Memphis Welcomes FAU For A Sunday AAC Showdown
The #22 Memphis Tigers {21-5, 11-2 AAC} are looking to bounce back in American Athletic Conference play as they welcome the Florida Atlantic Owls {15-11, 8-5 AAC} to the FedEx Forum on Sunday afternoon. The game, which tips at 1 pm, on ESPN2, is critical for Memphis if they want to continue to climb the seeds for the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
We will analyze who FAU is as an opponent, look deeper into some numbers for Memphis, and give three keys to success in a crucial AAC home contest.
Who Is Florida Atlantic?
The Owls are coming off a 75-68 loss to Wichita State on Thursday which stalled the 5-game winning streak for FAU. With the 8-5 conference record, the Owls sit in 5th place in the standings entering the Sunday tussle with the Tigers. Florida Atlantic is the only team in the American that has three 20-plus points margins of league victory play this season. First-year head coach, John Jakus, who has spent time with Baylor and Gonzaga rebuilt this roster through the transfer portal and overseas as they only returned three players. To further this point, Jakus added 10 portal players in this rebuild.
In 2025, FAU currently has three players scoring in double digits and eight players averaging at least 15 minutes per contest. Sophomore transfer, from Louisville, Kaleb Green leads the team with 12.9 points per game. Green has also reached double figures in nine of the last ten games, which raises his average to 14.4 points during that stretch of competition.
Junior Baba Miller, another transfer from Florida State, leads the Owls in rebounding with 7 per game while ranking 3rd in the AAC with 1.8 blocks per game. Leland Walker, from Eastern Kentucky, leads the team in assists, with 4.2 per game, while averaging 9 points per contest. Since December, junior Tre Carrol has averaged 14.7 points per game while shooting 53.3 from the field.
The Owls enter the 901 averaging 80 points per game which is 2nd most in the league and 39th best in the nation. On the season eight different players on the roster have led the team in scoring and the team has notched at least four double-digit scorers in 17 of their 26 games played.
When you analyze the series history between these programs this will be the sixth meeting of all time. In these contests, Memphis leads, 3-2, including a 2-0 record in Memphis. In head coach Penny Hardaway’s final season as a player,1993, the Tigers and Owls met while Hardaway scored 10 points, had 10 assists, and had 4 rebounds in 24 minutes of play.
Memphis fans will remember the game, in 2022-23, when FAU scored in the final seconds to defeat the Tigers, 66-65, as they would advance to the Final Four for the first time in program history. Most recently, in last season, Memphis would edge the Owls, 78-74, in the first meeting inside the Forum in downtown Memphis.
Numbers To Know For Memphis
Memphis is very effective when leading with five minutes remaining in the game. The Tigers are 18-0 this season when this occurs. Over the last three seasons, the Tigers are 60-5 when they have the lead with five minutes to play. This, plus the hot shooting from beyond the arc, and this Tigers team can be lethal. To further this point, Memphis currently is ranked 4th in the nation with a 40% {213-532} from three. To put this into focus, the best in program history took place in the 2009-10 season when the Tigers shot 38.8 percent.
A streak can continue on Sunday from three as Memphis has 7 consecutive games with 8 or more three-pointers made. This is the longest streak in 15 years for Memphis as they nailed 8 or more in 14 straight games from December 12, 2009 to January, 30 2010. With players such as PJ Carter, who has been lights out from deep this season, as he has 10 straight games of at least one three pointer. Carter also leads the team in league play, and ranks sixth in the conference, with a 45.3 percent mark from deep.
Three Keys To Tigers Success
Cisse Stays Hot
In the last few games, the Tigers have seen the reappearance of big man Moussa Cisse. The transfer is averaging, over the last three games, Cisse is averaging 9 rebounds and 10.3 points per game while shooting 67% from the field. In the most recent loss to Wichita State, Cisse had a season-high 14 rebounds along with 12 points. Cisse, and other bigs, will be key for Memphis in this game. In addition, Cisse, along with Dain Dainja and Nick Jourdain must stay out of foul trouble.
Play Memphis Ball
We spoke with Hardaway in preseason and he spoke about this team and how he compiled the roster. With this, Penny spoke of being more sound defensively. In 2025, the Tigers, when they want to, can lock in and seemingly shut down any team. With this, Memphis has had 8 games where they have 10 or more steals. In the first 16 games, the Tigers only had 3 games where this occurred yet this has occurred, all versus AAC teams, as Memphis has snagged double-digit swipes in 5 of 10 games entering Sunday. This will be key to creating extra possessions in this game.
Ride Emotions
Memphis honored their 2024 M Club Hall of Fame Class on Saturday night. Included was former Memphis Tiger Chris Douglas-Roberts who has reached legend status within the fanbase and program. The game on Sunday will feature in-game presentations including the Hall of Fame Class being honored. While fans will remember the highest point in program history, a national championship run under former coach John Calipari, the team needs to remain focused. With the game being labeled as ‘Fan Appreciation Day’ the Tigers need to focus on sending these fans home happy.
In closing, this game is not a gimmie for Memphis. It is vital to not let the most recent loss, at Wichita State, to not snowball into more losses in conference play. Based on how Memphis has fallen in the polls when losing, a loss on Sunday may boot them out of the top 25 altogether. On the contrary, no matter the outcome, Memphis remains in first place in the American as they are one game up on both North Texas and UAB while also holding the tiebreaker over both.
