Previewing the Opponent: Memphis Tigers

Memphis comes into this AAC game with a 12-3 record, 3-1 in the AAC.  Memphis is used to dominating conference play as they won 15 conference championships, whether it was for the regular season or the conference tournament while they were in the Conference-USA.  Memphis should not expect to do as absurdly well in this conference, as they are going to have to compete with UConn, Louisville (just this year), and Cincinnati.  While it is a different conference, the Tigers have still proven that they can go out and recruit and still compete at a national level.

2 of Memphis’s 3 losses have come against ranked opponents, while their other loss was to a conference opponent.  Early in the year, Memphis traveled to Oklahoma State, where Marcus Smart and the Cowboys throttled the Tigers, winning 101-80 behind Smart’s ridiculous 39 points.  When they met again a couple weeks later at a neutral site, the Tigers clearly adjusted, winning 73-68 behind Shaq Goodwin’s 17 points and 8 rebounds.  Memphis’s second loss came against Florida at MSG, a tough 77-75 loss against a very talented Florida team.  Their third loss came to Cincinnati at home which was not what Memphis fans expected.  Being used to rolling through conference play, the Tigers received a reality check, getting beat 69-53, with 16 turnovers and shooting 2-17 from 3.

Much of the talk coming into this year for Memphis was their recruiting class that was ranked 3^rd in the nation according to ESPNinsider.  They brought 5 ESPN100 commits to campus this year, including 1 five-star and 4 four-stars.  Although it is a very talented class, no one has really shown anything except for Austin Nichols, who has been the only freshman to consistently get playing time.  While Memphis has all these freshman, they also have 4 senior guards who they heavily rely on, along with sophomore big man Shaq Goodwin.  Memphis pretty much only plays a 6-7 man rotation.  They have 6 players who average over 20 minutes a game, 1 player who averages about 15 minutes a game, and then no one else averages more than 10 minutes.  Here’s a little background on the key players for Memphis, who also happen to be the only ones that play quality minutes:

Senior Guard Joe Jackson: The most talented of the guards.  Jackson leads the team in both points and assists, with 14.7 PPG and 3.9 APG, while also pulling down 3.3 RPG and recording 1.9 SPG.  He is also shooting an impressive 85% from the line.  Jackson has been the leading scorer in 6 of their first 15 games, and if he’s not the leading scorer, he’s usually 2^nd.

Sophomore Forward Shaq Goodwin: Very talented big man who will give the Huskies a ton of trouble down low and on the glass.  He is coming off being the AAC player of the week.  He is 2^nd on the team in points averaging 13.2 a game, and leads the team in rebounds with 7.1 a game.  Also, leads the team with 1.5 BPG.  Goodwin is shooting a very high percentage from the field at 64.9% which ranks 16^th nationally.  When Joe Jackson hasn’t been the leading scorer, Goodwin has.

Senior Guard Michael Dixon Jr.: Transfer from Missouri and 6^th man for Memphis.  3^rd on the team with 11.3 PPG while also averaging 2.3 APG and 1.4 SPG.  He is 2^nd on the team in 3 point attempts while shooting 33.3% from deep.  He is certainly not afraid to shoot and can get hot in a hurry.

Senior Guard Chris Crawford: Memphis’s best 3 point threat.  Averaging 9.0 PPG and also pulling down 4.3 RPG and 2.0 SPG.  Crawford leads the team in 3 points attempts, 3 points makes, and percentage, shooting 36.3% from 3.

Senior Guard Geron Johnson: 5^th on the team in PPG with 8.5 a game.  Also, averaging an impressive 5.5 RPG for a guard and 3.2 APG.  Not as talented as the other guards, but you still can’t sleep on him.

Freshman Forward Austin Nichols:  Like I said earlier, he has been the only Freshman to contribute quality minutes for the Tigers.  He is averaging 8.6 PPG, 4.3 RPG, and 2^nd on the team with 1.3 BPG.

Memphis is coached by Josh Pastner, who is in his 5^th year with team, compiling a 117-37 record.  Before becoming head coach for the Tigers, he was an assistant under John Calipari, and before that he was an assistant for the Arizona Wildcats.  Pastner was also a walk-on for the 1997 Arizona basketball team that won the National Championship.  Pastner is known for not being able to win against ranked teams as he was 0-13 against them before the Tigers knocked off the then #5 Oklahoma State Cowboys earlier in the year.