UALR TROJANS (4-5)

vs. MEMPHIS TIGERS (6-1)

Sat., Dec. 12, 2009 - 2:05 PM (Central)

North Little Rock, Ark. (Verizon Arena)

MEDIA INFORMATION

TV: n/a

Radio: The game can be heard live on The Point 94.1 FM

Online: n/a

UALR-MEMPHIS SERIES

The Series: Memphis leads 3-0

Streak: Memphis won 3

Last Meeting: @Memphis 59, UALR 51 (Dec. 17, 2008)

THE COACHES

UALR — Steve Shields, 7th season at UALR (Baylor, 1988)

    Record at school: 109-78 (.583)

    Career record: same

    Record vs. Memphis: 0-1

MEMPHIS — Josh Pastner, 1st season at Memphis (Arizona, 1998)

     Record at school: 6-1 (.857)

     Career record: same

TIP-OFF

      UALR (4-5) returns to Verizon Arena on Saturday afternoon when it takes on the Memphis Tigers (6-1) at 2 p.m. ... UALR called Verizon Arena, then Alltel Arena, home for six seasons (1999-2005) before moving into the Jack Stephens Center prior to the 2005-06 season ... The Trojans were a combined 61-21 at Verizon Arena (.744 winning pct.), including a 25-3 mark (.893 winning pct.) in the final two years under head coach Steve Shields ... UALR won its final three games at Verizon Arena, and last played there on Feb. 26, 2005 — a 64-43 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette on ESPN2 ... Memphis has actually spent more time at Verizon Arena then UALR since the Trojans moved out, as the Tigers played their first two games of the 2008 NCAA Tournament in North Little Rock ... Memphis defeated UT Arlington (3/21/08) and Mississippi State (3/23/08) at Verizon Arena that year, sparking its run to the national championship game ... Memphis’ roster features a familiar face in junior Will Coleman ... A 6-9 forward, Coleman originally signed with UALR as a senior out of Glennwood HS, but ended up at Miami Dade College after failing to make it through the NCAA Clearinghouse ... Coleman was a part of the UALR signing class which included former Trojan standouts Shane Edwards and John Fowler ... UALR heads to Mobile on Wednesday, Dec. 16 for its Sun Belt Conference opener against South Alabama ... The USA game will be televised by ESPN2 and tips at 8:05 p.m.

THE SERIES

      The Tigers hold a 3-0 lead in the all-time series, though Saturday’s contest will mark the first meeting played outside of Memphis ... UALR head coach Steve Shields is 0-1 all-time versus the Tigers, and 2-4 against Conference USA schools.

LAST TIME OUT

      Alex Garcia-Mendoza scored a season-high 18 points and grabbed seven boards to help the Trojans to a 78-69 win over Lyon College on Sunday ... The Trojans led by as many as 26 points in the second half before the Scots rallied down the stretch against UALR’s reserves ... UALR led 43-25 at the break after shooting 55.2 percent from the field over the first 20 minutes, and held a 69-49 edge with 8:19 to go in the second half ... The Trojans managed just one more field goal over the final 8:18, however, as Lyon used a 14-2 run to pull within nine, 72-63, with 3:27 remaining ... The Scots were unable to get any closer, though, as Solomon Bozeman delivered a three-point play and the Trojans went 4-of-4 at the foul line over the final 1:20 to fend off the upset bid ... Lyon’s Andy Lee led all scorers with 22 points, going 7-of-11 from the field and 4-of-7 from three-point range ... UALR outshot the Scots 47.3 percent to 38.9 percent on the night, but the Trojans connected on just 38.5 percent of their field goal attempts in the second half, including an 0-for-10 effort from three-point range ... UALR made just 3-of-19 from three-point range in the game, while Lyon shot 40.9 percent from beyond the arc (9-of-22).

A LOOK AT THE TIGERS

      Memphis enters Saturday’s contest with a 6-1 record under first-year head coach Josh Pastner, with its only loss coming against No. 1 Kansas, 57-55, on Nov. 17 ... Memphis is currently receiving votes in both Top-25 polls and is the first team listed in the “others receiving votes” section of the latest Associated Press poll with 99 votes ... The Tigers are led by sophomore Elliot Williams, who was granted a waiver by the NCAA for immediate eligibility after transferring from Duke ... A 6-5 guard, Williams is averaging 20.7 points per game, to go along with 4.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.0 steals ... The Tigers have six different players averaging seven-or-more points per game, with junior Will Coleman averaging 8.6 points and a team-high 7.0 rebounds per game, while shooting 68.6 percent from the field (24-for-35) ... Memphis sports a sterling +7.6 turnover margin on the season and is forcing opposing teams into 20.7 turnovers per game ... Opposing teams are shooting just 38.2 percent against the Tiger defense on the year.

LAST MEETING

       UALR battled back from an 18-point second-half deficit to pull within five points before dropping a 59-51 decision to the No. 23/21 Memphis Tigers at FedExForum (12/17/08) ... Memphis led 50-32 with 8:07 remaining, but went the rest of the game without a field goal ... The Trojans, who held Memphis to a .333 shooting pct., pulled within five points on three separate occasions but were unable to get any closer ... The smaller Trojans outrebounded the Tigers 38-to-36, including a +6 rebounding margin in the second half (22-to-16) ... Both teams shot 33.3 percent from the field, but Memphis converted 26-of-40 trips to the foul line, while the Trojans made just 15 trips to the charity stripe – making eight ... Three players scored in double figures for the Tigers, led by 15 points from Robert Dozier ... Tyreke Evans and Shawn Taggart chipped in 12 points a piece ... Steven Moore led the Trojans with a game-high 16 points off the bench ... John Fowler led all players with nine rebounds ... UALR led 19-18 with 8:46 left in the first half, but Memphis closed out the half on a 12-3 run to take a 30-22 lead at the break ... The Tigers used a quick 8-0 run in the second half to extend their lead to 17 points, 45-28, with 14:16 remaining ... Down 50-32, the Trojans mounted a comeback with a 10-0 run ... UALR made it a two-possession game, 51-45, off a three pointer by Moore with 2:27 to play, and pulled within five three times after that, but the Tigers converted 8-of-12 foul shots the rest of the way to preserve the win.

BOZEMAN MAKES IT NINE STRAIGHT

      Junior Solomon Bozeman reached double figures in points for the ninth-consecutive game with a 13-point effort against Lyon College on Sunday ... A transfer from South Florida, Bozeman is averaging team highs of 14.7 points and 4.6 assists per game on the year ... The 6-0 guard also leads the Trojans in made free throws (51), steals (11) and minutes per game (31.8) ... Through games of Dec. 9, Bozeman was ranked 20th nationally with 51 made free throws.

QUICK LEARNER

      Junior Alex Garcia-Mendoza scored a season-high 18 points in Sunday’s win over Lyon and led the Trojans with seven rebounds ... A native of El Fuerte, Mexico, Garcia-Mendoza is one of just three players born in Mexico currently playing Division I basketball — along with Jorge Gutierrez (California) and Uriel Segura (Texas State) ... In his first season with the Trojans, he is currently third on the team in scoring at 9.1 points per game and ranks second in rebounding (5.7 per game).

BLOCK PARTY

      With five blocks against Lyon College on Sunday, junior Montrell Thornton became the first Trojan to register five blocks in a game since Rashad Jones-Jennings totaled six blocks against Western Kentucky on Feb. 17, 2007 ... Thornton leads the team with eight blocks this season, despite averaging just 8.3 minutes of action over the seven games he has appeared in ... The 6-7 forward is also shooting 84.6 percent from the field this year (11-of-13).

AND-ONE’S

      Junior Matt Mouzy, who leads the team with 20 made three pointers, is shooting 52.0 percent from beyond the arc over UALR’s last four games (13-of-25) ... Junior Solomon Bozeman (4.6 apg) and sophomore Lionel Foster (4.4 apg) are currently ranked fifth and sixth in the Sun Belt Conference, respectively, in assists per game average ... Junior Derrick Bails made the first start of his UALR career on Sunday against Lyon College.

PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATION

      UALR was picked to finish fourth in the West Division by the Sun Belt coaches in the league’s annual preseason poll ... WKU was tabbed the preseason favorite in the East with 12 first-place votes, while North Texas was named the frontrunner in the West with nine first-place votes ... Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook picked the Trojans to finish second in the West behind UNT.

NEXT UP

    The Trojans head to Mobile on Dec. 16 for an ESPN2 game against South Alabama.