Tigers Tip Off 105th Season Saturday Against San Francisco

Saturday, November 8

Memphis, Tenn.

2:00 PM

University of Memphis

San Francisco

Tigers Tip Off 105th Season Saturday Against San Francisco

Nov 07, 2025 | Men's Basketball

Buy Tickets Live Stats Watch Memphis Game Notes (PDF)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The highly anticipated 105th season of Memphis men's basketball tips off Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. CT, as the Tigers host San Francisco inside FedExForum. The game will stream live on ESPN+.

Memphis will be one of the final NCAA Division I programs to open the 2025–26 season. The Tigers' Nov. 8 opener is the second-to-last start date among all Division I teams - only Dartmouth begins later, tipping off on Sunday, Nov. 9.

Memphis enters the 2025–26 campaign looking to extend its streak of success under head coach Penny Hardaway. The Tigers have won at least 20 games in each of Hardaway's seven seasons at the helm, and as he begins year eight, the Memphis native faces one of his biggest challenges yet - rebuilding a roster that lost every player from last season's 29-6 team that swept both the American Conference regular season and tournament titles.

The reigning American Coach of the Year and his staff completely retooled the roster with 15 newcomers, including 13 Division I transfers. That depth and experience earned Memphis the preseason favorite nod from the league's head coaches, who awarded the Tigers 143 total points and 11 of 13 first-place votes. (Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams.)

A year ago, Memphis notched three victories over Associated Press Top 25 opponents - including wins against No. 2 UConn (99–97) at the Maui Invitational, at No. 16 Clemson (87–82) and at home over No. 16 Ole Miss (87–70). The Tigers also secured notable nonconference wins against Missouri (83–75), Michigan State (71–63), and Virginia (64–62).

Hardaway has once again built one of the nation's toughest schedules. Memphis has already played a pair of exhibition games against AP Top 20 programs - No. 14 Arkansas and No. 20 Auburn. This season, they have road matchups at Ole Miss (Nov. 11), No. 11 Louisville (Dec. 13) and Mississippi State (Dec. 20). The Tigers will also host Baylor (Dec. 6) and Vanderbilt (Dec. 17) and compete in the Baha Mar Championships in the Bahamas, where they'll open against preseason No. 1 Purdue (Nov. 20) with a potential matchup against No. 10 Texas Tech or Wake Forest on Nov. 21.

Fans can experience Memphis Basketball all season long with several ticket options available now. Visit GoTigersGoTix.com or call the Memphis Ticket Office at (901) 678-2331 for more information.

GAME DETAILS
Memphis Tigers vs. San Francisco Dons
Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025 | 2 p.m. CT
FedExForum (18,400); Memphis, Tenn.
Television: ESPN+ (Greg Gaston, pxp; Trey Draper, color)
Radio: 98.9 The Roar of Memphis (Dave Woloshin, pxp; Ken Moody, analysis)
Live Stats: www.Memphis.StatBroadcast.com

BY THE NUMBERS

0: Returning players for Memphis from the 29-6 American Championship squad last season. The Tigers are one of only nine programs in the country that don't return a single player from 2024-25.
1: Memphis is the only program in the country to have produced one of the nation's top-10 leading scorer in each of the last three seasons: Kendric Davis (21.9 - 8th), David Jones (21.8 - 6th), PJ Haggerty (21.7 - 3rd).
3: Programs in the nation that have won at least 18 games in each of the last 25 seasons starting in 2000-01 (Memphis, Kansas, Gonzaga).
9-0: Memphis' record this century when playing unranked WCC opponents.
number of wins against SEC opponents in seven seasons under Penny Hardaway. In that span, the Tigers are 14-10 against SEC opponents, but are 10-4 in such games over the last three seasons.
15: The number of newcomer additions to the roster this season, 13 of which were transfers brought in from Division I programs.
739: The combined number of games of Division I experience the Tigers have amongst 15 players. Five guys have played 80+ games: Tariq Ingrham (98), Zach Davis (95), Dug McDaniel (92), Thierno Sylla (84) and Sincere Parker (83).
64-3: Memphis' record under Penny Hardaway when shooting 50% in a game.

SCOUTING THE DONS

San Francisco looks to build off its recent success after NIT bids in the last two seasons, an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2022, and eight consecutive 20-win campaigns (excluding the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season) since the 2016-17 season.
Heading into their fourth season under head coach Chris Gerlufsen, the Dons were picked to finish third in the WCC Preseason Poll on Oct. 23, receiving one first-place vote.
USF returns seven players from the 2024-25 roster, headlined by Preseason All-WCC Team selection guards Tyrone Riley IV and Ryan Beasley.
- Riley IV is coming off an All-WCC Freshman Team season, averaging 9.6 points on 50.2 percent shooting, also grabbing a team-high 6.0 rebounds per game.
- Beasley finished last season as the fourth-leading scorer for the Dons, averaging 9.0 points per game in his sophomore season. Notably, Beasley started in his last three games of the season, averaging 20.3 points and 4.7 assists on 53.7 percent shooting from the field.
Eight newcomers will don the green and gold this season, including guards Vukasin Masic (Portland) and Aidan Braccia (Belmont), and forwards Mookie Cook (Oregon), David Fuchs (Rhode Island), and Guillermo Diaz Graham (Pittsburgh).
San Francisco opened the 2025-26 season with a 98-53 victory over UC Santa Cruz on Monday.
- The Dons had three players score in double figures, led by Smiley with 18 points. Cook finished one rebound shy of a double-double, adding 12 points, nine rebounds, and three steals off the bench.
San Francisco's defense held UC Santa Cruz to only 33.9 percent shooting from the field, including 29.4 percent from beyond the arc.
- The Dons led the nation last season in three-point field goal defense, holding opponents to just .279 percent each time out.

SEASONED SQUAD
The Tigers' roster has played a combined 739 Division I games entering this season. That's the most of any American Conference team and the ninth most among all Division I. Five guys have played 80+ games: Tariq Ingrham (98), Zach Davis (95), Dug McDaniel (92), Thierno Sylla (84) and Sincere Parker (83).

MEMPHIS. KANSAS. GONZAGA. THAT'S THE LIST
Memphis, Kansas and Gonzaga are the only three Division I schools to have 18 or more wins in every season since 2000-01 (25 seasons). The Tigers' 22 seasons with 20+ wins since 2000-01 are the sixth most in DI.

SHOOTING STARS
Memphis was one of nine DI teams to lead its conference in both field-goal percentage (.472) and three-point percentage (.376) last season. It was the only time this century that the Tigers have led their conference in both categories.

DUG DISTRIBUTES
Entering the season, Dug McDaniel is one of only 13 active DI players with 400+ career assists. He's one of eight of those to have at least 1000 points scored as well, and one of only five with 1,000+ points, 400+ assists and 100+ made threes.

WHEN AB GETS GOING, IT'S GAME OVER
Aaron Bradshaw's college teams are 11-0 in games when he scores in double figures. The only active DI players with more wins and zero losses in such games are Terrance Arceneaux (17-0) and Denzel Aberdeen (13-0).

THE WEST COAST WALL
Memphis beat San Francisco, 68-64, at the Chase Center last season as the Tigers are unbeaten this century when playing unranked WCC opponents (9-0).

HOW TO FOLLOW THE TIGERS
For complete information on Memphis Tiger Men's Basketball, visit www.GoTigersGo.com and follow the team's social media channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.