Dec. 27, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

TIGERS TO HOST RIVAL CINCINNATI IN A NON-LEAGUE ENCOUNTER MONDAY AT FEDEXFORUM
The University of Memphis squad (7-3, 0-0 C-USA), ranked No. 26 in the Associated Press poll (first in Also Receiving Votes) and No. 24 in ESPN/USA Today poll, continues its seven-game homestand at FedExForum on Monday, Dec. 29 when it hosts longtime rival Cincinnati (10-2, 0-0 Big East). The game, to be televised by ESPN2, is scheduled for an 8 p.m. (CT) start.

The Tigers' homestand continues over the New Year holiday with games against Northeastern Dec. 31, Lamar Jan. 3 and Marshall Jan. 7. Memphis opened this seven-game homestand Dec. 17 with a 59-51 victory over Arkansas-Little Rock and followed with a 72-65 setback to No. 11/11 Syracuse Dec. 20. The Tigers bounced back with an 87-49 pre-Christmas victory over Drexel on Dec. 22. Memphis' next road game is Jan. 10 at UCF in Orlando, Fla.

Prior to its Dec. 17 victory over Arkansas-Little Rock, Memphis dropped its road opener of the 2008-09 campaign with a 79-70 overtime setback at No. 19/19 Georgetown Dec. 13. The loss ended the Tigers' 19-game road win streak that stretched back to the middle of the 2006-07 season. Before the Georgetown loss, the Tigers were off 10 days for fall semester final exams.

Cincinnati brings a 10-2 overall record into Monday's encounter. The Bearcats have won their last four with victories over Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Eastern Kentucky, Mississippi State and Charleston Southern. Cincinnati's last setback was a 76-66 loss to crosstown rival Xavier on Dec. 13. The Bearcats also have key wins over UNLV and UAB.

SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
Cincinnati brings a 10-2 overall record into Monday's encounter. The Bearcats have won their last four with victories over Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Eastern Kentucky, Mississippi State and Charleston Southern. Cincinnati's last setback was a 76-66 loss to crosstown rival Xavier on Dec. 13. The Bearcats also have key wins over UNLV and UAB.

The duo of Deonta Vaughn and Yancy Gates leads the Cincinnati offense. Vaughn is the team's top scorer at 15.1 ppg, while Gates is second at 10.8 ppg. Gates and Mike Williams each average 6.3 boards per game to lead the Bearcats on the glass. Vaughn is tops on the squad with 57 assists (4.8 apg). Vaughn (35.1 percent), Alvin Mitchell (38.2) and Larry Davis (36.2) all shoot over 35 percent from the arc.

The Bearcats are shooting 44.3 percent from the field, 34.9 percent from the three-point line and 65.8 percent from the free throw line. Cincinnati is dominating its opponents on the glass, out-rebounding them by an average margin of +11.4 boards per game (43.4-32.0).

BOARD WARRIORS
For the second-straight game, Memphis faces an opponent that does an outstanding job in cleaning the glass. While the Tigers are third in Conference USA in rebound margin at +5.3, Cincinnati leads the Big East Conference with a dominating +11.4 rebound margin.

In its previous game versus Drexel Dec. 22, Memphis entered the contest with a +5.6 rebound margin and the Dragons had a +6.7 rebound margin. The Tigers edged out Drexel on the glass 42-39 in the victory.

AN ODD MEETING (FOR FOURTH YEAR)
Although Monday's game is the fourth-straight year the two longtime rivals will play as non-conference foes, the match-up still has an odd feeling. Prior to the 2005-06 encounter, the previous 63 games were played as conference rivals. The Bearcats moved to the Big East Conference in the summer of 2005, while Memphis remained in Conference USA.

The series began in the 1967-68 season and every contest up to the 2005-06 campaign was a league game. The two schools were members of the Missouri Valley Conference (1968-70), Metro Conference (1976-91), Great Midwest Conference (1992-95) and Conference USA (1996-2005).

HOT HAND VS. CINCINNATI, PART I
A little over three years ago, the Tigers entered Fifth Third Arena with a 6-1 record, and the stars of that squad were Rodney Carney, Darius Washington Jr., and Shawne Williams. However, it was -- at the time -- a little known freshman Antonio Anderson that took over the game.

The 6-foot-6 guard scored a career-high 32 points, and also set career highs for field goals made (11), field goals attempted (15), treys made (7) and treys attempted (9). The 32 points were the third-most in a single game by a freshman, and the seven three-pointers made tied the school record and the freshman record.

For his performance, Anderson was named Rivals.com National Freshman of the Week.

HOT HAND VS. CINCINNATI, PART II
The Bearcats must feel like they are snake-bit when playing Memphis the last three seasons. Following Antonio Anderson's 32-point performance in 2005-06, another Tiger freshman had his break-out game against Cincinnati in 2006-07.

Willie Kemp scored 21 points -- for the 2006-07 season, a career high -- in the 88-55 win that year at FedExForum. The Bolivar, Tenn., native posted career bests for treys made (6) and attempted (9). The six three-pointers are tied for the eighth-most in a single game in Tiger hoops history and third-most by a freshman in school history.

Kemp improved his career scoring game in 2007-08 when he netted 22 points versus Arkansas State (Nov. 20, 2007). In that contest, the 6-foot-2 guard tied his career high for three-pointers made with six.

HOT HAND VS. CINCINNATI, PART III
Is there a trend going on here? Well, it seems like it in the last three Memphis-Cincinnati match-ups for the Tigers. In 2005-06, it was freshman Antonio Anderson. Then, in 2006-07, freshman Willie Kemp had his break-out game versus Cincinnati.

Well, it was another freshman in 2007-08 and his name was Derrick Rose. The 6-foot-4 guard entered the Dec. 19, 2007, contest having scored single figures in three of the four previous games.

Rose, though, broke out of his slump versus the Bearcats with 26 points (regular season high), four rebounds, six assists and one steal. He shot 7-of-12 from the field, 5-of-8 from the arc and 7-of-10 from the charity stripe. The five treys and eight trey attempts were career highs for Rose.

MEMPHIS VS. THE BIG EAST
The Tigers are 125-138 all-time versus current members of the Big East Conference. Memphis has played Cincinnati (30-36), Connecticut (1-0), DePaul (14-12), Georgetown (2-7), Louisville (34-51), Marquette (14-12), Pittsburgh (1-1), Providence (2-3), St. John's (0-1), Seton Hall (3-1), Syracuse (1-2), USF (18-3), Villanova (4-8) and West Virginia (1-1).

Memphis has played 14 of the 16 Big East schools, leaving Notre Dame and Rutgers as the only two the Tigers have not faced. Most of the contests versus Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisville, Marquette and USF were league games (Missouri Valley, Metro, Great Midwest, Conference USA).

Since the start of the 2005-06 campaign (when the Big East realigned), Memphis is 7-2 against teams from the Big East. Earlier this year, the Tigers defeated Seton Hall 84-70 in the semifinals of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off on Nov. 21, but lost at Georgetown 79-70 in overtime on Dec. 13 and at home to No. 11/11 Syracuse 72-65 on Dec. 20. Last year, Memphis posted victories over Big East foes Connecticut, Georgetown and Cincinnati.

Cincinnati is the last of four Big East foes for Memphis in 2008-09. The Tigers already played Seton Hall Nov. 21, Georgetown Dec. 13 and Syracuse Dec. 20.

CALIPARI VS. THE BIG EAST
Memphis head coach John Calipari has an all-time record of 59-33 (.641 winning percentage) against current members of the Big East Conference. Calipari has coached against Cincinnati (4-7), Connecticut (1-2), DePaul (4-2), Georgetown (2-1), Louisville (6-5), Marquette (3-1), Pittsburgh (2-1), Providence (1-1), Rutgers (11-4), Seton Hall (1-0), Syracuse (3-2), USF (9-1), Villanova (2-0) and West Virginia (10-6).

SO LET'S TALK FREE THROWS
Since all the talk is focused on free throw percentage and not the number of free throw attempts per game (which is where it should be), let's look at the Tigers' last four games from the charity stripe in terms of percentage. From Dec. 13-22, Memphis is shooting 70.5 percent (62-of-88) and yet only has a 2-2 record in that stretch.

In fact, Memphis has out-shot its opponents (by percentage) in three of the last four games. The only game in which that did not occur was the loss at Georgetown, where the Hoyas hit 75 percent and the Tigers shot 73.3 percent from the charity stripe.

To compare, Memphis lost only two games all of the 2007-08 season (38-2 record), and shot 61.4 percent from the free throw line.

NO POST-CHRISTMAS BLUES FOR TIGERS
In the John Calipari era, Memphis has played well after returning from its Christmas break. Since 2000-01 (Calipari's first year), the Tigers are 7-1 in their first game after Christmas (.875 winning percentage).

The lone loss came in Calipari's first year in 2000-01 when the Tigers lost to Southern Miss 75-67 on Dec. 27, 2000. Since then, Memphis has won seven-consecutive post-Christmas games.

Among those "first-game-after-Christmas" victories were wins over No. 7 Illinois (77-74) in 2002-03, No. 11 Missouri (61-59) in 2003-04, No. 8 Gonzaga (83-72) in 2005-06 and No. 17 Arizona (76-63) in 2007-08.

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. Since the 2005 Conference USA Tournament, Memphis has won 69 of its last 73 home games (.945 winning percentage).

Overall, the Tigers have a 79-10 record (.888 winning percentage) at FedExForum. Memphis had a perfect 19-0 home mark in 2006-07, and was 20-1 at FedExForum in 2007-08.

DOZIER JOINS ANOTHER ELITE GROUP
Robert Dozier scored five points versus Syracuse Dec. 20 to become the 44th member of the Memphis 1,000-point club. And, Dozier joined another elite Tiger group the following contest versus Drexel Dec. 22 when he grabbed three rebounds.

With those three boards, Dozier became a member of the Tiger 1,000-point, 750-board club, and is the seventh player in Memphis history to do so. The following shows that group:

Player                       Points              Rebounds

Keith Lee                    2,408                   1,336

Forest Arnold              1,854                   1,109

Kelly Wise                   1,487                   1,075

Ronnie Robinson         1,150                   1,066

David Vaughn              1,305                    903

Don Holcomb              1,118                    870

Robert Dozier              1,016                    750

SALLIE FOR THREEEEEE!
When Roburt Sallie signed with the Tigers, the scouting report said the 6-foot-5 guard had shooting range to the parking lot outside the arena. After a period of learning and adjustment to the NCAA Division I level, Tiger Nation may start seeing that pinpoint shooting touch from the perimeter.

Sallie came off the bench versus Syracuse Dec. 20 and began lighting up the nets. The Sacramento, Calif., native shot 4-of-7 from the field with all four field goals made coming from the arc. Sallie finished the game with a season-high 12 points and added two blocks and two steals.

He continued his solid play in the Tigers' 87-49 win over Drexel Dec. 22. Sallie scored 11 points and added five boards, two assists and one block. He was 3-of-5 from the arc and 2-of-2 from the foul line.

THE "TAG" SWAT ATTACK; SETS CAREER-HIGH BLOCKS FOR SECOND TIME
In addition to the rebounding loss by Joey Dorsey's departure, many wondered how the Tigers would defend the rim. Again, the answer -- 10 games into 2008-09 -- is Shawn Taggart.

The 6-foot-10 forward leads the team in blocked shots with 26 (2.60 bpg). He is ranked second in Conference USA in blocked shots.

Taggart blocked a career-high seven shots in the Tigers' 87-49 victory over Drexel Dec. 22. He also added 13 points and seven boards in the win

The seven swats broke his previous high of six blocks which he set only 20 days earlier in a Memphis win over Marist Dec. 2. Prior to that, the Richmond, Va., native had four blocks against Xavier in the championship game of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Nov. 23.

For more notes on the Memphis-Cincinnati match-up, click on the pdf link at the top of the page.