Head coach Tubby Smith and the Memphis Tigers are preparing to start the basketball season. He is starting his second season with the Tigers after missing out on postseason play last year.
From last year’s team, three seniors graduated and six transferred to continue their basketball career at other schools. Now Memphis will have to rely on newcomers to step up. Here is a look at the Memphis Tigers basketball team by the numbers.
19 — The number of wins the Tigers had last season under first year head coach Tubby Smith. At Georgia, Kentucky and Minnesota Smith had 20 wins or more in his first seasons. At Tulsa and Texas Tech he had 17 and 14, respectively. The Tigers have not reached 20 wins in three consecutive seasons for the first time since 1996-2000, when they fell short of 20 wins four seasons in a row.
20.2 — The average number of wins Smith has had in his second seasons at previous coaching jobs. His best second season was at Kentucky in 1998-99, with 28 wins following the Wildcats’ national title. His second season with the least number of wins was at Texas Tech, winning 13 games in the 2014-15 season.
9 — Where the Tigers fall in the preseason coaches’ poll for the American Athletic Conference. There are 12 teams this year with the addition of Wichita State. Last season, the Tigers went 9-9 in AAC play and finished fifth.
Jimario Rivers readies himself on defense. The forward played on the wing and post last season as a versatile defender.
5 — The number of players returning from last year's roster. Jeremiah Martin and Jimario Rivers are returning starters. Alex Moffatt played 25 minutes last year in nine games. Karim Azab was unable to play for eligibility reasons, and Kytrel Williams did not see any playing time.
17.1 — The number of points scored per game between Rivers, Martin and Moffatt last season. Martin and Rivers are the top scorers returning for the Tigers with 10.3 and 6.4 points per game last season, respectively. The Tigers lost their top three scorers after Markel Crawford and the Lawson brothers transferred.
7.2 — The number of rebounds per game Moffatt, Rivers and Martin were able to grab last season. The team had about 36 rebounds per game, with half coming from Dedric and K.J. Lawson, who transferred to Kansas. Rivers started as a center for most of last season and collected 3.5 boards per game. Martin grabbed 3.1 per game.
11 — There are 11 new players to this year's team. The Tiger's added five freshmen and six transfers to the roster. Smith will look to his transfers to step up at the beginning of the season because of their experience at the college level.
.295 — The Tiger's three-point percentage last season. Jeremiah Martin shot just above 28 percent from behind the arc. The Tigers will look to improve in this area this season with the depth the new players bring.
Jeremiah Marin throws down a dunk on a fast break.
4.4 and 1.8 — Jeremiah Martin's numbers of assists and steals per game last season. Martin led the Tigers in both categories last season. He will be running the offense again this season but with a much different cast of players around him.
Tubby Smith talks to his players on the bench during a game. Smith won 19 games during his first year with the Tigers.
