University of Memphis Athletics
Memphis Basketball Notes
Feb 01, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 1, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
TOP-RANKED TIGERS TO HOST UTEP IN C-USA ENCOUNTER SATURDAY
The University of Memphis squad (20-0, 6-0 C-USA), ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll and No. 1 in ESPN/USA Today poll, opens a four-game homestand Saturday, Feb. 2 when it hosts UTEP (13-6, 4-2 C-USA) in a Conference USA showdown at FedExForum. The game, to be televised by CSS, is slated for a 12:00 p.m. (CT) start.
Saturday's game is the first of four-straight home games for the Tigers. Memphis also hosts SMU Feb. 6, UCF Feb. 9 and Houston Feb. 13 during this stretch.
Memphis returns home to FedExForum after an 89-77 road victory at Houston Jan. 30. In addition to the win over Houston, the Tigers defeated East Carolina Jan. 9, Marshall Jan. 12, Rice Jan. 16, Southern Miss Jan. 19 and Tulsa Jan. 23 in C-USA play and also posted a non-league win over Gonzaga Jan. 26. Prior to opening league play, Memphis posted late December/early January wins over No. 5/4 Georgetown Dec. 22, No. 17/18 Arizona Dec. 29, Siena Jan. 3 and Pepperdine Jan. 5.
The Miners are on a two-game win streak entering Saturday's game with Conference USA victories over Tulsa and Southern Miss. UTEP's two recent losses came on the road at Houston and UCF.
SCOUTING THE MINERS
UTEP enters Saturday's Conference USA game with a 13-6 overall record and a 4-2 league mark. The Miners are on a two-game win streak with C-USA victories over Tulsa and Southern Miss. UTEP's two recent losses came on the road at Houston and UCF.
Stefon Jackson leads UTEP and Conference USA in scoring with a 24.0 average. Marvin Kilgore (12.7 ppg) and Randy Culpepper (12.5 ppg) are also averaging double figures for the Miners. Victor Ramalho leads UTEP on the glass with a 5.5 rebounding average, while Kilgore is tops on the team with 99 assists (5.2 apg). Jeremy Sampson (38.9 percent) and Kilgore (36.6 percent) are the top threats from the arc.
The Miners are shooting 44.1 percent from the floor, 32.9 percent from the arc and 67.5 percent from the free throw line. UTEP is out-rebounding its foes by a narrow margin of +0.5 boards per game (36.8-36.3).
AND THEN THERE WAS ONE!!!
With their win over Houston Jan. 30 coupled with Kansas' loss that same night, the Tigers remained the nation's only undefeated team. Memphis is 20-0 heading into Saturday's game versus UTEP. The Jayhawks fell to 20-1 with their 84-75 setback at Kansas State.
MAKING HISTORY WITH 20-WIN SEASONS
It's not like the Tigers haven't made enough history already this season, but there is more since they posted their 20th win with the 89-77 victory over Houston Jan. 30.
As a result of winning their 20th game Jan. 30, the Tiger program has eight-straight 20-win seasons, with all coming under head coach John Calipari. The current string of eight-consecutive 20-win campaigns ties the streak of eight-straight from 1981-82 through 1988-89.
CALIPARI TOPS AT MEMPHIS
Well, John Calipari is second on the all-time wins chart at Memphis. However, the Tiger head coach is first in number of 20-win seasons at Memphis.
With the Tigers' victory over Houston Jan. 30, Calipari posted his eighth 20-win campaign overall, moving past former Memphis great Larry Finch's seven 20-win seasons. Calipari is the only coach in Tiger basketball history to direct his squads to eight-consecutive 20-win campaigns.
TIED FOR NOW, GOING FOR RECORD ON SATURDAY
With their victory over Houston Jan. 30, the 2007-08 Tigers tied the program's best-ever start at 20-0. The last time the Tigers started off 20-0 was the 1985-86 season. That squad also began the year with a 20-0 record before losing its 21st contest at Virginia Tech on Feb. 1, 1986.
TOP 20-GAME STARTS SINCE 1970-71
With their victory over Houston Jan. 30, the Tigers improved their record to 20-0 overall, tying the best 20-game start in school history. This is the third-straight year that a John Calipari team posted a top-six 20-game start in Tiger basketball history.
The 2007-08 squad tied the 1985-86 team for the best start with the 20-0 mark. The 1972-73 NCAA title game squad was 16-4 in its first 20 games. The previous best 20-game start under Calipari was 18-2 by the 2005-06 team.
FRIENDLY FEBRUARY
While the Tigers have enjoyed success in the John Calipari era in the month of January (54-10; .844 winning percentage), February hasn't been too bad either. Under Calipari, Memphis has a 40-11 record (.784 winning percentage) in February.
Last year, the Tigers posted a perfect 7-0 record in February, and the program's current February win streak is at 14 straight. Also included in that 40-11 overall mark was a 16-game winning streak in the month of February from 2001-02 through 2003-04.
JANUARY PROVED FRUITFUL FOR TIGERS
In the John Calipari era, the new year has usually started with a bang for the Tigers. Since Calipari took over the Memphis hoops program in 2000-01, the Tigers have an impressive 54-10 record (.844 winning percentage) in the month of January. The Tigers won their last 25 January games, with their last January setback coming to Texas on Jan. 2, 2006 (69-58 loss).
IT'S THE TEACHER VS. THE PUPIL
Saturday's Memphis-UTEP match-up is one that Tiger head coach John Calipari is not looking forward to -- especially since he will be matching wits against his former player and assistant coach Tony Barbee.
Calipari coached Barbee at UMass from 1989-93, and those Minuteman teams went to two NITs and two NCAA Tournaments, including a Sweet Sixteen appearance in 1992. When Calipari took over at Memphis in 2000, Barbee joined the Tigers' staff and helped the program to six-straight 20-win seasons and six-consecutive postseason tournaments (3 NCAA, 3 NIT).
This is the second year that Calipari and Barbee have faced off, as their first meeting was last year. Memphis won that game 78-67 in El Paso.
FIRST (REGULAR SEASON) TRIP BACK HOME
Well, for the regular season at least. Former Tiger assistant coach Tony Barbee makes his first regular-season trip back "home" to the Bluff City as UTEP's head coach. Last season, Memphis met UTEP in El Paso, but Barbee's Miners played at FedExForum in the Conference USA Tournament.
HEY, WE KNOW Y'ALL TOO!
When the Tiger players and coaches look over at the UTEP bench, Miners' head coach Tony Barbee won't be the only familiar face they will see.
Milt Wagner and Mike Babul, both of whom worked under John Calipari at Memphis, are now on Barbee's staff at UTEP. Wagner is an assistant coach, while Babul is the director of basketball operations.
Two other former Tigers are also on the UTEP staff. Nathaniel Root, who played for Calipari, works in operations/video. Tony Madlock, who played at Memphis from 1988-92, is an assistant coach.
A C-USA POY MATCH-UP?
Memphis' Chris Douglas-Roberts and UTEP's Stefon Jackson both care more about team accomplishments than individual honors. However, both players will be in the talk for Conference USA Player of the Year (POY) award in March. The following is a tale of the tape for the two players (includes C-USA rank if applicable):
CD-R Stats Jackson 17.5/6th Scoring 24.0/1st 4.6 Rebounding 5.2 55.0/7th FG Pct. 49.5/11th 68.6 FT Pct. 75.0 51.0/1st 3-pt. FG Pct. 30.6 31-9-23 Ast-Blk-Stl 26-0-20
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 Miners also have two players -- Randy Culpepper (Sheffield HS) and Gabriel McCulley (Craigmont HS) -- that call the Bluff City home.
GET YOUR TRACK SHOES ON!
When Memphis and UTEP meet Saturday, it may seem more like a track meet than a basketball game. Both squads like to push the ball, and that can be seen in the scoring numbers. The Tigers lead Conference USA in scoring at 81.3 ppg, while the Miners are third at 78.3 ppg.
DORSEY, DOZIER HAVE CAREER NIGHT VERSUS HOUSTON
The Ds had it going Jan. 30 in the Tigers' victory over Houston. The Ds are Joey Dorsey and Robert Dozier, and both players had career games in the win.
Dorsey set his career high on the glass for a second time in a week. Entering this season, the 6-foot-9 posted his career rebounding game of 18 boards as a freshman in the 2004-05 campaign. The Baltimore, Md., native set a new career mark just last week (Jan. 23) with 19 boards versus Tulsa. Well, Dorsey took only a week to surpass that mark with an incredible 22-rebound performance versus Houston.
Dozier recorded his career high in the scoring column with 21 points versus the Cougars. The Lithonia, Ga., native broke his previous career best of 19 points which he had two times versus Marshall (2006-07) and Georgetown (2007-08).
STREAKING IN C-USA
The Tigers have their current 20-game win streak, and most everyone in the nation knows about the 43-game homecourt win streak. However, Memphis has another two streaks going in Conference USA play.
The Tigers have won 23-straight regular season Conference USA games and 29-straight C-USA overall contests, including the league's postseason tournaments. The last time Memphis suffered a setback to a C-USA foe was Mar. 2, 2006, when the Tigers fell at UAB 80-74.
The 29-game win streak (includes C-USA Tournaments) is the longest in C-USA history. The 23-game regular-season win streak is also tops in C-USA history, moving past Cincinnati's 21-game regular season win streak from 1998-99 through 2000-01.
DORSEY GOING FOR WINS RECORD
While many Tiger fans know Joey Dorsey's climb up the career rebounding chart, there is another career list the 6-foot-9 forward is moving up. With Memphis' win over Siena Jan. 3, Dorsey won his 100th game as a Tiger, and his record now stands at 108-24 (22-16 in 2004-05; 33-4 in 2005-06 and 2006-07; 20-0 in 2007-08).
The most wins by a four-year class is the 1986-87 seniors that won 111 games. Clyde Wade, who finished up his career in 2006-07, also won 111 games in his four years. The following shows the winningest four-year classes in Tiger history:
Class Wins 1983-84 to 1986-87 111 2002-03; 2004-05 to 2006-07 111 2004-05 to present 108 1982-83 to 1985-86 108 1984-85 to 1987-88 105 1981-82 to 1984-85 104
DORSEY HITS 1,000 BOARD MILESTONE
With his 19-board performance versus Tulsa Jan. 23, Joey Dorsey became only the fifth player in Memphis basketball history to join the 1,000-rebound club. After his career-high 22 rebounds versus Houston Jan. 30, the 6-foot-9 forward enters Wednesday's game with 1,049 career rebounds.
The Baltimore, Md., native joins an elite group that includes Keith Lee, Forest Arnold, Kelly Wise and Ronnie Robinson. The following are the top five rebounders in Tiger history:
1. Keith Lee/1981-85 1,336 2. Forrest Arnold/1953-56 1,109 3. Kelly Wise/1998-2002 1,075 4. Ronnie Robinson/1970-73 1,066 5. Joey Dorsey/2004-present 1,049
JOEY'S DOUBLE DIGIT BOARDS EQUAL WINS FOR TIGERS
The equation may look a little funny, but it's added up to success for the Tigers the past three-plus seasons. Since arriving at Memphis, Joey Dorsey has hit the double-digit plateau in rebounds 48 times, and the Tigers have won 45 of those games.
The 6-foot-9 senior forward and the Tigers are looking to carry that trend to 2007-08. So far, so good, with Dorsey grabbing double-digit boards in 11 games this year, and the Tigers getting victories in all 11 games.
HE'S IN THE CLUB!
Well, it took a little longer than expected in the Dec. 29 Arizona game, but Chris Douglas-Roberts reached the 1,000-point milestone for his career. He entered the contest needing only five points to reach the goal, and with 2:07 in the first half, the 6-foot-7 guard scored his 1,000th point on an emphatic dunk off an assist from Derrick Rose.
He now has 1,171 career points and is the 43rd player in Tiger history to accomplish the feat. The Detroit, Mich., is tied with Vincent Askew for the No. 24 spot on the Tiger career scoring chart and the following shows that:
1. Keith Lee/1981-85 2,408 . . . 22. Win Wilfong/1955-57 1,203 23. Anthony Rice/2001-05 1,201 24. Chris Douglas-Roberts/2005-pres. 1,171 24. Vincent Askew/1984-87 1,171
For more notes on the Memphis-UTEP game, click link at top of the page.
