Dec. 4, 2009

Complete Release in PDF Format

Tigers On TV/Radio/Web
Television: WKNO/Channel 10 (TAPE DELAYED at 9 p.m. CT; Greg Gaston, play-by-play; Hank McDowell, color analyst)
Radio: WREC 600 AM (Dave Woloshin, 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 MID-SOUTH REGION FOE ARKANSAS STATE SATURDAY
The University of Memphis squad (4-1, 0-0 C-USA) continues its five-game homestand Saturday, Dec. 5 when it hosts Mid-South region foe Arkansas State (3-3, 0-0 Sun Belt) at FedExForum. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. (CT) tip.

Memphis finished play in the 2009 Hall of Fame Showcase Nov. 30, and the Tigers posted a 3-1 record in the classic. Memphis opened Hall of Fame Showcase action Nov. 17 when it dropped a narrow 57-55 decision to No. 1/1 Kansas in St. Louis. The Tigers then defeated Tennessee Tech 92-59 Nov. 20, Central Arkansas 81-49 Nov. 24 and Oakland 77-46 Nov. 30 in Hall of Fame Showcase contests at FedExForum.

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.

Arkansas State is off to a 3-3 start to the 2009-10 campaign. The Red Wolves have dropped three of their last four with setbacks to UTEP 82-56, Indiana State 77-72 and Ole Miss 79-57. Arkansas State's lone win in that stretch was an 80-66 victory over Tennessee Martin.

SCOUTING THE RED WOLVES
Arkansas State is off to a 3-3 start to the 2009-10 campaign. The Red Wolves have dropped three of their last four with setbacks to UTEP 82-56, Indiana State 77-72 and Ole Miss 79-57. Arkansas State's lone win in that stretch was an 80-66 victory over Tennessee Martin.

The tandem of Daniel Bryant and Brandon Reed paces the Red Wolves offense. Bryant leads the squad with a 15.0 scoring average, while Reed is second at 12.2 ppg. Trey Finn is Arkansas State's top rebounder at 6.8 boards per contest, followed at Brandon Peterson at 6.3 rpg. Reed is the Red Wolves' top threat from the arc, hitting 42.3 percent of his attempts from long range.

Arkansas State is shooting 41.2 percent from the field, 35.9 percent from the arc and 63.6 percent from the free throw line. The Red Wolves are out-rebounding their opponents by a narrow average margin of +0.8 boards per game.

Arkansas State, picked to finish third in the Sun Belt Conference West Division, is in its second year of the John Brady era. Brady, who led LSU to the 2006 NCAA Final Four, has an overall record of 297-236 in his 19 years as a head coach. He is 16-20 at Arkansas State.

MEMPHIS VS. THE SUN BELT
The Tigers have an all-time record of 113-58 (.661 winning percentage) against current members of the Sun Belt Conference. Memphis has played Arkansas-Little Rock (3-0), Arkansas State (30-28), Florida Atlantic (1-0), Florida International (1-0), Louisiana-Lafayette (8-1), Louisiana-Monroe (10-0), Middle Tennessee State (27-14), New Orleans (8-0), North Texas (16-6), South Alabama (1-0) and Western Kentucky (8-9). The Tigers have never played Denver and Troy.

Last season, the Tigers defeated Sun Belt foe Arkansas-Little Rock 59-51 in Memphis.

The last time Memphis dropped a game to a Sun Belt Conference opponent came in the 1999-2000 campaign. The Tigers lost 84-72 at Arkansas State on Dec. 16, 1999.

TREYS AWAY! ...
It could be a three-point shooting contest when the Tigers host Arkansas State Saturday at FedExForum, as both squads shoot the ball well from long range. Memphis is shooting 37.2 percent from the arc, which is fifth in Conference USA. On the other side, the Red Wolves are hitting 35.9 percent from the three-point line, which is eighth in the Sun Belt Conference.

... OR MAYBE NOT
While Memphis and Arkansas State hit a solid percentage from the three-point line, both also do an excellent job defending the arc. The Tigers are second in Conference USA in three-point field goal percentage defense at 27.9 percent, and Arkansas State leads the Sun Belt in that statistical category at 29.1 percent.

PASTNER VS. BRADY
Of course, Saturday's encounter is the first time that Josh Pastner and John Brady will face each other as head coaches. However, Pastner's Arizona squads played Brady's LSU teams four times from 1999-2002, and that series is tied at 2-2.

Pastner's first two meetings against Brady came during his playing days in the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons. The Wildcats won the first meeting with a 78-71 victory on Feb. 13, 1999, but the Tigers returned the favor with an 86-60 win in Baton Rouge the following season (Jan. 29, 2000).

As a member of Lute Olson's staff in 2000-01 and 2002-03, Pastner split the two games with Brady's LSU Tigers. Arizona posted an 88-75 win on Dec. 20, 2000, and LSU won the last meeting by a narrow 66-65 score on Dec. 21, 2002.

KEMP LIKES SEEING RED
Don't be surprised if Willie Kemp has a good night shooting the ball versus Arkansas State Saturday. In the last meeting between Memphis and the Red Wolves in 2007-08, Kemp exploded on the offensive end.

The 6-foot-2 guard netted a career-high 22 points versus Arkansas State. He also tied career bests with eight field goals made and six three-pointers made versus the Red Wolves.

The Bolivar, Tenn., native set his "first" career bests a season earlier (2006-07) in a blowout win over Cincinnati. Kemp scored a then career-high 21 points versus the Bearcats and hit a career-best six treys in that game. One of the Cincinnati Bearcat colors -- red.

WILLIAMS ON A 20-POINT ROLL
After playing most of his freshman season at Duke in a reserve role, Elliot Williams has made a nice transition to "spotlight" player in the early portion of his sophomore year in 2009-10. The 6-foot-5 guard has netted double figures in all five games of his Tiger career to date, including four-straight, 20-point outings. The Memphis, Tenn., has netted 20 points versus Oakland, 20 versus Central Arkansas, 23 versus Tennessee Tech and 21 versus No. 1/1 Kansas.

The last time a Tiger player had more consecutive 20-point performances was in 2003-04. That season, then freshman Sean Banks had a string of six-straight, 20-point games to close the regular season. Banks had 28 versus Marquette, 24 versus UAB, 22 versus Southern Miss, 26 versus Louisville, 25 versus TCU and 28 versus Cincinnati.

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 97-10 overall record (.907 winning percentage) at FedExForum.

Since the 2005 Conference USA Tournament, Memphis has won 87 of its last 91 home games (.956 winning percentage). Furthermore, the 2009-10 seniors -- Pierre Henderson-Niles, Willie Kemp and Doneal Mack -- are 62-2 (.969 winning percentage) at home in FedExForum.

FEDEXFORUM CLOSING IN ON 100
With three more Tiger homecourt wins, FedExForum will hit a milestone. Memphis enters Saturday's encounter versus Arkansas State with 97 victories on its homecourt at FedExForum, needing three more to reach 100.

The Tigers entered the 2009-10 campaign with 93 wins at FedExForum, and averaged 18.6 wins per season from 2004-05 through 2008-09.

NOVEMBER, PLEASE DON'T GO...
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 40-15 record (.727 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 27-6 (.818 winning percentage) in November since 2004-05, with five of the six setbacks coming to ranked opponents.

..BUT, DECEMBER HAS ALSO BEEN GOOD TO TIGERS
Since the 1999-2000 season, the Tigers have a 48-21 record (.696 winning percentage) when playing in the month of December. Memphis was 5-2 last December and has won 23 of its last 27 December contests (.852 winning percentage), dating back to the 2004-05 season.

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 four games, Memphis is forcing its opponents to turn the ball over an average of 21.4 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. Memphis forced 24 Tennessee Tech in a Nov. 20 win, and then caused 18 Central Arkansas miscues Nov. 24. Oakland committed 24 miscues in the Nov. 30 game.

For more notes on the Memphis-Arkansas State game, click on the pdf link at the top of the page.