Top-Seeded Tigers to Open AAC Championship Friday Against Wichita State

FORT WORTH, Texas – The regular season American Athletic Conference champion Memphis Tigers begin postseason play Friday afternoon in the quarterfinal round of the 2025 AAC Championship in Fort Worth, Texas.

The top-seeded Tigers (26-5) will play at noon on ESPN2 against 8th-seeded Wichita State (19-13). The Shockers defeated No. 9 South Florida 73-68 on Thursday to advance.

Memphis enters postseason play winners of 13 of its last 14 games, with the only loss coming in a February contest on the road against the Shockers.
The Tigers have won 20-plus games for the eighth-straight season, including all seven under head coach Penny Hardaway. The 26 victories are tied for the most under Hardaway.

Memphis leads the all-time series 21-14 after splitting its meetings with Wichita State during the regular season. The Tigers forced a season-high 22 turnovers and won 61-53 on Jan. 23 against the Shockers in Memphis. Tyrese Hunter and PJ Haggerty combined for 38 points in the win.

The Tigers then went to Wichita on Feb. 16 and recorded 45 rebounds, 22 assists and 10 triples, but the Shockers kept it a close game with 14 lead changes and erased a four-point deficit with 30 seconds to play to hand Memphis one of its only two losses in the conference season, 84-79.

The Tigers and Shockers had never met in the AAC Championship prior to last season, and now they are facing off for the second-straight year. Wichita State ended Memphis' season in 2024 as the No. 12 seed, winning 71-65, in the second round of the AAC Championship. Their only other meeting on a neutral floor came on Nov. 18, 2014, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota where Wichita State won 71-56.

With a victory Friday, Memphis would advance to the semifinals where it would face either No. 4 Tulane or No. 5 Florida Atlantic at 2 p.m. Saturday on ESPN2. The Tigers have advanced to the AAC semifinals five times in the last six seasons.

The championship game is slated for 2:15 p.m. Sunday on ESPN.

GAME DETAILS
No. 1 Memphis Tigers (26-5) vs. No. 8 Wichita State (19-13)
2025 American Athletic Conference Championship Quarterfinal Round
Friday, March 14, 2025 | Noon CT
Dickies Arena (14,000); Fort Worth, Texas
Television: ESPN2 (Tom Hart, pxp; Dane Bradshaw, analysis; Alyssa Lang, sideline)
Radio: 98.9 THE ROAR OF MEMPHIS (Dave Woloshin, pxp; Matt Dillon, analysis)

BY THE NUMBERS

2nd: PJ Haggerty is the second Memphis Tiger to win The American Player of the Year, joining Precious Achiuwa in 2019-20. Haggerty was also joined on the All-AAC First Team by Tyrese Hunter and Dain Dainja, marking the 7th-straight season Memphis has been represented on the first team and the 10th time in 12 seasons since joining the AAC.
20.4: Points per game from Dain Dainja over the last five games, to go along with 10.4 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and a 67.2%-clip from the floor (45-67). He has scored 20+ three times in that span and has reached double figures in 10 of his last 12 since returning to the starting lineup.
35-8: Record for Memphis in Texas during the month of March (.814). The Tigers have won 11of their last 13 dating back to 2021, which includes an NIT and AAC Championship. Head coach Penny Hardaway is 12-5 himself with four of the five losses coming to Houston.
38.8: Three-point percentage for the Tigers, which currently ranks 7th-best in Division I as of Thursday. That is currently tied for the best percentage in any season in program history. They posted a program record 72.2% mark (13-of-18) from long distance against Ohio on Nov. 15.
50.0%: Shooting better than 50.0 percent in games seems to be a great indicator of success for the Tigers in recent years. The Tigers have won 74 of the last 77 games when shooting better than 50.0% from the floor. That stretch included a streak of 38-straight games before falling at East Carolina (72-71) on Jan. 15, 2022. Memphis is 91-4 in the last decade when reaching 50%, including a 64-3 mark under Hardaway.
658: Total points from PJ Haggerty this season. He needs seven points Friday from jumping into the top-10 single-season marks in program history. Dajuan Wagner holds the record of 762 in 2001-02. Memphis is on pace to be the only school in the nation to have a top-10 scorer – Kendric Davis (8th – 21.9), David Jones (6th, 21.8), PJ Haggerty (6th, 21.2).

HOW TO FOLLOW THE TIGERS
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Top-Seeded Tigers to Open AAC Championship Friday Against Wichita State

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Players Mentioned

Dain Dainja

Kendric Davis

PJ Haggerty

Tyrese Hunter

David Jones

University of Memphis Athletics