Memphis Roar

Tigers relaxed going into Thursday's opening round

On Thursday at 11:25 CST the winningest senior class in college basketball will take the court looking to extend their 25 game winning streak against the Matadors of Cal State Northridge. While Memphis boast a #2 seed in the West bracket and #2 ranking the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, the Matadors hail from the Big West conference, where they established a 17-13 overall record earning them a #15 seed.

This is Cal State Northridge’s second NCAA tournament appearance (2001 was the previous after winning the Big Sky tournament) and they gained their invitation by winning the Big West tournament title.

Memphis plans to take advantage of the Matadors by demonstrating tenacious defense and a very strong interior offense led by Shawn Taggart and Robert Dozier. The Tigers will use their athleticism, height and length to overmatch the interior players of Northridge, who will count on inside scoring from Tremaine Townsend, who is listed at 6-foot-9. Townsend can compete with the Tigers frontcourt after leading the Matadors this year with 14 double-doubles over the past two seasons; include a 23 point effort against UCLA. Additionally, Cal State Northridge plans to ride the shooting of Rodrique Mels, who was named tournament MVP by scoring 23 points in the title game.

The Tigers will lean on super frosh Tyreke Evans for scoring and distribution, while using defender Antonio Anderson to lock down the streaky Rodrique Mels. Memphis will likely experience little trouble with the Matadors due to the depth of their bench and overmatched athleticism.

Leaning heavily on upper-classmen who have NCAA Tournament experience, the Tigers are focusing on remaining crisp, focusing on every possession and going about each game as though it’s business as usual.

“Every possession counts, one bad move and you’re going home,” Taggart said. “You have to enjoy the experience, but you’ve got to play hard. You’ve got to be crisp in what you do and your mind has to be sharp.”

Josh Jenkins before near fatal auto accident

This will be a difficult task for Cal State Northridge, but even more daunting after the loss of their leading scorer Deon Tresvant, to suspension for alleged burglary, and the near fatal automobile accident Josh Jenkins, perhaps the best point guard in the Big West Conference. Jenkins was among the nation’s assist leaders over the past two seasons. With these losses, the Matadors will provide little competition for the highly ranked Memphis Tigers.