# 2014–15 Memphis Tigers men's basketball team

The 2014–15 Memphis Tigers men's basketball team represented the University of Memphis in the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, the 94th season of Tiger basketball. The Tigers, led by sixth year head coach Josh Pastner, played their home games at the FedExForum. The 2014–15 season was the second season the Tigers participated in the American Athletic Conference. The Tigers didn't play in a postseason tournament, the first time in 15 years.

## Previous season

The 2013–14 Memphis Tigers finished the season with an overall record of 24–10 and 12–6 in AAC play to finish in a three way tie for third place in conference. They lost in the quarterfinals of the AAC tournament to eventual national champion UConn. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament's East Region as an 8 seed where they defeated 9 seed George Washington in the second round before losing in the third round to 1 seed Virginia.

## Off-season
### Departures

| Name | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Chris Crawford | G | 6' 3" | 222 | Senior | Memphis, TN | Graduated |
| Michael Dixon | G | 6' 1" | 190 | Senior | Kansas City, MO | Graduated |
| Joe Jackson | G | 6' 0" | 174 | Senior | Memphis, TN | Graduated |
| Geron Johnson | G | 6' 3" | 203 | Senior | Dayton, OH | Graduated |
| David Pellom | F | 6' 8" | 220 | Senior | Wilmington, NC | Graduated |
| Damien Wilson | G/F | 6' 5" | 195 | Junior | Atlanta, GA | Transfer to Kennesaw State |
| Dominic Woodson | C | 6' 10" | 300 | Sophomore | Round Rock, TX | Transfer to Tennessee |

### Transfers

| Name | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Calvin Godfrey | F | 6' 8" | 233 | Senior | Milwaukee, WI | Transfer from Southern University |
| Kedren Johnson | G | 6' 4" | 229 | Junior | Lewisburg, TN | Transfer from Vanderbilt University |

### Recruiting

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Dominic Magee point guard | Gretna, LA | Helen Cox High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Sep 8, 2013 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 84 ||||||
| Chris Hawkins Small forward | Memphis, TN | Southwest Tennessee Community College | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 240 lb (110 kg) | Nov 13, 2013 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN grade: JC ||||||
| Trahson Burrell Small forward | Albany, NY | Lee College | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Nov 13, 2013 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: JC ||||||
| Avery Woodson Shooting guard | Waynesboro, MS | East Mississippi Community College | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | Nov 13, 2013 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN grade: JC ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2014 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 9, 2012. ||||||

## Season summary

The Tigers entered the 2014-15 season with only one senior, incoming transfer Calvin Godfrey. The young Tigers toured Canada in August 2014 and were thus permitted extra practice time. The Tigers faced teams from the University of Ottawa, Carleton University, and McGill University on the trip in exhibition matches. Immediately before the Canadian tour, guard/forward Damien Wilson then center Dominic Woodson successively announced that they were transferring away from Memphis. However, upon the team's return from Canada, former Vanderbilt point guard Kedren Johnson announced his intention to transfer to Memphis.
At the AAC media day on October 29, Memphis was picked to finish third in the league behind UConn and SMU. Shaq Goodwin and Austin Nichols were both named to the preseason all-AAC first team.
The Tigers lost their sole exhibition game against Division 2 Christian Brothers, marking the first exhibition game loss for the team since 1996. On November 24, after the team's second game of the season, true freshman point guard Dominic Magee announced his intent to transfer. Magee did not any playing time for the Tigers before his transfer. The Tigers dropped 4 of their first 7 games of the year, starting the year with their worst record since 2000.
On January 6, sophomore Kuran Iverson was suspended for the team's next two games against SMU and Houston, marking Iverson's second suspension of the season. After his suspension and subsequent actions, including using Twitter to make negative statements about Coach Pastner, it was reported that Iverson was not expected to return to the team and the University subsequently announced Iverson's dismissal from the basketball program. Junior forward Trahson Burrell was suspended for the team's January 8 game against SMU, reportedly in part for supporting Iverson's actions prior to his suspension.
On February 7 against Temple, Austin Nichols injured his ankle and had to be helped off the floor. The Tigers went on to lose the game without Nichols, who was later diagnosed with a moderately sprained ankle which was expected to prevent him from playing for the next two weeks. However, Nichols was able to return on February 19 at home against UConn before injuring the ankle again on February 28 early in the second half against Tulsa. The second ankle injury caused Nichols to miss the remainder of the season. Despite his injury and subsequent absence, Nichols finished the season with 93 blocks, the 5th highest single season block total all time for a Tiger.
The Tigers finished the regular season in 5th place in the American. Austin Nichols was named to the All-AAC first team. In the AAC tournament, the Tigers lost their opening matchup to 4 seed Temple.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/12/2014* 7:00 pm | Christian Brothers | L 70–74 $^{OT}$ | | FedEx Forum Memphis, TN |
| Regular season ||||||
| 11/18/2014* 1:00 pm, ESPN | vs. No. 11 Wichita State ESPN College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon | L 56–71 | 0–1 | Sanford Pentagon (3,250) Sioux Falls, SD |
| 11/24/2014* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Prairie View A&M Las Vegas Invitational | W 77–49 | 1–1 | Fedex Forum (14,412) Memphis, TN |
| 11/27/2014* 11:00 pm, FS1 | vs. Baylor Las Vegas Invitational semifinals | L 47–71 | 1–2 | Orleans Arena (N/A) Paradise, NV |
| 11/28/2014* 7:00 pm, FS1 | vs. Indiana State Las Vegas Invitational 3rd Place Game | W 72–62 | 2–2 | Orleans Arena (N/A) Paradise, NV |
| 12/02/2014* 6:00 pm, ESPNews | Stephen F. Austin Las Vegas Invitational | L 52–64 | 2–3 | Fedex Forum (13,201) Memphis, TN |
| 12/06/2014* 8:30 pm, ESPNU | Bradley | W 73–45 | 3–3 | Fedex Forum (13,807) Memphis, TN |
| 12/13/2014* 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | Oklahoma State | L 55–73 | 3–4 | FedEx Forum (14,501) Memphis, TN |
| 12/15/2014* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | NC Central | W 81–47 | 4–4 | Fedex Forum (13,126) Memphis, TN |
| 12/17/2014* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | USC Upstate | W 83–73 | 5–4 | FedEx Forum (13,020) Memphis, TN |
| 12/20/2014* 2:00 pm, CBSSN | Oral Roberts | W 78–63 | 6–4 | FedEx Forum (13,084) Memphis, TN |
| 12/23/2014* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Western Illinois | W 78–51 | 7–4 | FedEx Forum (12,995) Memphis, TN |
| 12/31/2014 1:00 pm, ESPNU | Houston | W 73–54 | 8–4 (1–0) | FedEx Forum (13,415) Memphis, TN |
| 01/03/2015 5:00 pm, ESPNU | Tulane | L 66–74 | 8–5 (1–1) | FedEx Forum (13,914) Memphis, TN |
| 01/08/2015 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | at SMU | L 59–73 | 8–6 (1–2) | Moody Coliseum (6,807) Dallas, TX |
| 01/11/2015 3:00 pm, CBSSN | at Houston | W 62–44 | 9–6 (2–2) | Hofheinz Pavilion (2,697) Houston, TX |
| 01/15/2015 6:00 pm, ESPN | Cincinnati | W 63–50 | 10–6 (3–2) | FedEx Forum (14,916) Memphis, TN |
| 01/17/2015 1:00 pm, ESPNews | UCF | W 99–79 | 11–6 (4–2) | FedEx Forum (14,027) Memphis, TN |
| 01/21/2015 6:00 pm, ESPNU | at Tulsa | L 55–73 | 11–7 (4–3) | Reynolds Center (5,303) Tulsa, OK |
| 01/24/2015 7:00 pm, ESPNU | Tulane | W 57–55 | 12–7 (5–3) | Smoothie King Center (3,109) New Orleans, LA |
| 01/28/2015 8:00 pm, CBSSN | East Carolina | W 70–58 | 13–7 (6–3) | FedEx Forum (13,335) Memphis, TN |
| 01/31/2015* 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | at No. 3 Gonzaga | L 64–82 | 13–8 | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| 02/04/2015* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Jacksonville State | W 74–48 | 14–8 | FedEx Forum (13,385) Memphis, TN |
| 02/07/2015 12:00 pm, ESPNews | Temple | L 60–61 | 14–9 (6–4) | FedEx Forum (14,381) Memphis, TN |
| 02/10/2015 6:00 pm, ESPNU | at East Carolina | L 53–64 | 14–10 (6–5) | Williams Arena (4,519) Greenville, NC |
| 02/14/2015 11:00 am, ESPNU | at South Florida | W 75–48 | 15–10 (7–5) | USF Sun Dome (3,288) Tampa, FL |
| 02/19/2015 8:00 pm, ESPN/ESPN2 | UConn | W 75–72 | 16–10 (8–5) | FedEx Forum (14,652) Memphis, TN |
| 02/22/2015 1:00 pm, CBSSN | at UCF | W 75–65 $^{OT}$ | 17–10 (9–5) | CFE Arena (4,543) Orlando, FL |
| 02/26/2015 8:00 pm, ESPN/ESPN2 | No. 21 SMU | L 57–66 | 17–11 (9–6) | FedEx Forum (14,523) Memphis, TN |
| 02/28/2015 7:00 pm, ESPNU | Tulsa | L 72–74 $^{OT}$ | 17–12 (9–7) | FedEx Forum (15,784) Memphis, TN |
| 03/05/2015 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | at UConn | W 54–53 | 18–12 (10–7) | Gampel Pavilion (10,167) Storrs, CT |
| 03/08/2015 11:00 am, CBS | at Cincinnati | L 65–77 | 18–13 (10–8) | Fifth Third Arena (12,358) Cincinnati, OH |
| American Athletic Conference tournament ||||||
| 03/13/2015 1:00 pm, ESPN2 | vs. Temple AAC Quarterfinal | L 75–80 | 18–14 | XL Center Hartford, CT |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||