym, especially in the area of recruiting. According to several national media web sites, Memphis has the country's No. 1 recruiting class for 2010.

Rivals.com, ESPN.com, Scout.com and The Sporting News all rated the Tigers' 2010 class No. 1 in the nation. MaxPreps.com ranks the Tigers' class No. 2 and PrepStars.com No. 3, but both had not updated their rankings since last week.

TIGER DEFENSE = TURNOVER MACHINE
Head coach Josh Pastner has preached to his Tigers to play hard with a strong effort on the defensive end because the outcome of a lot of Memphis games in 2009-10 will come down to defense. The players are buying in.

After two games, Memphis is forcing its opponents to turn the ball over an average of 20.5 times per contest. The Tigers picked up 20 Jackson State miscues in the season opener, and then forced the No. 1/1 Kansas Jayhawks to turn the ball over 21 times.

WILLIAMS SETS CAREER SCORING HIGH FOR SECOND-STRAIGHT GAME
After setting his career scoring high in his first game wearing the Blue and Gray Nov. 13, Elliot Williams did "two-better" in the Tigers' narrow loss to No. 1/1 Kansas Nov. 17. Williams scored a career-high 21 points in Memphis' 57-55 setback to the Jayhawks.

The 6-foot-5 guard set his previous career high of 19 points in the Tigers' 82-53 season-opening victory over Jackson State Nov. 13.

For more notes on the Memphis-Tennessee Tech contest, click on pdf link at the top of the page.