University of Memphis Athletics
Memphis Basketball Notes
Feb 01, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 1, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Tigers On TV/Radio/Web
Television: CBS College Sports/Comcast digitial channel 222 (Brent Stover, play-by-play; Pete Gillen, color analyst)
Radio: WREC 600 AM (Dave Woloshin, play-by-play; Matt Dillon, color analyst; Forrest Goodman, studio host)
Web: None
MEMPHIS TO HOST TULSA IN CONFERENCE USA SHOWDOWN WEDNESDAY AT FEDEXFORUM
The University of Memphis squad (16-5, 5-2 C-USA) opens the month of February with a Conference USA encounter versus Tulsa (11-10, 4-3 C-USA) on Wednesday. Game time is 6 p.m. (CT) at FedExForum.
The Memphis-Tulsa match-up is slated to air on CBS College Sports (Memphis Comcast digital channel 222).
The Tigers closed the January portion of their Conference USA schedule with a 5-2 mark. Memphis was 3-0 at FedExForum with victories over East Carolina 61-58 Jan. 8, Marshall 77-61 Jan. 15 and UCF 77-61 Jan. 26. On the road in league play, the Tigers went 2-2 in January, posting wins at Southern Miss 76-75 Jan. 19 and UAB 76-73 (ot) Jan. 22 and dropping decisions at SMU 64-58 Jan. 12 and Marshall 85-70 Jan. 29.
After closing a five-game homestand over the holidays, Memphis played its first road game of the season Jan. 5 at Tennessee. The Tigers fell to the Volunteers 104-84. In the five-game homestand, Memphis posted a 4-1 record with wins over Austin Peay Dec. 16, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Dec. 20, Lipscomb Dec. 30 and Tennessee State Jan. 2 and a loss to No. 10/9 Georgetown Dec. 23.
Tulsa enters Wednesday's game having split its last eight games (4-4 record). Three of the Golden Hurricane's last four wins came on their homecourt, including a thrilling 69-68 win over UTEP in their last outing Jan. 29. Tulsa won its lone road game of the season in this recent stretch, a narrow 65-61 victory at Tulane Jan. 22.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN HURRICANE
Tulsa brings an 11-10 overall record and a 4-3 Conference USA mark into Wednesday's game. The Golden Hurricane have split their last eight games (4-4 record). Three of Tulsa's last four wins came on its homecourt, including a thrilling 69-68 win over UTEP in its last outing Jan. 29. The Golden Hurricane won their lone road game of the season in this recent stretch, a narrow 65-61 victory at Tulane Jan. 22.
Senior guard Justin Hurtt leads four Golden Hurricane players in double figures with a Conference USA-leading 20.5 scoring average. Steven Idlet (12.7 ppg), Scottie Haralson (11.8 ppg) and Jordan Clarkson (10.2 ppg) also are averaging in double figures for Tulsa. Idlet leads the team on the glass with a 6.6 rebounding average, while Joe Richard is second at 6.0 rpg.
Haralson (38.9 percent) and Hurtt (37.8 percent) are the Golden Hurricane's top threats from the three-point arc. Bryson Pope leads Tulsa with 47 assists, while Idlet is tops on the team with 19 blocked shots and 21 steals.
Tulsa is shooting 44.4 percent from the floor, 36.3 percent from the three-point arc and 69.8 percent from the free throw line. The Golden Hurricane are out-rebounding their foes by an average margin of +4.9 boards per game (36.5-31.6).
ONLY ONCE THIS TIME AROUND
For the first time since Conference USA realigned for the 2005-06 year, Memphis and Tulsa are scheduled for only one regular season meeting. The Memphis-Tulsa "once-a-season" encounter is new to the league in 2010-11 as Conference USA went to a different scheduling format.
The previous five seasons, the Tigers and Golden Hurricane tangled at least twice per year. In the 2007-08 and 2008-09 campaigns, Memphis and Tulsa played three times, with two regular season encounters and one C-USA Tournament meeting.
TULSA'S SCORING TROUBLES AT FEDEXFORUM
Points have been hard to come by for Tulsa when it travels to FedExForum, and the Tigers hope that trend continues Wednesday. In their seven trips to the arena since 2005-06, the Golden Hurricane averaged 53.3 points.
The most points Tulsa scored in a game versus the Tigers at FedExForum were 67 on two occasions (78-67 loss in 2005-06; 82-67 loss in 2007-08).
To take Tulsa's FedExForum scoring woes a little further, the Golden Hurricance averaged 38 points in their two visits in the 2008-09 season. In the regular season encounter, the Tigers held Tulsa to 37 points (63-37 Memphis win; Feb. 11, 2009), marking the first time Memphis held an opponent to 37 or fewer points since the 1978-79 campaign. In the final game that year, the Tigers held Florida State to 35 points, but dropped a 35-34 decision in the Metro Conference Tournament on Mar. 2, 1979.
For the Golden Hurricane, the 37 points were their fewest since Mar. 3, 1952. In that game, Tulsa netted only 33 points in a 39-33 setback to Oklahoma A&M.
In the C-USA Tournament title game on Mar. 14, 2009, the Tigers posted a 64-39 win over Tulsa. In the 2009-10 regular season finale, Memphis held the Golden Hurricane to 53 points in the Tigers' 75-53 "Senior Day" victory.
TIGER SUCCESS AT FEDEXFORUM
After a rough first year at their new home in 2004-05, the Tigers bounced back quite nicely and made FedExForum one of the toughest arenas for opponents to play in. The Tigers have a 123-14 overall record (.898 winning percentage) at FedExForum. Since the 2005 Conference USA Tournament, Memphis has won 113 of its last 121 home games (.934 winning percentage).
BEST HOMECOURT ADVANTAGE
Well, Memphis head coach Josh Pastner will say the Tigers have the best homecourt advantage due to the great Tiger Nation fanbase. But, he also has some numbers to back him up.
Since 2004-05, Memphis has won 123 games at FedExForum, the most home wins in the country over that span of time. The following are the top three programs with the most home wins since 2004-05 (credit to Texas A&M SID for compiling this list):
Most Home Wins
(Since 2004-05 to present)
1. Memphis 123
2. Kansas 114
3. Texas A&M 110
TIGERS TOUGH AT HOME IN C-USA
Since moving to FedExForun in 2004-05, Memphis has turned its homecourt into one of toughest arenas for opponents to play, and that is seen in the Tigers' 123-14 overall record at home. But, it is even tougher for Conference USA foes since conference realignment in 2005-06.
Memphis has an incredible 41-1 record (.976 winning percentage) at FedExForum versus C-USA opponents in the regular season since 2005-06. If the four C-USA Tournaments held at FedExForum from 2006-09 are added, the Tigers' home mark is 53-1 (.981 winning percentage).
The following shows some of the nation's top conference homecourt records since 2005-06 (regular season only):
Best Homecourt Records In
Conference Play Only (Since 2005-06)
Memphis 41-1
BYU 42-2
Gonzaga 37-2
Butler 42-3
Kansas 40-3
Xavier 40-4
Old Dominion 43-5
Texas 39-5
Pittsburgh 38-5
Belmont 49-6
Ohio State 41-6
Duke 36-7
Michigan State 30-7
FEBRUARY FRIENDLY FOR TIGERS
While the Tigers have enjoyed success in the month of January (78-20; .796 winning percentage) since 1999-2000, February hasn't been too bad either over that same period of time. Since 1999-2000, Memphis has a 64-18 record (.780 winning percentage) in February.
Last year, the Tigers posted a 6-2 record in February. Memphis has won 35 of its last 38 games (.921 winning percentage) in the month of February, with the three setbacks to No. 2/2 Tennessee 66-62 on Feb. 23, 2008, No. 17/13 Gonzaga 66-58 on Feb. 6, 2010, and Houston 92-75 on Feb. 24, 2010.
DE-FENSE? DE-FENSE?
Well, if one looks at the defensive numbers for both teams, it seems defense may be in question in Wednesday's Memphis-Tulsa encounter. The Golden Hurricane and Tigers rank 11th and 12th, respectively, in scoring defense in Conference USA. Tulsa allows opponents to score 68.3 points, while Memphis gives up 71.2 points.
Furthermore, both squads are in the middle of the pack in C-USA in field goal percentage defense and three-point field goal percentage defense. In field goal percentage defense rankings, Tulsa is seventh and Memphis eighth. For three-point field goal percentage defense, the Tigers are sixth and the Golden Hurricane ninth.
TIGERS' TRIFECTA DEFENSE
While the Tigers are sixth in Conference USA in three-point field percentage at 32.6 percent, Memphis has picked up its "game" in defending the arc the last five contests. In the games since Jan. 15 (Marshall twice, Southern Miss, UAB, UCF), the Tigers have held opponents to 20.9 percent shooting (19-of-91) from the arc, and the following shows that:
Opponent 3P-A Opponent 3P-A
Marshall 4-18 UCF 1-15
@USM 5-13 @Marshall 7-22
@UAB 2-23
IF THERE IS AN ADVANTAGE...
For Memphis, it may come on the defensive end in steals and forcing turnovers. The Tigers are first in Conference USA in steals (9.4 spg) and fifth in turnover margin (+0.7). The Golden Hurricane are last in C-USA in both steals (4.4 spg) and turnover margin (-2.5).
On the Tulsa side, the advantage is on the glass. The Golden Hurricane are C-USA's second-best rebound margin team at +4.9. The Tigers are eighth in C-USA in rebound margin at +0.9.
CLOSE CALLS UNDER PASTNER
The Tigers played another nail-biter in their 76-73 overtime victory over UAB Jan. 22, but Memphis fans should be familiar with close-call contests. In just under two years in head coach Josh Pastner's tenure, the Tigers have played 23 single-digit outcome games, and have a 16-7 record (.696 winning percentage) in those contests.
In games decided by four or fewer points, Memphis is 8-2, winning the last eight. This season, the Tigers have a 9-1 record in single-digit outcome games.
TIGER CUBS LEAD THE WAY
With Memphis starting three freshmen most games and playing five newbies a lot of minutes, it is expected that over 50 percent of the scoring is falling on their shoulders. Well, it is.
In research done by University of North Dakota men's hoops contact and former Memphis media relations graduate assistant Ryan Powell, Memphis is one of four schools in NCAA Division I to get over 50 percent of its scoring from freshmen. To be exact, the Tigers are getting 61.4 percent of their points from freshmen.
The following shows the four NCAA Division I schools getting over 50 percent of their scoring from freshmen:
School Pct. Fr. Pts-Total Pts
North Dakota 64.7 872-1346
Kentucky 63.3 988-1559
Memphis 61.4 1001-1630
Georgia Southern 53.4 807-1511
For more notes on the Memphis-Tulsa match-up, click on issuu and pdf links at the top of the page.
