Tigers will have to fight to stay ahead of the pack

The 79-67 win over South Florida propelled the Tigers back to the top of the league standings.

Memphis is 10-4 in C-USA play and a game ahead of National division rivals USF and Southern Miss and Cincinnati and Marquette from the American Division.

The Tigers close out the regular season with two games on the road starting tonight at USM.

The Golden Eagles have a good chance of capturing C-USA's National division championship and a share of the league title by beating both Memphis and South Florida at home this week.

The win will not be easy, the Tigers could gain a share of the league title with a victory in either of its last two games but a win over USM is the Tigers only guarantee of a first-round bye at next weeks Conference USA tournament in Louisville, KY.

USM has won its last three games and is coming off a 78-63 win over Tulane last week.

The Eagles current winning streak comes after loosing three previous games including home losses to University of Alabama Birmingham (71-59) and Cincinnati (64-52).

David Wall is shooting 40.2 percent from three-point range and averaging 14.2 points while forward Vandarel Jones is averaging 12.1 points and 7.0 rebounds.

In tonight's game Kelly Wise will need just 13 points to become the 36th player at the University of Memphis and second this season to score 1,000 career points.

He became the first Tiger this year to be named Conference USA player of the week after averaging 21 points and seven rebounds in the Tigers wins at South Florida and Tulane a couple of weeks ago.

Wise is the only player in C-USA to be averaging a double- double and is ranked ninth nationally in rebounds.

Shyrone Chatman is the second player on the team to be named player of the week this year.