More Conference Awards

2006-07 CONFERENCE USA ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM

John Fields, East Carolina, F, 6-9, 200, Fayetteville, N.C.
Kevin Sims, Tulane, G, 5-10, 160, Jackson, Miss.
Sai'Quon Stone, Southern Miss, G, 6-6, 205, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Ben Uzoh, Tulsa, G, 6-3, 185, San Antonio, Texas
Jeremy Wise, Southern Miss, G, 6-2, 165, Jackson, Miss.

2006-07 FRESHMAN/NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR

Jeremy Wise, Southern Miss, G, 6-2, 165, Jackson, Miss.

2006-07 CONFERENCE USA ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM

Antonio Anderson, Memphis, G, 6-6, 200, So., Lynn, Mass.
Paul Delaney III, UAB, G, 6-2, 200, Jr., Decatur, Ga.
Joey Dorsey, Memphis, F, 6-9, 260, Jr., Baltimore, Md.
Bamba Fall, SMU, C, 7-1, 210, So., St. Louis, Senegal
Oliver Lafayette, Houston, G, 6-2, 180, Sr., Baton Rouge, La.

2006-07 DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Joey Dorsey, Memphis, F, 6-9, 260, Jr., Baltimore, Md.

2006-07 SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR

Jeremy Hunt, Memphis, G, 6-5, 210, Sr., Memphis, Tenn.

Houston

The last home game. Today at 2pm CT, watch it on CBS. Latest Line as of 11am CT: Tigers by 17.5

You can see the CA's matchup here, with stats and info, yada yada yada.

Nice story here about senior Jeremy Hunt's redemption and how his mother deserves some praise. He's getting a second shot at Senior Day today.

Also? Florida and Pitt both lost yesterday. :)

Final Score: Tigers win, 77-64.

From ESPN: Tigers push nation's best win streak to 17.

So, as you will see above, I believed the game started at 2pm. Around 1pm, when I was sitting in Jillian's enjoying a pre-game lunch, I realized that hey! They're showing the FedExForum on TV! Oh, wait... the game's starting? Yes. The game was at 1pm CT. Oops. We ate fast and got to the game halfway through the first half...

Here's a senior day article by my favorite sports writer, Geoff Calkins.
Also from the CA, Tigers Streaking, and Tigers Replay. From the Houston Chronicle: Memphis coasts past UH

Oh, and the Tigers have wrapped up their first perfect home record since moving to the FedExForum. And we have one of the country's longest home court winning streaks, not sure where we are on that list now.

Next: Tigers at UTEP, Thursday night, 8pm CT (I double checked), on ESPN2.

Senior Day

Tomorrow's game against Houston is Senior Day for the Tigers' three seniors: Clyde Wade, Jared Sandride, and Jeremy Hunt. Coach Cal has confirmed that the three seniors will start the game.

Now, that is not a huge deal for Hunt, who has started many games in his time, and would be the first off the bench anyway. but Wade? and Sandridge? Y'all. They rarely play at all, only when there's a blowout. And they're certainly not used to starting games. Especially ones on national television. And we're talking FREE television, Network television. CBS.

Wade has started exactly one game. His freshman year. It's been a while, and his years at the U of M have been anything but uneventful off the court, but I'm not going to dwell on that now with his Big Day coming up.

Sandridge. Ah, Jared Sandridge. He's a JuCo transfer. He's never started a game. He's played in fewer games than not, probably.

Cal promises to leave them in as long as he can, if they don't try to do "stuff they can't do." Maybe Jeremy Hunt will get to stay in a while at least. I have not been his biggest fan certainly, but I'm very impressed with his apparent turning over of a new leaf. If it's for real, he's an example of how great an influence basketball can be on the life of a kid, and he's a role model for lots of Memphis guys out there who face a lot of struggles and temptations. If it's not for real, then, he fooled me. My bad.

Good luck, guys. I hope your senior season has another five weeks in it. Maybe we'll say goodbye to you finally in Atlanta...

UAB

The Tigers travel to Birmingham take on UAB tonight at 8pm CT, and it will be broadcast on ESPN as part of Rivalry Week. Really? Okay. Tigers are favored by 9-10 points right now.

Final Score: (8) Tigers 70, UAB 56

Well then. The game was interesting. It seemed very sloppy to me in the first part of the first half. UAB was trying to run and gun, and they were sloppy. The Tigers were just... sloppy. Everytime they started to make a run, UAB was able to stay with them. Until they weren't. The Tigers had a 12 point lead at halftime, in the second half built the lead to as many as 23 points and then held on to win by 14. The story of the night was definitely Jeremy Hunt. He was just ridiculous. He had a career-high 25 points in the first half, including a buzzer beater that was incredible.

Now, last year I wasn't a big fan of Hunt. He seemed to be one of many basketball stars that had succombed to the pressure of being a hometown star. He had not lived up to his potential on the court, and off he was arrested for violence against his girlfriend, and for a "scuffle" on Beale Street, and was supposedly off the team. But Calipari, in his either wisdom or foolishness (only the future will reveal which) allowed Hunt back on the team this season. And so far, it seems that Hunt is an example of a life turned around. He's playing well on the court, he got his degree, and he hasn't been in any trouble that I know of. I hope it's true.

Next? The Tigers play Tulane at home Saturday night. It will air on CSS, at 7pm CT.