Tigers Travel to Oxford for First True Road Game of Season

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Memphis Tigers will travel to Oxford, Mississippi for its first true road game of the 2016-17 season, as Memphis will face off against Ole Miss in a noon tip-off at the Pavilion.

GAME INFORMATION
Memphis (6-1) vs. Ole Miss (5-2)
When: Saturday, December 3
Tip-Off: noon (CT)
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Arena: The Pavilion
TV: SEC+
Richard Cross, play-by-play
Gerald Glass, analyst
Radio: Memphis Radio Network / 600 WREC / Rock 103
Dave Woloshin, play-by-play
Matt Dillon, analyst
Forrest Goodman, pregame / postgame host
Live Stats: Ole Miss GameTracker

SCOUTING THE REBELS

Ole Miss comes into the game with a 5-2 record after dropping its last game, 77-62 to Middle Tennessee.

In the game, the Blue Raiders never trailed, and made 9-of-11 three-point shots and 19-of-33 overall from the field in the first half, jumping out to a 48-19 lead after the first 20 minutes of the game. Ole Miss fought back, but could only get within nine in the second half in the 15-point Middle Tennessee win.

Deandre Burnett scored a team-high 15 points, hitting all 10 of his free throw tries. Cullen Neal scored 13 points, while Breein Tyree added 11 points off of the bench. Sebastian Saiz flirted with a double-double with eight points and nine rebounds.

This season Miami (Fla.) transfer Burnett leads the team in scoring, averaging 22.0 points per game, as five players average in double-figures for the Rebels. Saiz averages a double-double at 13.3 points and 10.9 rebounds per contest, while Neal (13.1), Terence Davis (11.6), and Rasheed Brooks (10.0) each average over 10 points per game.

Saiz' rebounding total leads the team, while Justas Furmanavicius averages 6.9 boards per game and leads the team with 13 blocked shots. Neal, a graduate transfer from New Mexico, leads the team with 18 assists.

NOVEMBER WINS

Memphis ended the month of November with a 6-1 record, which ties the program record for the most wins in the month. The six victories ties the mark set by the 2007-08 season for wins in the 11th month of the calendar year.

AT HOME IN THE SEC

Current University of Memphis head coach Tubby Smith is no stranger to the Southeastern Conference, having spent 12 seasons in the league, his first two at the University of Georgia, and last 10 at the University of Kentucky.

SMITH vs. KENNEDY

Memphis head coach Tubby Smith and Ole Miss head coach Andy Kennedy have met just twice as coaches, with Smith winning both meetings. The first time the two head coaches faced each other was on March 19, 2005 when the Smith-led Kentucky squad beat Cincinnati 69-60 to advance to the Sweet 16. That season Kennedy was the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator for the Bearcats. The other meeting between the two came on January 6, 2007, when Kentucky topped Ole Miss 68-58 in Oxford.

PLAYING AGAINST THE TIGERS

As a player at UAB, during his senior season Andy Kennedy played against the Memphis Tigers during the National Invitation Postseason Tournament, falling 82-76 on March 14, 1991. That game, played at the Mid-South Coliseum, saw Kennedy score nine points, hitting 3-of-9 shots from the field, 1-of-7 from long range, and 2-of-2 at the charity stripe. In that game, Memphis was led by future NBA star and current Memphis Grizzlies' broadcaster Elliot Perry, who scored 24 points.

SHARE AND SHARE ALIKE

Memphis currently ranks second in the country in assists per game, at 22.0 per contest. The team had spent some time at the top spot, but has dropped to second, just ahead of Savannah State's 21.4 assist per game average.

Rk.	School	Ast.	Ast./G
1.	UCLA	198	24.8
2.	Memphis	153	21.9
3.	Kentucky	149	21.3
4.	Oakland	142	20.3
5.	Savannah State	162	20.3
6.	The Citadel	141	20.1
7.	St. Mary's (Calif.)	120	20.0
8.	West Virginia	118	19.7
9.	Iowa	134	19.1
	Marquette	134	19.1

BLUFF CITY BATTLE

The game features numerous players from both teams that claim Memphis and the surrounding areas as their hometowns. Memphis has eight players from the greater Memphis area, including four starters, while Ole Miss has three players from Memphis, Terence Davis (Southaven, Miss.), Donte Fitzpatrick-Dorsey (Southwind H.S.), and Marcanvis Hymon (Whitehaven H.S.)

BIG GAME HELPERS

Memphis' 35 assists against McNeese are not only the second-most in program history, it is the highest total in the NCAA this season. It is also the fourth-highest total in the NCAA for a single game since 2013-14. Below are the top six single-game assist totals since 2013-14.

	School	Ast.	Opponent	Year
1.	Citadel	42	Mid. Atl. Christian	2015-16
2.	Baylor	40	Hardin-Simmons	2015-16
3.	Idaho	39	New Hope Christian	2015-16
4.	Memphis	35	McNeese	2016-17
	Davidson	35	Duquesne	2014-15
	Iona	35	Delaware St.	2014-15

YOUNG DOUBLE-DOUBLES, LAWSON 2.0

Last season, Dedric Lawson tied a University of Memphis freshman record with 17 double-doubles, tying with Keith Lee. This season, Dedric's older brother K.J., who missed the majority of last season and received a medical redshirt, has four double-doubles through six games, and is quickly climbing up that same list. Below are the most double-doubles by a freshman in Memphis history.

Rk.	Student-Athlete	D-D	Season
1.	Dedric Lawson	17	2015-16
	Keith Lee	17	1981-82
3.	Lorenzen Wright	15	1994-95
4.	David Vaughn	9	1991-92
5.	Sylvester Gray	8	1986-87
6.	John Gunn	7	1974-75
7.	K.J. Lawson	4	2016-17
	Sean Banks	4	2003-04

BIG REBOUNDS

Through seven games, Dedric Lawson has 81 rebounds, an average of 11.6 per game. That total has him at 11th in the country. Below is the list of the top 11 in the NCAA this season in rebounds per game.

Rk.	Student-Athlete	School	Reb.
1.	Rokas Gustys	Hofstra	13.9
2.	Wyatt Walker	Samford	13.1
3.	Aubrey Williams	Kennesaw State	12.8
4.	Steve Taylor Jr.	Toledo	12.6
5.	Josh Hawkinson	Washington State	12.4
6.	Tacko Fall	UCF	12.3
7.	Michael Kessens	FIU	12.1
8.	Caleb Swanigan	Purdue	11.9
9.	Emmanuel Omogbo	Colorado State	11.7
10.	James Thompson IV	Eastern Michigan	11.6
11.	Dedric Lawson	Memphis	11.6

TEAMING UP ON THE BOARDS

This season Memphis' Lawson duo of Dedric and K.J. combine to average 20.5 rebounds per game. That is the highest-highest teammate average in the country, and the only pair that average a combined 20 rebounds or better per game. Below are the top five teammate rebounding totals in the NCAA this season.

Rk.	School	Student-Athletes	Rebs.
1.	Memphis	Dedric Lawson (11.6)	20.5
		K.J. Lawson (8.9)
2.	UCF	Tacko Fall (12.3)	19.3
		Nick Banyard (7.0)
3.	Hofstra	Rokas Gustys (13.9)	19.0
		Ty Greer (5.1)
	Georgia Tech	Ben Lammers (10.7)	19.0
		Quinton Stephens (8.3)
5.	New Hampshire	Tanner Leissner (10.3)	18.9
		Jaleen Smith (8.6)

ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST OLE MISS

Memphis and Ole Miss have met 37 times all-time, with the Tigers leading the all-time series 26-13. The last game came a season ago via an 85-79 Ole Miss win, in a game where Ricky Tarrant Jr. scored 29 points, while Dedric Lawson had a 21-point, 14-rebound double-double. Shaq Goodwin flirted with a double-double with seven points and 15 rebounds.

Series Statistics

Overall Series: Memphis leads 26-13
Games in Memphis: Memphis leads 17-4
Games in Oxford:  Ole Miss leads 8-6
Games at Neutral Site: Memphis leads 2-1

Current Series Win Streak: Ole Miss, 2 wins
Longest Memphis Win Streak: 12 wins
Longest Ole Miss Win Streak: 6 Wins

Largest Memphis Victory: 39, January 23, 1960
Largest Ole Miss Victory: 32, February 2, 1925

Most Memphis Points: 98, December 21, 1963
Fewest Memphis Points: 13, January 12, 1924

Most Ole MIss Points: 92, December 26, 1978
Fewest Ole Miss Points: 14, January 12, 1923

Jan. 12, 1923	Memphis 16, Ole Miss 14	Oxford, Miss.
Jan. 13, 1923	Ole Miss 25, Memphis 16	Oxford, Miss.
Jan. 11, 1924	Ole Miss 43, Memphis 18	Oxford, Miss.
Jan. 12, 1924	Ole Miss 20, Memphis 13	Oxford, Miss.
Feb. 2, 1925	Ole Miss 51, Memphis 19	Oxford, Miss.
Feb. 3, 1925	Ole Miss 44, Memphis 14	Oxford, Miss.
Dec. 15, 1939	Ole Miss 40, Memphis 29	Memphis, Tenn.
Feb. 11, 1952	Memphis 47, Ole Miss 42	Memphis, Tenn.
Feb. 18, 1953	Memphis 72, Ole Miss 65	Memphis, Tenn.
Feb. 9, 1954	Memphis 82, Ole Miss 75	Memphis, Tenn.
Jan. 25, 1958	Memphis 85, Ole Miss 62	Memphis, Tenn.
Jan. 24, 1959	Memphis 65, Ole Miss 63	Memphis, Tenn.
Jan. 23, 1960	Memphis 96, Ole Miss 57	Memphis, Tenn.
Jan. 28, 1961	Memphis 70, Ole Miss 62	Memphis, Tenn.
Dec. 7, 1963	Memphis 79, Ole Miss 57	Jackson, Miss.
Dec. 21, 1963	Memphis 98, Ole Miss 78	Memphis, Tenn.
Dec. 10, 1971	Memphis 74, Ole Miss 71	Nashville, Tenn.
Dec. 21, 1976	Memphis 88, Ole Miss 83	Memphis, Tenn.
Dec. 20, 1977	Memphis 70, Ole Miss 67	Memphis, Tenn.
Dec. 26, 1978	Ole Miss 92, Memphis 89	Jackson, Miss.
Dec. 22, 1979	Memphis 80, Ole Miss 75	Memphis, Tenn.
Dec. 30, 1980	Memphis 69, Ole Miss 64	Oxford, Miss.
Dec. 29, 1981	Memphis 61, Ole Miss 55 (ot)	Memphis, Tenn.
Dec. 30, 1982	Memphis 63, Ole Miss 58	Oxford, Miss.
Dec. 13, 1983	Memphis 73, Ole Miss 55	Memphis, Tenn.
Dec. 11, 1984	Memphis 58, Ole Miss 52 (ot)	Oxford, Miss.
Dec. 17, 1985	Memphis 73, Ole Miss 56	Memphis, Tenn.
Dec. 12, 1998	Memphis 78, Ole Miss 72 (ot)	Memphis, Tenn.
Dec. 11, 1999	Ole Miss 74, Memphis 64	Oxford, Miss.
Dec. 9, 2000	Ole Miss 64, Memphis 56	Memphis, Tenn.
Dec. 7, 2001	Ole Miss 71, Memphis 67	Oxford, Miss.
Dec. 19, 2002	Memphis 58, Ole Miss 51	Memphis, Tenn.
Dec. 6, 2003	Memphis 73, Ole Miss 62	Oxford, Miss.
Dec. 11, 2004	Ole Miss 65, Memphis 53	Memphis, Tenn.
Dec. 17, 2005	Memphis 72, Ole Miss 49	Oxford, Miss.
Dec. 9, 2006	Memphis 82, Ole Miss 70	Memphis, Tenn.
March 19, 2010	Ole Miss 90, Memphis 81	Oxford, Miss.
Dec. 18, 2015	Ole Miss 85, Memphis 79	Memphis, Tenn.

ONLY ONE IN THE COUNTRY

Dedric Lawson ranks 11th in the country in rebounds per game, and 29th in the country in points per game. With that, he is currently the only player in NCAA Division I to rank inside of the top-40 in both categories. There are only one other (Tim Kempton of Lehigh) to rank in the top-50 in both categories.

SOMEBODY'S WATCHING ME

University of Memphis sophomore forward Dedric Lawson probably has a lot in common with Rockwell after his collaboration with Michael Jackson in his 1984 hit. Lawson has been named to three watch lists for this coming season: the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Watch List, the Lute Olson Player of the Year Award Watch List, and the Naismith Player of the Year Watch List.

TUBBY SMITH AGAINST OLE MISS

Smith split his two meetings with Ole Miss when he was with the Georgia Bulldogs, went 11-2 against the Rebels as head coach of Kentucky. The Wildcats lost his opening game against the Rebels while with Kentucky, as the loss to Ole Miss on February 14, 1998 was the team's final loss of the season (and Smith's only home loss against the Rebels). The Wildcat squad went on to win its final 13 games, including the NCAA Championship Game.

Series Statistics

Overall Series: Smith leads 12-3
Home Games: Smith leads 5-1
Road Games: Smith leads 4-2
Games at Neutral Site: Smith leads 3-0

Current Series Win Streak: Smith, 8 wins
Longest Smith Coached Team Win Streak: 8 wins
Longest Ole Miss Win Streak: 2 Wins

Largest Smith Coached Team Victory: 40, February 22, 2006
Largest Ole Miss Victory: 10, January 20, 2001

Most Smith Coached Team Team Points: 83, March 5, 1999
Fewest Smith Coached Team Points: 53, January 19, 2005

Most Ole MIss Points: 73, three times
Fewest Ole Miss Points: 38, Janurary 3, 1996

Jan. 3, 1996	Georgia 74, Ole Miss 38	Athens, Ga.
Jan. 5, 1997	Ole Miss 73, Georgia 66	Oxford, Miss.
Feb. 14, 1998	Ole Miss 73, Kentucky 64	Lexington, Ky.
Jan. 16, 1999	Kentucky 63, Ole Miss 57	Oxford, Miss.
March 5, 1999	Kentucky 83, Ole Miss 73	Atlanta, Ga. ¹
Jan. 19, 2000	Kentucky 74, Ole Miss 69	Lexington, Ky.
Jan. 20, 2001	Ole Miss 65, Kentucky 55	Oxford, Miss.
March 11, 2001	Kentucky 77, Ole Miss 55	Nashville, Tenn. ¹
Jan. 15, 2002	Kentucky 87, Ole Miss 64	Lexington, Ky.
Feb. 8, 2003	Kentucky 80, Ole Miss 62	Oxford, Miss.
Jan. 28, 2004	Kentucky 71, Ole Miss 61	Lexington, Ky.
Jan. 19, 2005	Kentucky 53, Ole Miss 50	Oxford, Miss.
Feb. 22, 2006	Kentucky 80, Ole Miss 40	Lexington, Ky.
March 9, 2006	Kentucky 71, Ole Miss 57	Nashville, Tenn. ¹
Jan. 6, 2007	Kentucky 68, Ole Miss 58	Oxford, Miss.

1 - SEC Tournament

CAREER AVERAGE AMONG NCAA BEST

In addition to ranking 11th in the country in rebounding, Dedric Lawson has the fourth-highest career rebounding average in the country at 9.6 rebounds per game. Eastern Michigan's James Thompson IV has the highest active rebounding average for a career at 10.9 rebounds per game. Below are the five highest current career rebounding averages in the country.

Rk.	Student-Athlete	Cl.	School	Reb.
1.	James Thompson IV	So.	Eastern Michigan	10.9
2.	Derrick Griffin	So.	Texas Southern	10.7
3.	Rokas Gustys	Jr.	Hofstra	10.2
4.	Dedric Lawson	So.	Memphis	9.7
5.	Angel Delgado	Jr.	Seton Hall	9.6

TIGERS vs. THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI

Memphis has played every NCAA Division I program located within the state of Mississippi except for Mississippi Valley State. The Tigers are 120-49 all-time against teams from the state, and will have two consecutive games against the state, as Memphis' hosted Jackson State on Wednesday.

SCHOOL	Memphis	Smith
Alcorn State	2-0	1-0
Jackson State	16-1	0-0
Mississippi State	12-11 *	12-4
Mississippi Valley State	0-0	1-0
Ole Miss	26-13	12-3
Southern Miss	65-24 *	0-0
Totals	120-49*	26-7

* Does not include three wins vs. Southern Miss and one win vs. Mississippi State that were vacated from the 2007-08 season.

MEMPHIS vs. SEC

Memphis has faced each and every current member of the 14-team Southeastern Conference, and has a 105-79 all-time mark against the conference. Current University of Memphis head coach Tubby Smith, who spent 12 seasons in the league as head coach of Georgia (two seasons) and Kentucky (10 seasons), has a 169-69 all-time records against the league's teams, and has the current sixth-best win percentage (.751), and seventh-most wins (308) in SEC history.

SCHOOL	Memphis	Smith
Alabama	5-2	10-6
Arkansas	10-11	13-10
Auburn	0-1	14-1
Florida	0-2	17-10
Georgia	1-1	16-4
Kentucky	1-0	0-5
LSU	3-2	12-4
Ole Miss	26-13	12-3
Mississippi State	12-11*	12-4
Missouri	7-5	2-0
South Carolina	18-6	25-5
Tennessee	11-13*	19-7
Texas A&M	4-4	0-1
Vanderbilt	5-8	17-9
Totals	105-79*	169-69

* Does not include two wins (one each against Mississippi State and Tennessee) later vacated from the 2007-08 season.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE

Last season, Dedric Lawson tied the University of Memphis single-season freshman record with 17 double-doubles, which also stood tied as the seventh most in a single season, regardless of class. Below is the list of career double-double leaders, of which Lawson stands tied at 13th after six double-doubles this season.

RK	PLAYER	YEARS	2B/2B
1.	Keith Lee	1981-85	74
2.	Don Holcomb	1969-72	48
	Ronnie Robinson	1970-73	48
4.	David Vaughn	1991-95	42
	Kelly Wise	1998-02	42
6.	James Bradley	1976-79	33
7.	Marion Hillard	1974-76	32
8.	Lorenzen Wright	1994-96	31
9.	Joey Dorsey	2004-08	26
10.	James Douglas	1968-71	25
	Larry Kenon	1972-73	25
	Chris Massie	2001-03	25
13.	Dedric Lawson	2015-pres.	23
14.	William Bedford	1984-86	21
15.	George Price	1958-60	19
16.	John Hillman	1963-65	18
	Omar Sneed	1997-99	18
18.	Anfernee Hardaway	1991-93	17
	John Washington	1973-77	17

Tigers Travel to Oxford for First True Road Game of Season

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Shaq Goodwin

Dedric Lawson

K.J. Lawson

Ricky Tarrant Jr.

University of Memphis Athletics

Tigers Travel to Oxford for First True Road Game of Season

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Shaq Goodwin

Dedric Lawson

K.J. Lawson

Ricky Tarrant Jr.

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