Dec. 30, 2009
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Tigers On TV/Radio/Web
Television: ESPN2 (Carter Blackburn, play-by-play; Jimmy Dykes, color analyst)
Radio: WREC 600 AM (Dave Woloshin, play-by-play; Matt Dillon, color analyst; Forrest Goodman, studio host)
Web: ESPN360.com
TIGERS HOST TENNESSEE IN IN-STATE BATTLE THURSDAY AT FEDEXFORUM
The University of Memphis squad (9-2, 0-0 C-USA) continues its four-game homestand Thursday when it hosts in-state rival Tennessee (9-2, 0-0 SEC) at FedExForum. The game, which is airinig on ESPN2, is slated for a 3 p.m. (CT) start.
The Tigers have bounced back with two-straight victories after their Dec. 19 setback against UMass (73-72) in Boston, Mass. Memphis posted wins over Southeast Missouri State 87-57 on Dec. 22 and IUPUI 87-67 on Dec. 28. Prior to the UMass loss, Memphis had won six straight with victories over Tennessee Tech 92-59, Central Arkansas 81-49, Oakland 77-46, Arkansas State 74-55, Montana State 76-51 and Arkansas-Little Rock 83-71. The Tigers' only other loss was another narrow one to No. 1/1 Kansas 57-55 in St. Louis, Mo. The Kansas, Tennessee Tech, Central Arkansas and Oakland games were part of the 2009 Hall of Fame Showcase classic.
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 brings a 9-2 record into Thursday's game at FedExForum. The Volunteers have won five of their last six with the lone setback a road loss at Southern Cal (77-55). Tennessee posted a 99-78 win in its last outing on Dec. 23.
SCOUTING THE VOLUNTEERS
Tennessee brings a 9-2 record into Thursday's game at FedExForum. The Volunteers have won five of their last six with the lone setback a road loss at Southern Cal (77-55). Tennessee posted a 99-78 win in its last outing on Dec. 23.
The Volunteers were picked second in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Eastern Division in the media preseason poll. Tennessee received two votes to win the SEC overall regular season championship.
Scotty Hopson leads a trio of double-figure scorers for Tennessee with a 13.7 scoring average. Tyler Smith (11.7 ppg) and Wayne Chism (10.5 ppg) also average double digits in the scoring column for the Volunteers. Chism leads the squad on the glass with a 5.5 rebounding average, followed by Brian Williams at 5.2 rpg. Smith is tops on the team with 41 assists (3.7 apg). Hopson (42.6 percent) and Cameron Tatum (40 percent) are the Volunteers' top threats from the three-point line. Smith shoots a team-best 58.4 percent from the field.
Tennessee is shooting 48.4 percent from the field, 34.7 percent from the arc and 67.6 percent from the free throw line. The Volunteers are out-rebounding their opponents by an average margin of +2.3 boards per game (36.8-34.5).
TIGER SUCCESS ON NEW YEAR'S EVE
Tiger Nation loves to ring in the New Year, and the Memphis basketball program has helped with the festivities in past years with a New Year's Eve win. Since World War II, the Tigers have a 7-2 record (.778 winning percentage) when playing on New Year's Eve.
The last time Memphis played a New Year's Eve game was last season when the Tigers posted an 80-48 win over Northeastern at FedExForum. Memphis won six-straight New Year's Eve games from 1966-67 to 1975-76. The Tigers lost their two New Year's Eve encounters in the 1977-78 (to Arkansas) and 1992-93 (to Minnesota) campaigns.
CLOSING OUT THE OLD YEAR
The Tigers are closing out 2009 with a New Year's Eve tilt against in-state rival Tennessee Dec. 31 at FedExForum, and Memphis has done quite well in the final game of the year in the last 15 seasons. The Tigers have a 12-3 record (.800 winning percentage) in their final game of the calendar year the past 15 campaigns.
TIGERS LOVE HOLIDAY HOOPS
The holidays are a time to spread good cheer. Well, the Tigers have done just that for their fans since the 1999-2000 campaign. When playing over the holidays (Dec. 22-Jan. 4), Memphis has an impressive 28-5 record (.848 winning percentage) since the 1999-2000 campaign.
Memphis has won 13 straight "Holiday Hoops" games, dating back to the 2005-06 season. Since 2005-06, the Tigers are 15-1 (.938 winning percentage) in "Holiday Hoops" contests.
IT'S THE NEWLYWED GAME THURSDAY
Cue Bob Eubanks to the public address announcer's microphone for Thursday's Memphis-Tennessee encounter, as the match-up could be called "The Newlywed Game." Both head coaches -- Memphis' Josh Pastner and Tennessee's Bruce Pearl -- got married this past off-season.
A little over a month after he was hired as the Tigers' head coach, Pastner married the former Kerri Lamas on May 16, 2009. Three months later, Pearl married the former Brandy Miller on Aug. 29, 2009.
MEMPHIS VS. THE SEC
The Tigers have an all-time record of 89-65 (.578 winning percentage) against members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Memphis has played Alabama (5-2), Arkansas (10-11), Auburn (0-1), Florida (0-1), Georgia (1-1), Kentucky (1-0), LSU (2-2), Ole Miss (26-11), Mississippi State (13-11), South Carolina (18-5), Tennessee (8-12) and Vanderbilt (5-8).
Memphis has won eight of its last 10 contests against SEC opponents, and 13 of its last 16 games against the league. The last time the Tigers faced an SEC opponent was in the 2008-09 season. Memphis traveled to Knoxville, Tenn., and posted a thrilling 54-52 win over the Volunteers.
FORMER TEAMMATES, NOW FOES
Thursday's contest features two seniors that were teammates in high school from 2004-06, but are now foes. Memphis guard Willie Kemp and Tennessee forward Wayne Chism teamed up during those two seasons on the Bolivar Central High School squad.
The duo helped lead Bolivar Central to a two-year (2004-05, 2005-06) mark of 58-16 and the 2005 Tennessee Class AA crown. In 2006, Bolivar Central reached the Class AA quarterfinals. Kemp won the 2006 Tennessee Class AA Mr. Basketball award, while Chism was a finalist for the honor.
A JORDAN BRAND CLASSIC REUNION ON THURSDAY
It will be a Jordan Brand Classic reunion on Thursday when Memphis and Tennessee meet. In the Apr. 19, 2008, contest played at Madison Square Garden in New York City, the Tigers' Wesley Witherspoon and the Volunteers' Scotty Hopson both played for the Blue squad.
Hopson scored a team-best 21 points (8-of-13 FG, 2-of-3 treys, 3-of-5 FT) in helping lead the Blue team to a 124-114 win over the White squad. Hopson also had four boards, one block and two steals. Witherspoon added 13 points, four rebounds and three steals in the Blue team win.
A PRINCE TIE TO THE TIGERS
Volunteer senior J.P. Prince not only calls Memphis home, but his family also has a tie to the Tiger basketball program. Prince's father, John, was an assistant on Larry Finch's staff from 1994-97.
During his time as an assistant at Memphis, the Tigers posted a 62-33 overall record and made two NCAA Tournament trips and one NIT appearance. The 1994-95 Tiger squad advanced to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, and the 1995-96 team tied for the first Conference USA regular season crown.
HEY, I KNOW YOU!
When Memphis head coach Josh Pastner takes the floor Thursday, he'll see a familiar face wearing the Tennessee orange in former pupil J.P. Prince. Prior to last year's meeting in Knoxville, the last time the two were on the court was in the 2006-07 campaign when Pastner and Prince were on the same side. Both Pastner (assistant coach) and Prince (player) were at Arizona in 2006-07.
BATTLE OF (SCORING) WILLS THURSDAY
Memphis head coach Josh Pastner has stressed that the Tigers are going to have to be an excellent defensive team to have an successful 2009-10. The players have bought in on the defensive end, as Memphis is holding opponents to only 58.0 points per game, which is second Conference USA and eighth in the nation.
Tennessee, though, could be the Tigers' toughest test to date in terms of slowing down its offensive firepower. The Volunteers average 82.8 points, which is second in the SEC and 28th in the nation.
WHO'S TURNING (OVER) WHO?
Good question, seeing how both Memphis and Tennessee protect the ball well and yet also force foes into a lot of miscues. The following shows what both teams do in the turnover category:
Memphis Stat Tennessee
12.1 TO/Gm 13.3
19.0 TO Forced/Gm 20.9
+6.9* TO Margin +7.6^
* ranked 8th in NCAA Division I
^ ranked 4th in NCAA Division I
FEDEXFORUM TURNED 100
With the Tigers' Dec. 22 win over Southeast Missouri State, FedExForum hit a milestone. Memphis posted the 100th victory on its homecourt at FedExForum with an 87-57 win over the Redhawks. The Tigers now have a 101-10 record at FedExForum.
The Tigers came into the 2009-10 campaign with 93 wins at FedExForum, and averaged 18.6 wins per season from 2004-05 through 2008-09.
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 101-10 overall record (.910 winning percentage) at FedExForum.
Since the 2005 Conference USA Tournament, Memphis has won 91 of its last 95 home games (.958 winning percentage). Furthermore, the 2009-10 seniors -- Pierre Henderson-Niles, Willie Kemp and Doneal Mack -- are 66-2 (.971 winning percentage) at home in FedExForum. The 2009-10 seniors only two losses at home were to Tennessee (66-62) in the 2007-08 season and Syracuse (72-65) in the 2008-09 season.
TIGERS STREAKING AT HOME
Don't look now, but the Tigers have put together another homecourt winning streak. After a Dec. 20, 2008, home loss to Syracuse, Memphis finished the 2008-09 season with 15-straight home wins at FedExForum.
The Tigers have continued those winning ways at home in 2009-10 with eight-consecutive wins on their FedExForum floor, pushing the streak to 23 straight. Memphis' 23-game homecourt win streak is currently the sixth-longest in the country.
The following lists the nation's current top-six homecourt win streaks for 2007-08:
Team Streak Next Home Game
Kansas 50 Cornell/Jan. 6
Pittsburgh 29 Louisville/Jan. 16
Dayton 27 Ball State/Jan. 5
Missouri 26 UMKC/Dec. 30
Siena 26 St. Peter's/Dec. 31
Memphis 23* Tennessee/Dec. 31
* Note: Memphis C-USA Tour. gms count in streak
DECEMBER GOOD TO TIGERS IN RECENT YEARS
Since the 1999-2000 season, the Tigers have a 53-22 record (.707 winning percentage) when playing in the month of December. Memphis was 5-2 last December and has won 28 of its last 33 December contests (.848 winning percentage), dating back to the 2004-05 season.
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 144-47 for a 75.4 winning percentage.
In 2008-09, Memphis had a 17-4 record against non-conference opponents (including postseason).
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 11 games, Memphis is forcing its opponents to turn the ball over an average of 19.0 times per contest. The Tigers average 12.1 turnovers for a +6.9 in turnover margin, which is the eighth-best mark in the nation.
MORE ON THE TOUGH TIGER "D"
Points for the Memphis opponents have been tough to come by in the early portion of the 2009-10 season. The Tigers are holding their foes to an average of 58.0 points per outing, which is the eighth-best defensive mark in NCAA Division I.
Memphis has held eight of its 11 opponents to under 60 points, with Arkansas-Little Rock (71 points), UMass (73) and IUPUI (67) the only foes to break the 60-point barrier. To take it even further, five of Memphis' 11 foes have been held to 55 or fewer points.
WILLIAMS BACK ON 20-POINT TRACK; NETS CAREER-HIGH 27 VERSUS IUPUI
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 11 games of his Tiger career to date, and included in those double-figure games were a string of seven-straight, 20-point outings that came to an end in the Tigers' road loss at UMass Dec. 19. Williams, though, bounced back after his 15-point game at UMass with consecutive 20-point games in wins over Southeast Missouri State Dec. 22 and IUPUI Dec. 28.
Williams scored 20 points versus Southeast Missouri State and then followed with a career-high 27 points in a win over IUPUI. He also hit a career-best five three-pointers versus the Jaguars.
The Memphis, Tenn., native's stretch of 20-point games started against No. 1/1 Kansas Nov. 17 and went through Dec. 12 against Arkansas-Little Rock. He netted 21 points versus Arkansas-Little Rock, 22 versus Montana State, 20 versus Arkansas State, 20 versus Oakland, 20 versus Central Arkansas, 23 versus Tennessee Tech and 21 versus No. 1/1 Kansas.
Williams' string of seven-straight 20-point performances was the second-longest streak of its kind since the 1989-90 season. The longest streak of 20-point outings in the last 20 years was 12 straight by former Tiger Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway in 1992-93.
PH-N LOVES DECEMBER
The month of December is coming to an end Thursday, but one Tiger doesn't want to see it happen. Pierre Henderson-Niles has played some of his best basketball in his Tiger career this month, and the numbers prove it.
The 6-foot-8 senior is averaging 7.8 points and 5.8 boards in the six December games to date. He is also shooting 57.9 percent from the floor.
The Memphis, Tenn., native grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds in a Dec. 5 victory over Arkansas State. He also had eight boards versus Montana State Dec. 9 and nine rebounds against IUPUI Dec. 28. Henderson-Niles netted a career-best 15 points in the win over IUPUI.
For more notes on the Memphis-Tennessee game, click on pdf link at the top of the page.
