M E M P H I S T I G E R S
08
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MEMPHIS TIGERS ANNOUNCE
2019-20 SCHEDULE
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Three Southeastern
Conference opponents, trips to Oregon to
play the University of Oregon and to Brooklyn
to play North Carolina State and a game at
longtime rival UAB highlight the University of
Memphis 2019-20 non-conference basketball
schedule. The Tigers, under second-year coach
Penny Hardaway, play Ole Miss, Tennessee and
Georgia, with the games against Ole Miss and
Georgia at FedExForum. The Tigers play host
to Ole Miss Nov. 23 and Georgia on Jan. 4 and
play at Tennessee Dec. 14. The season opens
Nov. 5 at home against South Carolina State.
The complete schedule was released by the
American Athletic Conference and the U of M
begins league play Dec. 31 at home against
Tulane. After playing Georgia in their final
non-conference game, the Tigers play
back-to-back league road games at Wichita
State (Jan. 9) and USF (Jan. 12) before returning
home to play Cincinnati (Jan. 16). Four of
the following six conference games are at
FedExForum – SMU (Jan. 25), UConn (Feb. 1),
Temple (Feb. 5) and USF (Feb. 8). The Tigers
play at Cincinnati (Feb. 13) and at UConn
(Feb. 16), return home to face ECU (Feb. 19)
and Houston (Feb. 22) and end the regular
season with three of five on the road. The
U of M closes the regular season at Houston
March 8 with a game carried by CBS.
After opening the season Nov. 5, the Tigers
travel to Portland Nov. 12 to participate in the
Phil Knight Invitational at the Moda Center
against Oregon. The Ducks -- 25-13 last season,
reached the NCAA Sweet 16, where they lost to
eventual champion Virginia.
On Thanksgiving, the Tigers travel to Brooklyn,
New York, to play in the Barclays Center Classic
against NC State, which went 24-12 in 2018-19
and reached the NIT quarterfinals. The Wolfpack
returns 73 percent of its scoring, led by C. J.
Bryce (14.6 points per game) and point guard
Markell Johnson (12.6 ppg.). For the fourth
straight season, the Tigers play UAB. Memphis
travels to Birmingham Dec. 7 to face the
Blazers, who went 20-15 last season and
reached the Conference USA tournament
semifinals for the first time since 2015.
The Tigers have won 17 of the past 18 in the
25-game series. UAB is led by all-conference
guard Zach Bryant. The first of the games
against SEC competition begins Nov. 23
against Ole Miss. The Rebels, who made the
NCAA tournament last season for the first
time since 2015, boast the SEC's leading
returning scorer in Breein Tyree. Tyree
averaged 17.9 points and earned first-team
All-SEC honors. A rematch with Tennessee,
which beat the Tigers 102-92 last year at
FedExForum, awaits Saturday on Dec. 14
in Knoxville. The Vols lost three players –
Admiral Schofield, Grant Williams and
Jordan Bone to the NBA Draft from a
team that went 31-6 and reached the
NCAA Sweet 16. But Tennessee added
five-star point guard Josiah-Jordan James,
who averaged 29.1 points during his final
year of prep basketball. A highly anticipated
match Jan. 4 against Georgia at FedExForum
features the top two players from the 2019
recruiting class: Tigers 7-foot-1 center
James Wiseman and Georgia 6-foot-4 guard
Anthony Edwards. Second-year Georgia
coach Tom Crean added several other top
100 recruits, among them Christian Brown
of Oak Hill Academy.
The four-game Barclays Center Classic
will feature home games against UIC
(Nov. 8), Alcorn State (Nov. 16) and
Little Rock (Nov. 20), in addition to the
game against NC State in Brooklyn. Other
non-conference opponents are Bradley
(Dec. 3), Jackson State (Dec. 21) and New
Orleans (Dec. 28), all at FedExForum.
Bradley will be led by two-time All-Missouri
Valley selection Darrell Brown, a former
Germantown High star and the godson of
Memphis Coach Hardaway. Brown has led
Bradley in scoring in each of his three
seasons.
Memphis Madness was set for Oct. 3 and
exhibition games are scheduled against
CBU (Oct. 24) and LeMoyne-Owen
(Oct. 28).
Season tickets are available at gotigersgotix.com
or by calling the ticket office at 901-678-2331.
For more information on the Memphis men's
basketball team, follow the Tigers on social
media at @Memphis_MBB.
/gotigersgotix.com