Tigers Head to Oxford for Saturday Showdown on ESPN2 – University of Memphis Athletics

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Memphis Tigers look to get back on the winning track Saturday at 1 p.m. at Ole Miss. The contest in Oxford, Mississippi can be seen on ESPN2.

The Tigers (5-1) head down the road coming off a 79-63 loss to Villanova Friday evening in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game. It marks the third game of the season against a Southeastern Conference opponent, and the first of three remaining matchups against SEC foes in 22 days. 

Memphis already has two wins this season against SEC programs at Missouri (70-55) and against No. 20 Arkansas (84-79). The Tigers are 9-1 against Power Five programs the last two seasons and 6-1 against the SEC. 

In a series that dates all the way back to 1922-23, Saturday will mark the 45^th meeting all-time between Memphis and Ole Miss, with the Tigers leading 29-15. The Bluff City boys knocked off the Rebels 68-57 in Memphis last season but have lost the last three matchups in Oxford.  

The Tigers have only two players – Malcolm Dandridge and Jayden Hardaway – who have played in the series.  

A win for the Tigers would be the best start to a season since 2019-20, when they also started 6-1. 

Earlier this week Ole Miss got some news from the NCAA that big man Moussa Cisse has been cleared as a two-time transfer and is expected to play on Saturday.  

Cisse began his collegiate career at Memphis in 2020-21 where he started 28 games for Penny Hardaway and averaged 6.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. 

The 7-foot center from Guinea, Cisse then transferred to Oklahoma State for two seasons where he was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2021-22 with 7.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. 

 

GAME DETAILS

RV/RV Memphis Tigers (5-1) vs. RV/NR Ole Miss (6-0)

Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023 | 1 p.m. CT

The Pavilion (9,500); Oxford, Mississippi

Television: ESPN2 (Kevin Brown pxp; Jimmy Dykes color)

Radio: 98.9 The Roar of Memphis (Dave Woloshin pxp; Matt Dillon, analysis)

Live Stats: www.Memphis.StatBroadcast.com 

 

BY THE NUMBERS 

• 1: Head coaches Penny Hardaway and Chris Beard have only met one time on the hardwood, and it was nearly five years to the day on Saturday. They faced off on Dec. 1, 2018 at the HoopHall Invitational in Miami when Beard was in charge at Texas Tech. The Tigers led by as many as 13 in the second half behind 17 points from Tyler Harris, but the 20^th-ranked Red Raiders used a 33-10 run over the final nine minutes to win 78-67. 
• 2: Against Arkansas on Thanksgiving, David Jones went off for 36 points and five steals in a win. He is one of only two players in the last 25 years in Division I to have 35 points and five steals against an AP ranked team on a road/neutral floor. Stephen Curry against Gonzaga in the 2008 NCAA Tournament was the other. 
• 6: Memphis has six wins in seven games against SEC opponents the last two seasons. Four of those victories have come away from the Tigers home floor, including true road wins over Missouri and Vanderbilt. Memphis is 10-7 against the SEC under Penny Hardaway. 
• 19: Memphis ranks 19th nationally in blocks per game (5.7) and in KenPom’s block percentage with a 15.4 percent mark. Malcolm Dandridge leads the team and ranks fourth in the American with 11 blocks (1.83). He has four games with multiple swats and tied his career high with three against Arkansas. 
• 33: Entering Saturday, David Jones needs 33 points to reach 1,000 for his career. He scored 451 at DePaul and 409 at St. John’s. His 17.8 ppg average this season, is on pace to be the highest of his career. 
• 2005: Memphis last won in Oxford on Dec. 17, 2005, when the No. 5 Tigers took down Ole Miss 72-49. They have lost three straight road games in the series and are 6-11 all-time in Oxford. 
  
   

THE LAST TIME OUT 

• The Tigers got a week off after falling 79-63 to Villanova last Friday in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game.  
• The Tigers struggled from the beginning and Villanova opened the game by hitting six three-pointers to build a 16-2 lead. 
• Villanova used a 12-0 run late in the half to take a 44-16 advantage into the intermission.  
• Memphis got just 4-of-27 shots (14.8%) to fall in the opening period, including 1-of-12 from deep (8.3%). Villanova, on the other hand, made 15 total field goals with eight of them being triples. 
• The Wildcats didn’t let up in the second half, eventually building a 35-point lead. 
• With Memphis trailing 67-35 with 8:58 to play, head coach Penny Hardaway turned up the defensive pressure with a full-court press and got Villanova out of sorts.  
• After a five-second call, the Tigers went on a 21-0 run where they forced Villanova into five turnovers and got 15 combined points from Jahvon Quinerly and David Jones. 
• At the 3:42 mark, Jones buried a triple to cut the deficit to 13, but that was as close as the Tigers got. Villanova closed the game on a 10-3 run to help close things out. 

SCOUTING OLE MISS 

• The Rebels bring a 6-0 record into Saturday under first-year head coach Chris Beard after defeating N.C. State, 72-52, at home Tuesday night in the SEC/ACC Challenge. 
• They also have wins over Temple and Alabama State. 
• It marks the first time since 2012-14 that Ole Miss has started back-to-back seasons 6-0. 
• Ole Miss ranks 12^th in the nation in blocked shots, swatting 6.2 per game. Their rim protection has bolstered a defense that is limiting opponents to 38.9 percent shooting. 
• The lead blocker is 7-foot-5 Jamarion Sharp, who transferred in from Western Kentucky where he played two seasons under Memphis assistant Rick Stansbury. Sharp is 10^th in the nation with 2.83 blocks per game, turning back 17 shots in just 119 minutes of action. 
• Senior guard Allen Flanigan leads the Rebels in scoring (19.3) and rebounding (7.7) while shooting 44.7 percent from the floor. The Auburn transfer has two double-doubles and three games of 20-plus points. 
• Senior guard and Memphis native Matthew Murrell reached 1,000 career points against the Wolfpack. He is the team’s second-leading scorer at 14.0 points per game, while adding 4.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists each time out.  
  
   

UP NEXT

Memphis will continue its tough road trip with a pair of big games next week. On Wednesday (Dec. 6), the Tigers travel to VCU for a 6 p.m. CT tip, before concluding the week at No. 14 Texas A&M on Sunday (Dec. 10) at 3:30 p.m. 

It will be the first visit to VCU for the Tigers since Feb. 5, 1990, and the first to College Station since Dec. 13, 1965.          

 

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.