By Brant Daughtry

Blue Christmas

The Memphis Tigers are coached by former legend Penny Hardaway. The NBA All-Star and All-American is in his 5th season as head coach and has had some real success. He’s led the Tigers to 20 wins in each of his seasons as a head coach, and last season, made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in eight seasons.

Memphis is currently 7-2, taking a loss to common opponent Saint Louis. They do have impressive wins over Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, and Nebraska. Memphis is built on its defense, much like Auburn. They’re currently ranked 81st in the country in scoring defense, giving up only 64 points a game. Their offense is less exciting though, sitting at 157th in the country with 73 points per game.

Player to Watch For:

Guard Kendric Davis, #3- Davis was a high-value transfer last season as the reigning AAC Player of the Year at SMU. Now in his 5th season in college basketball, Davis got a fresh start with Penny Hardaway. Interestingly, he entered his name into the NBA Draft last year, but pulled out when he committed to play for Memphis. Now, he’s the focal point of this team as the only player averaging over 30 minutes a game. He’s the leading scorer for the Tigers, with 17.4 points a game, and the lead floor general, dishing out 4.7 assists per game. Auburn will have to play extremely well to limit him.

Forward DeAndre Williams, #12- Another 5th year senior, Williams came to Memphis through the JuCo route, and is in his third year as a starting forward at Memphis. The 6’9″ big is the teams second leading scorer, with 14.1 points per game, and leads the Tigers in rebounds with 7.3 on average.

I really admire the way this schedule was put together. Mike Burgomaster, who was promoted to assistant to the head coach by Bruce Pearl a few years ago, is in charge of creating the schedules for Auburn, and he’s done a great job. Auburn has had a steady build up in difficulty so far that’s set to culminate in a west coast road trip in a few weeks before hitting the ground running in conference play. But, while Auburn is more talented than most of the teams it has played so far, none of them have been real slouches. Most of the teams Auburn has played so far have a legitimate chance to win their conference and make the NCAA Tournament. Playing early games that test you while you remain the more talented bunch.

All that said, this should be the toughest test of the year so far. Memphis is a good team, even though they aren’t nationally ranked, and they’re coming off their best season yet under their current head coach. They’re a really good defensive team, and Auburn has struggled at times on offense. Getting national exposure in Atlanta for an exhibition like this will be a great early test before the schedule ramps up for real.