Tigers Open Two-Game Florida Road Swing on Thursday

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Memphis Tigers take to the state of Florida on February 2 and 4 with a two-game road swing, opening up at USF on Thursday, February 2, and closing at UCF on February 4.

GAME INFORMATION
Memphis (16-6, 6-3 American Athletic Conference) vs. USF (6-14, 0-9 American Athletic Conference)
When: Thursday, February 2, 2017
Tip-Off: 6:00 p.m. (CT)
Location: Tampa, Florida
Arena: Sun Dome
TV: ESPNews
Allan Bestwick, play-by-play
Mark Wise, analyst
Radio: Memphis Radio Network / 600 WREC / Rock 103
Dave Woloshin, play-by-play
Matt Dillon, analyst
Forrest Goodman, pregame / postgame host
Live Stats: USF Live Stats

SCOUTING THE BULLS

USF comes into its game against the Memphis Tigers stumbling, having lost nine games in a row, all within American Athletic Conference play. The Bulls' last win came on December 22 at home against Delaware, a game that snapped a two-game losing skid.
    In the most recent game, a 94-53 loss at Conference leader Cincinnati, USF was led by freshman Mike Bibby Jr., who scored 17 points, hitting 5-of-10 shots from the field and 4-of-7 from long range. USF and Cincinnati were tied at 12-12 eight minutes into the game; however, Cincinnati ran off a 20-2 run over the next five and a half minutes to lead by 18, and the Bearcats cruised the rest of the way. USF was forced into 24 turnovers in the game, as the Bearcats had 15 steals and 27 assists on 32 made baskets.
    This season the Bulls are led by Penn State transfer Geno Thorpe, who averages 13.4 points and 4.4 assists per game. Troy Holston averages 11.4 points, as Tulio DaSilva averages just off of the double-figure pace with 9.8 points per game. Despite being eight games below .500 on the season, the Bulls are out-scored by just 7.7 points per game.
    DaSilva is the team leader in rebounding, pulling down 7.5 boards per game, while Ruben Guerrero - one of just four players to have played in all 20 games this season - averages 5.3 rebounds per game and has a team-best 23 blocked shots. Thorpe also leads the team with 28 steals, as the Bulls have 117 total steals this season.

YOUNG REBOUNDERS

When K.J. Lawson pulled down 19 rebounds against East Carolina, it put him into a tie for the second-most rebounds in program history by a freshman. Below are the top-five single-game rebound totals by a freshman in program history.

Rk.	Rebs	Student-Athlete	School	Date
1.	20	Lorenzen Wright	Southern Miss	Jan. 17, 1995
2.	19	K.J. Lawson	East Carolina	Jan. 28, 2017
	19	Earl Barron	Grambling	Dec. 23, 1999
	19	Lorenzen Wright	Florida A&M	Dec. 19, 1994
5.	18	Joey Dorsey	Austin Peay	Dec. 18, 2004
	18	Lorenzen Wright	Nicholls State	Dec. 21, 1994
	18	Keith Lee	Ball State	Feb. 8, 1982

REPRESENTED IN THE CONFERENCE

Sophomore guard Jeremiah Martin had a career-high six steals against the East Carolina Pirates on Saturday, January 28, which stands as the fourth-highest single-game steal total in American Athletic Conference history. Below is the top of the record books in American Conference history..

	Stl.	Student-Athlete	School	Season
1.	7	Chris Crawford, Memphis	Jackson St.	2013-14
	7	Nic Moore, SMU	TX Southern	2014-15
	7	Will Cummings, Temple	SMU	2014-15
	7	Josh Brown, Temple	DePaul	2016-17
5.	6	Jeremiah Martin, Memphis	East Carolina	2016-17
	6	8 other times

POOR-SHOOTING WIN

As many will say, a win, is a win, is a win. No matter how many shots are missed, the only thing that matters is who ends the game with more points than the opponent. Against East Carolina, Memphis hit just 30.3 percent of its shots, which is tied for the ninth-lowest field goal percentage in Division I this season in a winning effort.

	School	Opponent	Result	FGM	FGA	FG%
1.	Santa Barbara	CSU Bakersfield	W, 62-60 (ot)	16	64	.250
2.	UCF	East Carolina	W, 48-45	12	46	.261
3.	St. Francis (N.Y.)	Mt. St. Vincent	W, 69-51	18	68	.265
4.	Old Dominion	North Texas	W, 55-48	18	64	.281
5.	Lamar	Oregon State	W, 63-60	20	71	.282
6.	Old Dominion	Dartmouth	W, 59-47	17	59	.288
7.	South Carolina	Florida	W, 57-53	15	51	.294
8.	Louisville	Old Dominion	W, 68-62 (ot)	19	64	.297
9.	Memphis	East Carolina	W, 57-50	20	66	.303
	Old Dominion	St. John's	W, 63-55	20	66	.303

STOP, THIEF

University of Memphis sophomore guard Jeremiah Martin has become one of the country's leaders in steals, and has pilfered 48 total steals this season, and averages 2.18 steals per game, which ranks 21st in the country.

Rk.	Student-Athlete	Cl.	School	SPG
1.	Joseph Chartouny	So.	Fordham	3.55
...
18.	Dennis Smith Jr.	Fr.	NC State	2.23
19.	Jacobi Boykins	Jr.	Louisiana Tech	2.19
	Jajuan Johnson	Sr.	Marquette	2.19
21.	Jeremiah Martin	So.	Memphis	2.18
	Paris Lee	Sr.	Illinois State	2.18
	Jahvaughn Powell	Jr.	Nicholls	2.18
24.	Matt Mooney	So.	South Dakota	2.17
25.	Remond Brown	So.	Grambling	2.14

REPRESENTED IN THE CONFERENCE, 2.0

With his 19 rebounds against East Carolina, K.J. Lawson also moved into the top-five an American Athletic Conference history in single-game rebounds, joining former teammate Shaq Goodwin and SMU's Jordan Tolbert, as those three have the top five single-game rebounding marks in Conference history.

	Reb.	Student-Athlete	School	Season
1.	23	Shaq Goodwin, Memphis	Temple	2014-15
	23	Jordan Tolbert, SMU	Nicholls State	2015-16
3.	19	Jordan Tolbert, SMU	Hampton	2015-16
	19	Shaq Goodwin, Memphis	UT Arlington	2015-16
	19	K.J. Lawson, Memphis	East Carolina	2016-17
6.	18	Jaylen Bond, Temple	Delaware St.	2014-15
	18	TaShawn Thomas, Houston	Howard	2013-14

BIG SCORERS ALLOWED

Despite ranking inside of the top-75 in the NCAA in field goal percentage allowed, USF has given up its fair share of high scorers. In fact, in each of the last eight games, the Bulls have given up at least one player scoring 20 points. The streak was started on December 31 against Houston, when Damyean Dotson and Rob Gray each scored 25 points, and was followed by SMU (Semi Ojeleye, 21 points), Tulane (Kain Harris, 27 points), Memphis (Markel Crawford, 30 points), UCF (Matt Williams, 38 points), Tulsa (Corey Henderson 22 points), UConn (Jalen Adams, 20 points), and most recently 26 points off the bench to the eventual American Athletic Conference Player of the Week Jarron Cumberland of Cincinnati.

SCORE DISTRIBUTION

Over the past six games, in which Memphis is 4-2, the Tigers have had five different players lead the team in the scoring column. On January 11 at Tulsa, it was Dedric Lawson's 26 points that led the Tigers. Three days later on January 14 at home against USF, Markel Crawford erupted for a career-high 30 points. In the team's January 19 overtime win at Houston, K.J. Lawson led the scoring brigade with 28 points, while the redshirt freshman also led the team in scoring a game later with 16 points against UCF. Against Temple on January 25 it was Jeremiah Martin's turn to lead the team in scoring with 16 points, while junior Jimario Rivers' 15 points against East Carolina on January 28 was the highest on the squad.

HIGH SCHOOL TEAMMATES

Memphis sophomore Craig Randall II and USF freshman Michael Bibby were high school teammates at Shadow Mountain High School...well, kind of. Both attended Shadow Mountain High School in the 2015-16 season, Randall II after moving into the area before the season, and Bibby from there and playing for his dad, Coach Mike Bibby. Randall II and Bibby played briefly during the season, before Bibby went down with an injury, setting the stage for a monster season for Randall II. As such, he was named the PrepHoopsArizona.com Division II Player of the Year.

FIRST-YEAR SUCCESSES

New University of Memphis head coach Tubby Smith has opened his Memphis career with a 16-6 overall record, which stands as the fourth-best record among coaches in their first year at the current school. Below is a list of the top 15 such coaches, ranked by winning percentage.

Rk.	Coach	School	Record
1.	Paul Weir *	New Mexico St.	20-2
2.	Tim Jankovich	SMU	18-4
3.	Matt Lottich *	Valparaiso	18-4
4.	Tubby Smith	Memphis	16-6
5.	Chris Beard	Texas Tech	15-6
	Grant McCasland *	Arkansas State	15-6
7.	Jamie Dixon	TCU	14-7
	Johnny Dawkins	UCF	14-7
	Ryan Odom *	UMBC	14-7
10.	Kyle Smith	San Francisco	15-8
	Scott Nagy	Wright State	15-8
12.	Allen Edwards *	Wyoming	14-8
13.	Josh Pastner	Georgia Tech	13-8
14.	Reggie Witherspoon	Canisius	13-9
15.	Kevin Stallings	Pittsburgh	12-9
* First Time Head Coaches \| As of games on 1/29/2017

QUALITY REST

In utilizing a roster where four players average at least 32 minutes per game, quality rest comes at a premium. In the eight American Athletic Conference games in the 2017 calendar year, the Memphis Tigers have had more than two days rest between games just twice. In that same time, Memphis' opponents have had two days between games twice. In those eight games, the Tigers have had more rest than their opponents just twice. Three times Memphis has played with two days of rest while the opponent had six. In those three games, the Tigers are 1-2. Overall, Memphis will have four games in which it will have more rest than its opponents, five with equal rest, and eight with less rest.

YOUNG AND (NEAR A) GRAND

University of Memphis sophomore Dedric Lawson has scored 938 points over his one-plus seasons with the program, and is one of a small number of sophomores at or near the 1,000-point plateau. Below is a list of the top 10 sophomore career scorers in the country.

Rk.	S-A	School	G	Pts
158.	Tyler Hall	Montana State	54	1,114
171.	Marcus Evans	Rice	54	1,094
179.	Mike Daum	South Dakota St.	58	1,082
195.	Chris Clemons	Campbell	62	1,060
248.	Derick Newton	Stetson	57	963
262.	Tookie Brown	Georgia Southern	62	944
270.	Dedric Lawson	Memphis	55	938
290.	Dwayne Bacon	Florida State	56	914
295.	Nick Emery	BYU	59	905
329.	Nick Mayo	Eastern Kentucky	55	870

FAMILIAR FATHERS

Current USF interim head coach Murry Bartow is the son of former University of Memphis head coach Gene Bartow. Before being named to the Bulls' staff at the beginning of the season, he had previously been the head coach at East Tennessee State. He also was the second head coach in UAB basketball history, taking the top spot of the program that his father, a Hall of Famer, started. Additionally, a banner recognizing Gene in the Basketball Hall of Fame is in the rafters of FedExForum. Freshman guard Michael Bibby Jr.'s father is former Arizona and NBA star Mike Bibby.

FAMILIAR WITH THE TIGERS

USF assistant coach Rod Strickland has an extended history with the Memphis Tigers, as he was an assistant for the Tigers from 2006-09. During that span Memphis went 104-10, winning three straight Conference USA titles. Additionally, assistant coach Sergio Rouco had spent three seasons at Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi.

VERY SPORTSMANLIKE

USF junior center Ruben Guerrero, a native of Marbella Spain, was named the American Athletic Conference Sportsmanship Award winner, and also the NCAA Division I Male Sportsmanship Award Winner. Guerrero was the third Sportsmanship Winner in American Athletic Conference history, with the second of those winners being recent University of Memphis graduate Shaq Goodwin.

TOP-100 IN THE COUNTRY

This season Memphis ranks in the top-100 in 22 team categories, including total blocks (21st), blocked shots per game (22nd), total assists (29th), personal fouls per game (30th), assists per game (32nd), field goal percentage defense (33rd). For a full breakdown of where Memphis ranks in the country, and the American Athletic Conference, see page 12 of this notes package.

Tigers Open Two-Game Florida Road Swing on Thursday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Markel Crawford

Shaq Goodwin

Dedric Lawson

K.J. Lawson

Jeremiah Martin

Craig Randall II

Jimario Rivers

University of Memphis Athletics

Tigers Open Two-Game Florida Road Swing on Thursday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Markel Crawford

Shaq Goodwin

Dedric Lawson

K.J. Lawson

Jeremiah Martin

Craig Randall II

Jimario Rivers

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