Seeking C-USA perfection, Tigers take on Mustangs

The Tigers, who have already clinched their second straight outright league title, are trying to become just the second team ever to sweep through the C-USA regular season. The last and only other team to accomplish this feat was Cincinnati in 1999-00 (16-0). On Thursday, Memphis improved to a perfect 15-0 in conference play with a 78-67 triumph at Texas-El Paso. The victory stretched the Tigers’ winning streak to a nation-best 18 games and in the process improved them to an impressive 26-3 overall. Memphis, which is in search of a NO.1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, hasn’t dropped a game since losing out at Arizona (79-71) all the way back on December 20th.

As for SMU, it hasn’t had much luck in league play this season, going just 3-12 thus far. The team was last in action on Wednesday, when it suffered a 67-60 setback to Tulsa. It was the third loss in a row by the Mustangs, who dipped to 14-15 overall and 9-6 at home.

As far as the all-time series is concerned, Memphis owns a 3-1 edge over SMU, including a convincing 88-52 triumph in an earlier meeting this season.

Memphis has dominated its opponents at both ends of the court this season, as it is netting a healthy 80.3 ppg on 46.4 percent shooting from the field, while holding its foes to just 62.7 ppg and a dismal 38.6 percent shooting overall. Chris Douglas-Roberts currently leads the team in scoring with 15.3 ppg and he is also shooting 54.3 percent from the field. Jeremy Hunt follows with 14.1 ppg and he is deadly from behind the arc, converting on 41.9 percent of his three-point attempts. Robert Dozier adds 10.2 ppg and 5.8 rpg to the mix, while Joey Dorsey pulls down a team-high 9.6 rpg. In the team’s last game, Douglas-Roberts poured in 21 points, as the Tigers outlasted UTEP for an 11-point victory. Hunt posted 19 points and six boards for Memphis, which knocked down 11-of-28 shots from behind the arc. The team also won the battle on the boards, 47-33, but that is no surprise considering Memphis is outrebounding its opponents by 5.3 rpg on the season.

The Mustangs have had most of their success on defense this season, as they are surrendering just 62.7 ppg. Offensively, the team has struggled to produce 63.2 ppg and it has also had trouble hanging onto the ball, committing 16.5 turnovers per game. Ike Ofoegbu has been one of the few bright spots for SMU this season, as he leads the team in both scoring (14.3 ppg) and rebounding (7.7 rpg). He also has a league-best 10 double-doubles on the season. In the squad’s previous outing, Ofoegbu tallied 29 points and ripped down seven caroms, but it wasn’t enough in a seven-point loss to Tulsa. The Mustangs shot just 35.7 percent from the floor in the game and were dominated on the boards 39-24.