While students enjoyed their holiday break, Memphis played 11 basketball games. Memphis finished non-conference play and began American Athletic Conference play. The Tigers are 11-6 on the season.
Here are numbers worth noting from winter break (accurate from press time):
4-The number of games Memphis lost over the break. The Tigers have not won a road game this season. The Tigers home loss was against LSU.
5-The number of AAC games Memphis played over the break. At press time, the Tigers were 2-2 in conference play. They are tied with Tulane at 6th out of the 12 AAC teams.
12.9-The average number of turnovers Memphis had per game. Memphis has seen as many as 16 turnovers against Albany and Tulane, but they saw nine against Loyola. At press time, the Tigers lost four of seven games over the break when they turned over the ball more than their opponents.
30.5-Memphis’ average rebounds over the break. Kyvon Davenport leads the Tigers in rebounds this season. He averages 5.1 rebounds. During the break, the Tigers grabbed as many as 35 against LSU but have grabbed as many as 39 earlier this season against Mercer.
32.6-The Tigers shot at 29.1 percent from beyond the arc over the break. Memphis struggled to defend the three point line as opponents shot at 43.7 percent from deep.
8-Opponents averaged eight steals against the Tigers, while Memphis averaged 6.2. LSU got 11 steals, the most of any team this season.
15.8-The number of personal fouls Memphis averaged over break. Opponents averaged 20.2 fouls. Head coach Tubby Smith said that he was pleased with his team’s improved aggressiveness against UCF and Tulsa, although it resulted in 22 and 19 fouls, respectively.
0.3-The scoring margin between the Tigers and their opponents. The Tigers are getting 71.9 points on average. Memphis’ opponents earned 72.2. Memphis scored the lowest amount of points this season in their 82-48 loss to Cincinnati. Memphis saw their highest amount of points scored in the 96-89 win over Tulane.
16-Mike Parks Jr. scored a career-high 16 points against Tulsa and Tulane. The junior forward grabbed a total of 32 rebounds over the holidays.
41-The number of points Jeremiah Martin, Kyvon Davenport and Kareem Brewton Jr. averaged over the holiday break. The three are the highest scoring members of the team.
31-Martin scored a career-high 31 points in Memphis’ 96-89 win over Tulane. That broke his career high of 28 points, which he set in Memphis’ previous game against Tulsa. Against Tulsa, he broke his record of 26. Martin has scored 26 points in three games this season.
Jeremiah Martin pushes the ball up the court to start the fast break. Martin led the team in steals last season with 1.8 per game.
Tubby Smith coaches the players on the court from the sideline. This is Smith’s sixth head coaching job as he is heading into his 19th season.
