Men's basketball opens AAC play against Wichita State

Thursday, January 3

Memphis, Tenn.

8:30 PM

University of Memphis

Wichita State

Tickets

Senior guard Jeremiah Martin is tied for the team scoring lead at 14.8 points per game.

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Men's basketball opens AAC play against Wichita State

Jan 02, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Memphis Notes (vs. Wichita State)Wichita State Notes (vs. Memphis)

Tigers, Shockers tip off at 8:35 p.m. at FedExForum to start second seasons.

By: Phil Stukenborg

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Before a national television audience on CBS Sports Network, the University of Memphis and first-year coach Penny Hardaway will tip off their `second season' at 8:35 Thursday night at FedExForum.

The Tigers (8-5) will begin American Athletic Conference play against perennial NCAA tournament participant Wichita State (7-5). The Shockers are also starting league play.

Memphis is closing its month-long home-stand by starting AAC play against a team competing for the first time since Dec. 22. Wichita State will be coming off a 70-54 loss at VCU, but has won three of four.

The Tigers have won three straight and five of six, including back-to-back lopsided wins over Tennessee State (99-41) and Florida A&M (96-65).

Hardaway said following the win over Florida A&M that he wasn't "really excited" about being 8-5, but said he had a better handle on the team, which played three ranked opponents – LSU, Texas Tech and Tennessee.

"I know a lot about this team right now," Hardaway said. "I know what buttons to push at the right time.

"They have to be more aware of things we are working on. We challenge them every time to understand what we are doing with the scouting reports and which players could hurt us the most. That's the next phase . . . really dissecting who can hurt us the most and who can't, because we'll starting playing defense a lot better once we start recognizing that."

Wichita State is led by Markis McDuffie, who ranks third in the AAC in scoring at 18.8 points per game. It represents the highest non-conference scoring average in 12 seasons under coach Gregg Marshall.

The Tigers enter the AAC opener as the conference's top-scoring team. The UofM is averaging 85.1 points per game, which ranks 17^th nationally. It's also the highest scoring average by a men's basketball team after 13 games in the past 15 seasons.

Three Tigers – Jeremiah Martin, Tyler Harris and Kyvon Davenport – are virtually tied atop the team's scoring list. Martin and Harris average 14.8 points per game, while Davenport, who has become a huge threat off the bench, is averaging 14.5 points.

Memphis also has been on an impressive shooting streak. The Tigers have shot 50 percent or better in five of their past six games, including a season-high 60 percent in the win over Tennessee State and 58.9 percent in the victory over Florida A&M.

QUICK FACTS

UofM guard Jeremiah Martin could move up several spots on the school's career scoring list by reaching his 14.8 average. Martin enters the game ranked 42^nd with 1,110 points. With 14 points against Wichita State, he would move past Baskerville Holmes (1,112), Bob Neumann (1,117), Don Holcomb (1,118) and Ernest Smith (1,122) into 38^th.
The Tigers are forcing 18.8 turnovers per game, which ranks seventh nationally.
According to the NCAA's NET formula, Wichita State played the nation's 38^th-toughest non-conference schedule.
From 2013-14 to 2017-18, the Shockers led the nation in road wins by going 49-8. Wichita State is 0-2 in true road games this season.
Wichita State's Rod Brown and the UofM's Tyler Harris were teammates on Cordova High's 2015-16 team that finished as state runner-up to East High, coached by Penny Hardaway.