Tigers, Bradley set for 8 p.m. battle at FedExForum

Tuesday, December 3

Memphis, Tenn.

8 PM

University of Memphis

Bradley

Tickets

Tigers back home to play Bradley for the first time since 2014.

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Tigers, Bradley set for 8 p.m. battle at FedExForum

Dec 02, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Memphis Notes (vs. Bradley)Bradley Notes (vs. Memphis)

UofM is playing its only home game during a month-long span

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – For the University of Memphis, it will be a lone early December home game when the 15^th-ranked Tigers play host to Bradley at 8 p.m. Tuesday at FedExForum.

While the UofM's schedule routinely has Memphis playing the majority of its December games at home (and the Tigers will play four of six at FedExForum this month), the 2019-20 schedule features a quirk. The Bradley game will be the only December home game until the Tigers play host to Jackson State on Dec. 21.

The Tigers hope to make the most of their only home game between Nov. 23 (a win over Ole Miss) and Dec. 21.

In Bradley, the UofM will encounter a challenging opponent. The Braves are 5-2 and coming off a 73-60 victory over Kansas State at the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off event in Fort Myers, Fla.

Memphis also is coming off a significant win, 83-78 over North Carolina State in the Barclays Center Classic in Brooklyn. Boogie Ellis led the Tigers with 21 points – one off his career high – as the UofM won its fourth straight.

After Tuesday's game against Bradley, the Tigers (6-1) play road games Dec. 7 at UAB and Dec. 14 at Tennessee.

During this stretch, the Tigers hope to continue getting strong play from their Memphis-oriented reserves. The Tigers have benefited recently from the play of sophomore guards Alex Lomax and Tyler Harris, former Memphis-area high school stars. Lomax, coming in off the bench, leads the American Athletic Conference in assists per game (5.1). Harris, also a reserve, was instrumental in last week's win over NC State, contributing 14 points and a key three-point play down the stretch.

"A-Lo has played for me since the sixth grade, he understands my system," Tigers coach Penny Hardaway said. "And he's very calm out there. We need that calming spirit over the basketball team because we are very young, we're antsy and we're too fast sometimes.

"With Tyler coming off the bench with A-Lo, they are very comfortable together. They have a lot of pride about themselves being from the city (of Memphis) and knowing what this means. It definitely helps us out."

Bradley will be led by a Memphian, former Germantown High standout Darrell Brown Jr., who is Hardaway's godson. Brown, a senior, leads the Braves with a 14.0 scoring average and ranks 16^th in career points (1,463).

Brown was a member of the Preseason All-Missouri Valley First Team.

The Braves' roster also includes freshman guard Antonio Thomas, who played for East High. The Memphis roster is filled with former East High stars: James Wiseman, Malcolm Dandridge, Lomax, Ryan Boyce and Jayden Hardaway.

Dandridge, a 6-foot-9 center, made his season debut for the Tigers against NC State. Dandridge is coming off a knee injury.

"Obviously he's not himself yet," coach Hardaway said. "It was an unfair situation to put him in. To put him in on Thanksgiving on national TV against an ACC opponent a lot to ask. But he still did really well. I think the thing he's going to do for us is protect the rim, rebound the basketball and finish around the rim. I'm excited to have him back."

NOTES

The Tigers are 5-0 at FedExForum with wins over South Carolina State, UIC, Alcorn State, Little Rock and Ole Miss.
With their victory over NC State on Thanksgiving, the Tigers finished 4-0 in Barclays Center Classic games.
Bradley's Koch Bar and Elijah Childs combine for 7.29 offensive rebounds per game, the second-highest duo in the country on the offensive glass.
The Tigers rank seventh nationally in scoring at 86.1 points per game. Memphis is 18-1 when scoring 80 or more points.