The Tiger basketball team may want to change their logo to a bulls-eye.
Ranked third in both major polls, the Tigers are a marked bunch on nearly all of their opponents' schedules, and the situation is no different with Conference USA foe UAB.
The Blazers (14-3 overall, 4-0 in C-USA) currently sit a half-game ahead of Memphis (17-2, 3-0) in the conference standings and are looking to hold their ground by pulling off the upset tonight at FedExForum. Although UAB is unranked, Memphis head coach John Calipari knows the importance of the contest.
"This is for first place in the league," he said. "It's going to be a tough game. People around the country know how good they are, and people who have played them know how good they are."
The Blazers come into tonight with the nation's second-longest winning streak at 10 games, including a 19-point blowout of Oklahoma State on Dec. 28.
Add to that the fact that the Blazers have three players with ties to Memphis, including their leading scorer Marvett McDonald (15.2 ppg), and it's clear that the Tigers will be in for a dogfight.
Tiger freshman Shawne Williams has already seen what it's like to play against a Memphis native returning to the Bluff City in front of family and friends.
"They feel like they're coming back home like Dane (Bradshaw)," Williams said. "He came back and scored 20, a career high. So we expect a big night from all of them. They're going to make shots they wouldn't make on a regular night."
McDonald (Northside), Frank Holmes (Fayette-Ware) and Lawrence Kinnard (Raleigh Egypt) will all have extra incentive to knock off the Tigers in their hometown.
"Those guys maybe felt that they should be here," freshman guard Antonio Anderson said. "So they probably have something to prove."
Memphis, meanwhile, will have to match that intensity, but with a different motivation.
"We're third in the country," Calipari said. "We shouldn't have to have anything to match anything. We usually go out and play with great energy and great emotion. Hopefully, they're having to match us."
With both teams leading the conference in scoring, nothing less than a shootout should be expected. UAB, averaging 77.5 points per game, is first in C-USA in field goal percentage, shooting 47 percent from the floor, and also boasts the league's top three-point shooter in Carldell Johnson. He's hitting 55 percent of his shots from beyond the arc.
It will be important for Memphis, the top rebounding team in C-USA (42.5 rpg), to grab all missed Blazer shots to limit second chance points.
"We're going to play how we always play and make the game hard for them defensively and easy for us offensively by being strong with the ball and making the extra pass," Calipari said.
On paper, UAB is the best team that the Tigers will face throughout the rest of the regular season. And even though its only January, The U of M probably needs to run the table if they want to ensure themselves of a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
"It's important because we need to win every game we play," Williams said. "UAB and Houston are the biggest threats left and we know UAB has a good team. They run and play the same way we play. We look forward to having a battle with them."
