The University of Memphis men’s basketball team will play host to Eastern Kentucky University this Saturday at 7 p.m. at The Pyraimd.
The Tigers (5-2), who are ranked 20th in the Associated Press college basketball poll, will be facing a EKU team ranked 7th in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Colonels enter the game on a high note, though, coming off of a 90-71 victory over Marietta College Tuesday night that improved their record to 2-2 this season.
After losing two straight last week, the Tigers are looking for their third win in a row after victories over Southeastern Louisiana and Christian Brothers University.
Memphis head coach John Calipari, who was not completely impressed with Tigers’ three previous performances, is hoping his team will make major improvement over the next few weeks.
“We have 30 days off here in about a week and my team, between those 30 days, is really going to make a big jump,” Calipari said. “But right now we’re through that heading into finals, the last weeks of classes, the academic stuff piling up on guys having to make-up work. Though, normally this time we’re playing better. We’re not playing our best ball.”
Unlike the Tigers last two opponents, the Colonels bring size and height to the court. EKU’s big men, standing at 6-9 , 6-10 and 6-7, have combined to average 12 points per game this season.
The top scorers for EKU are 6-3 guard Shawn Fields and 6-3 senior Spanky Parks. Fields has averaged 16.7 points per game this season, while Parks averages 14 ppg and leads the team in rebounding at 6.5 per game.
The U of M squad is led in scoring by freshman guard Dajuan Wagner, who is averaging 22.7 ppg. Senior forward Kelly Wise leads the team in rebounding with an average of 10 boards per game.
Memphis is up 2-0 in the series between the two teams. The last time the Tigers took on the Colonels was in 1983., when Memphis ran away with the win, 82-50.
According to Calipari, the key to winning at this point is a focused group of players.
“This is about mental toughness, going after balls. You don’t get soft on that,” Calipari said. “These guys are capable of being much tougher than there playing right now.”
