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Tigers Shootaround: Winning rebounding battle key if Memphis to upset No. 23 UConn
of The Commercial Appeal
The University of Memphis will need plenty to go right if it's going to beat No. 23 Connecticut for a second straight season tonight at Gampel Pavilion.
Among the most important of those things is winning the battle on the glass, which should be doable for Memphis (10-4, 1-0 American Athletic Conference) with senior forward Shaq Goodwin back from a one-game suspension and freshman forward Dedric Lawson (abdominal strain) nearing full strength.
With 7-foot junior center Amida Brimah (broken finger) out until mid-February, the Huskies (10-4, 1-1) were out-rebounded in each of their first two AAC games against Tulane and Temple.
Memphis has out-rebounded 11 of its 14 opponents, so it should have the advantage there as long as it can keep a body on UConn sophomore forward Daniel Hamilton (8.5 rebounds per game), who ranks fifth in the league in rebounding.
The Huskies have only one other player ranked in the top 20 in the AAC in rebounding in graduate transfer Shonn Miller (Cornell), who's averaging 5.5 boards per game. Memphis has three players ranked in the top 12 in Lawson (8.8 rpg, second), Goodwin (8.54, fourth) and senior forward Trahson Burrell (7 rpg, tied for 12th).
Here's some of the other story lines we're monitoring heading into tonight's game:
1. The Huskies' leading scorer, junior guard Rodney Purvis (15.3 ppg), has scored in double figures in 20 straight games and 22 of his last 23. Over the last eight games, he's averaging 16.8 points on 52.7-percent shooting, including 48.9 percent from 3-point range (22 of 45). But Purvis has a weakness: He's shooting just 53.2 percent (25 of 47) from the free-throw line.
2. With his family in the crowd, Burrell scored a career-high 22 points in the Tigers' 54-53 win over the Huskies last season at Gampel Pavilion. The 6-foot-7 senior is from Albany, New York, which is about a two-hour drive from Storrs.
3. Lawson has been named to the Wayman Tisdale Award watch list. The award is given annually to the top freshman in the country by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. Former Tigers' guard Tyreke Evans earned the award in 2009. Lawson ranks fifth among Division I freshmen in rebounding (8.8 rpg) and double-doubles (five) and sixth in blocked shots (29).