 "Photo: David Minkin")
The Tigers are on the road this week as the team won in a dominate fashion Saturday in Houston and tonight face UCF, a program that has never won against Memphis.
The University of Memphis (12-5, 3-0 C-USA) opened a two-game road trip Saturday against Houston (9-8, 1-3), knocking off the Cougars in an unstoppable fashion, 89-55.
Led by Chris Crawford's 19 points and Will Barton's ninth double-double of the season, the Tigers dominated throughout, leading by as many as 18 points in the first half, and 40 in the second half.
Joe Jackson chipped in 16 points and led the team with five assists.
The Cougars rallied early in the second half, cutting The U of M's lead to eight with 14:54 remaining in the game. But the Tigers responded with a defiant 18-0 run to close out the Cougars in Houston.
The Tigers would go on to prevent the cougars from landing a field goal for an 11-minute stretch in the second half, and increased their lead to 40.
Memphis put on one of its most impressive defensive showings of the year, holding Houston to 19-56 shooting and 1-12 from behind the arc. The U of M's second half offense would seal the deal as the team shot 19-of-31 and landed four threes.
Houston's Alandise Harris and Jonathon Simmons lead the Cougars with 18 and 16 points respectively.
The Tigers will look to capitalize on the momentum of last night's win, and extend their winning streak to seven, as they head to Orlando to take on the University of Central Florida Knights.
UCF (13-4, 3-1) enters tonight's match-up following a 65-64 loss to Conference USA-leading Marshall. Central Florida is undefeated at home so far this season holding a record of 10-0.
A victory tonight for the Knights would be head coach Donnie Jones' first over Memphis and the first in UCF history. UCF head coach Donnie Jones is 0-6 against the Tigers in two season at UCF and three seasons at Marshall. Memphis is 10-0 all-time against the Knights, while Memphis coach Josh Pastner is 3-0 against UCF as head coach.
The Knights are led by guard Marcus Jordan who averages 16.3 points per game and forward Keith Clanton who's been averaging nearly a double-double with 15.3 points and 9.5 boards per game this season.
The Knights hold C-USA victories over Tulane, Houston and East Carolina so far this season.
The Tigers will be without guards Charles Carmouche and Adonis Thomas. Carmouche is sitting out due to sore knees, and Thomas will undergo surgery later this week to repair a torn ankle tendon.
The Tigers will return home to face SMU on Jan. 21 at FedExForum.
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