Jan. 6, 2009

Game Notes

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Marshall University men's basketball team will open its fourth season of Conference USA play when it appears at the FedExForum to take on defending league champion and 2008 national runner-up Memphis Tigers. Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET.

The Thundering Herd (7-6) and Tigers (10-3) will play for the seventh time when the two squads collide Wednesday. Memphis leads the all-time series 5-1, winning the last five meetings including all four games the schools have competed in as C-USA foes. Marshall has taken on the Tigers twice at FedExForum with Memphis claiming each game - one of which was a C-USA Championship first-round contest - by an average score of 20 points.

Wednesday's game also marks the second time in three years that the Herd and Tigers will open C-USA play against one another - with both games played in Memphis.

Marshall scored just 17 first-half points and fell behind by a season-worst 31 points with seven minutes remaining of its last contest at San Diego on Friday. The Herd, however, did not fold and ended the game on a 33-12 run that crept MU to within seven points with 52 seconds left. The large deficit proved to be too much in the end and the Herd fell to the defending West Coast Conference champions 80-70.

Point guard Damier Pitts scored 12 points during the Herd's late surge against the Toreros along with seven points apiece by Shaquille Johnson and Dago Pena. Pitts went 9-for-9 from the free-throw line and scored 14 points in the game - all in the second half. Pitts ended the contest with five assists while Pena netted 10 points and S. Johnson posted 11 points.

Over its last seven games, Marshall has attempted an average of 26.3 free throws per game (20.3 FTM/game; 77.2 pct) while its opponents have attempted 21.6 free throws per game (14.3 FTM/game; 66.2 pct). In that span, Marshall (5-2) has received excellent marksmanship from the line from Tirrell Baines (26-30; 86.7 pct), Pitts (36-44; 81.8 pct) and shooting guard Chris Lutz (18-22; 81.8 pct).

Pitts is averaging a team-high 6.3 FTA/game in the stretch (4.6 FTA/game for the season). The team as a whole is shooting 77.2 pct in its last seven outings and 72.7 pct on the season from the free-throw line.

The Herd will be without the services of center Marcus Goode for the next 4-6 weeks after he underwent successful surgery on Monday on a lateral meniscus tear in his left knee. Goode dressed but did not play the last two games after feeling discomfort in the knee.

Memphis is riding a four-game win streak entering Wednesday night's Conference USA opener versus the Thundering Herd. The Tigers are out-scoring their opponents by 16.8 points per game with an average offensive output of 78.8 points per contest on 42.6 percent shooting. The UM defense is holding opponents to just 36.8 percent shooting and 61.9 points per game.

Freshman guard Tyreke Evans leads Memphis in scoring with 16.9 points per game, adding 5.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 3.0 steals per outing. The Chester, Pa., native was a consensus top-six recruit from the class of 2008. He is coming off back-to-back 20-point games, including a career-high 27 points in UM's 80-48 win over Northeastern on Dec. 31.

Senior forward Robert Dozier, who scored 18 points against the Herd in last year's meeting in Huntington, is second on the team in scoring (12.7 ppg) and rebounding (6.7 rpg). Junior forward Shawn Taggart paces the Tigers in rebounding with an 8.2 rebounds per game clip and is UM's last double-digit scorer at 11.6 ppg.

Memphis, 38-2 last season, has lost three non-conference games thus far, but all have come against nationally-ranked competition (Xavier, Georgetown, Syracuse).

Marshall began a grueling stretch with its Dec. 13 game vs UT Arlington in which seven of its 10 opponents played postseason basketball last season. The Herd upended UTA (NCAA) and Ohio (CBI) before falling at Dayton (NIT) and San Diego (NCAA 2nd Rd.). Marshall's conference opener is at Memphis (NCAA runner-up) on Jan. 7 and, after its C-USA home-opener vs. East Carolina, the Herd will face West Virginia (NCAA Sweet 16) and CBI champion Tulsa on the road on Jan. 17 to end the 10-game stretch.

The game will be televised live on CSS and video-streamed on Herd All-Access, via HerdZone.com. The contest can also be heard on the Thundering Herd/ISP Sports Network with Steve Cotton (PxP) and Woody Woodrum (color).