Dec. 13, 2007

Complete Release in PDF Format

TIGERS TO FACE MIDDLE TENNESSEE IN SUN BELT CLASSIC SATURDAY
The University of Memphis squad (7-0, 0-0 C-USA), ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press poll and No. 2 in ESPN/USA Today poll, returns to action Saturday, Dec. 15 when it meets Middle Tennessee (3-5, 0-0 Sun Belt) in game one of the Sun Belt Classic in Nashville, Tenn.. The game, to be televised by ESPN2, is slated for a 6:00 p.m. (CT) start. The second game of the Sun Belt Classic features Western Kentucky and Tennessee.

The Tigers return to action after an 11-day lay-off while taking fall final exams. Memphis last played on Dec. 4 and pulled out a 62-58 overtime victory over Southern Cal in the 2007 Jimmy Classic. Prior to the Dec. 4 contest, the Tigers posted home wins over Arkansas State (84-63) Nov. 20 and Austin Peay (104-82) Nov. 27. Memphis opened the 2007-08 season by claiming the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic championship with wins over Tennessee-Martin 102-71, Richmond 80-63, Oklahoma 63-53 and Connecticut 81-70.

The Blue Raiders enter Saturday's game after a thrilling 86-80 overtime home win over Belmont Dec. 12. Prior to that win, Middle Tennessee had dropped two-straight road decisions at Houston 83-68 and Belmont 85-62.

SCOUTING THE BLUE RAIDERS
Middle Tennessee enters Saturday's game after a thrilling 86-80 overtime home win over Belmont Dec. 12. Prior to that win, the Blue Raiders had dropped two-straight road decisions at Houston 83-68 and Belmont 85-62.

The Blue Raiders have four players averaging in double figures in Desmond Yates (12.3 ppg), Kevin Kanaskie (11.4), Demetrius Green (10.6) and Theryn Hudson (10.0). Hudson (5.8 rpg) and Kanaskie (4.4) lead Middle Tennessee on the glass, and Kanaskie also is tops on the team with 34 assists. Green is the Blue Raiders' top three-point threat, hitting 40 percent from the arc.

Middle Tennessee is shooting 45.2 percent from the field, 32.6 percent from the arc and 71.3 percent from the free throw line. Opponents are out-rebounding the Blue Raiders by a slim 0.1 average (31.3-31.4). Foes also are shooting well against Middle Tennessee, hitting 50.9 percent from the floor and 45.2 percent from the arc.

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 188-63 record (.749 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 381-134 (.740 winning percentage). While at Memphis, Calipari has led the Tigers to seven-straight 20-win seasons and seven-consecutive postseason berths.

CALIPARI HIT MILESTONE VS. MIDDLE TENNESSEE LAST YEAR
When the Tigers defeated Middle Tennessee last year, head coach John Calipari hit a coaching milestone. Memphis defeated the Blue Raiders 86-46 on Dec. 23, 2006, and Calipari won his 350th collegiate game. After the win, Calipari's record stood at 350-133.

When Calipari reached the 350-win plateau, he became one of only eight coaches in NCAA Division I history to record victory No. 350 in their 15th year of coaching. Calipari joined Roy Williams, Nolan Richardson, Denny Crum, Jim Boeheim, Tubby Smith, Rick Pitino and John Thompson in that elite group.

MEMPHIS REPRESENTIN'
The city of Memphis will be well represented in Saturday's game. The Tigers feature two players from the city in senior Andre Allen and sophomore Pierre Niles. The Blue Raiders also have two players -- Nigel Johnson (Wooddale High School) and Broderick Gilchrest (Hamilton High School) -- that call the Bluff City home.

MEMPHIS VS. THE SUN BELT
The Tigers have an all-time record of 111-58 (.657 winning percentage) against current members of the Sun Belt Conference. Memphis has played Arkansas-Little Rock (2-0), Arkansas State (30-28), Florida Atlantic (1-0), Florida International (1-0), Louisiana-Lafayette (8-1), Louisiana-Monroe (10-0), Middle Tennessee State (26-14), 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.

Earlier this season, the Tigers defeated Sun Belt foe Arkansas State 84-63 on Nov. 20 in Memphis.

Last year, Memphis played three Sun Belt foes. The Tigers defeated Arkansas State 86-60 and Middle Tennessee 86-46 during the 2006-07 regular season. The Tigers posted a 73-58 victory over North Texas in the 2007 NCAA Tournament South Region first round in New Orleans, La.

CALIPARI VS. THE SUN BELT
Head coach John Calipari is a perfect 12-0 against Sun Belt Conference members. Calipari has coached against Arkansas-Little Rock (1-0), Arkansas State (4-0), Louisiana-Lafayette (2-0), Middle Tennessee (2-0), New Orleans (1-0), North Texas (1-0) and Western Kentucky (1-0).

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
Memphis has had a long history of success in non-league games, and that has continued under head coach John Calipari. Since Calipari took over in 2000-01, the Tigers have a non-conference record (including postseason) of 95-32 for a 74.8 winning percentage. The Tigers are 7-0 against non-Conference USA foes this season.

MEMPHIS IN NASHVILLE GAMES
The Tigers have an all-time record of 5-7 in games played in Nashville. Memphis has played Vanderbilt (2-5), Lipscomb (1-1), Western Kentucky (1-0), Ole Miss (1-0) and Louisville (0-1).

The Tigers' last game played in Nashville came in the 1997-98 season. Memphis dropped an 86-77 decision to Vanderbilt on Nov. 21, 1997. The last time the Tigers won a game in Nashville was the 1991-92 campaign when they defeated the Commodores 72-70 in overtime on Jan. 29, 1992.

The Nashville game most Tiger fans remember is the one they would like to forget -- an 83-72 loss to Louisville on Mar. 11, 1972. Memphis had swept the regular-season, Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) series with the Cardinals (77-69 win in Louisville; 80-65 win in Memphis), and both teams finished with 12-2 conference records.

However, instead of going to a tiebreaker (which Memphis would have won), the league decided to have a one-game playoff in Nashville. The Cardinals won that playoff contest 83-72 and earned the MVC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. It is said that this contest intensified the already-heated Memphis-Louisville rivalry.

That 1971-72 Tiger squad featured Larry Finch and Ronnie Robinson, both of whom helped guide Memphis to the 1973 NCAA title game a year later.

DECEMBER RECORD UNDER CALIPARI
Under head coach John Calipari, the Tigers have a 35-14 record (.714 winning percentage) when playing in the month of December. Memphis was 6-2 last December, and has won 14 of its last 16 December contests dating back to the 2004-05 season.

FIRST TIME SINCE, PART I...
Memphis jumped up to the No. 2 spot in both national polls on Dec. 3. The last time the Tigers earned a No. 2 ranking was 22 years ago in the 1985-86 campaign. Memphis was ranked No. 2 for one week in early February 1986.

The Tigers also held the No. 2 ranking in the 1982-83 season for two weeks, before claiming the school's first and only No. 1 national ranking in mid-January 1983. Memphis held that No. 1 spot for one week.

FIRST TIME SINCE, PART II...
The Tigers are off to a 7-0 start this year, and it's been awhile since Memphis began a campaign with seven-straight wins. The last time the Tigers started off 7-0 was the 1995-96 season. That squad started 8-0 before dropping its first game to UMass 64-61 (UMass was coached by John Calipari at the time).

The longest win streak to open a Tiger season was 20 straight to start the 1985-86 campaign. Memphis went 20-0 before losing at Virginia Tech on Feb. 1, 1986.

CALIPARI AMONG COACHING ELITE
John Calipari already counted himself among the coaching elite in terms of coaching wins in the first nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 years. Well, after the Tigers posted seven wins to open the 2007-08 season, he moved up to the No. 6 spot for most coaching victories in his first 16 years (377 wins).

CALIPARI MOVING UP WINS CHART
Last year, head coach John Calipari posted his 150th win as the Memphis mentor and reached the milestone the second-fastest of any coach in Tiger basketball history. Well, don't look now, but Calipari is continuing his move up the Memphis coaching wins list.

Calipari entered 2007-08 with 181 wins at Memphis, and after the Tigers' seven victories to open the 2007-08 campaign, he now has 188. He took over the No. 2 spot with the Tigers' win over UTEP Mar. 1, 2007.

TIGER "D" CAUSING HAVOC
In his first 13 seasons as a college head coach, John Calipari focused his defense on forcing opponents to take bad shots, and in turn, they would have a low field goal percentage. Since he started implementing the new offense/defense system prior to the 2005-06 season, Calipari still wants to focus on field goal percentage defense, but also wants to cause more turnovers with pressure defense.

And, the 2007-08 Tigers are doing both. Memphis foes are shooting 38.7 percent from the field and have turned the ball over 136 times (19.4 to/game). The Tigers forced three teams into 20 or more turnovers (Richmond, 21; Austin Peay, 21; Southern Cal, 21). Connecticut is the team that has taken care of the ball the best versus Memphis, as the Huskies committed only 17 miscues.

DOZIER MAKES SOLID RETURN
Robert Dozier missed two games against Arkansas State and Austin Peay with a left foot injury, but the 6-foot-9 forward made it back for the Dec. 4 Southern Cal contest -- and his return could not have come at a better time.

The Lithonia, Ga., native had 13 points and eight boards versus the Trojans. He also had two assists, one block and one steal in the victory.

Dozier suffered a left foot injury prior to the Nov. 20 Arkansas State game and saw limited practice time until Nov. 27. His practice time increased during the week leading up to the Dec. 4 Southern Cal game.

CLOSING IN ON 1,000
Chris Douglas-Roberts entered 2007-08 with 821 points and needed 179 to reach the 1,000-point milestone. Well, seven games in, Douglas-Roberts is closing in fast on reaching that goal.

He now has 962 career points and needs only 38 to reach the 1,000-point plateau for his career. When he reaches the milestone, he will be the 43rd player in Tiger history to do so.

ROSE ON THE REBOUND
No, there is nothing wrong with Derrick Rose. He is fine. In fact, the 6-foot-3 guard was a monster on the glass in the Tigers' victory over Southern Cal Dec. 4.

The freshman grabbed a season-high 10 boards in the win over the Trojans, and nearly posted his second-straight double-double but had only nine points. Rose also had four assists and a season-best three steals in the win.

A NEW STAT -- THE PAF
Football has YAC (yards after contact). Well, basketball needs its own stat, and it should be PAF -- points accounted for. Derrick Rose beefed up his PAF in a key second-half run versus the Trojans.

Down 46-41 at the 7:53 mark, the Tigers put together an 8-0 run to take a 49-46 advantage with 6:19 left, and Rose had a hand in all eight points. The following shows Rose's impact in that run:

• 7:53 -- Offensive rebound and made FG
• 7:20 -- Defensive rebound and outlet pass to Willie Kemp for layup
• 6:42 -- Hit Antonio Anderson for a layup after an Anderson steal
• 6:19 -- Stole ball in Tiger press and scored FG

"TAGG" IMPRESSIVE ON DEFENSIVE END
The contest prior to Dec. 4, Shawn Taggart showed off his offensive exploits as he netted a career-high 17 points in the win over Austin Peay. But, against Southern Cal, the 6-foot-10 forward gave Tiger fans a glimpse of what he could do defensively.

The Richmond, Va., native blocked a career-best five shots and also grabbed five boards. Taggart hit a couple of key three-pointers in the first half versus the Trojans, and nailed a key free throw in overtime to secure the victory.

For more notes, click on pdf link at top of page.