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Top-ranked Memphis hosts Gonzaga

Jan 26, 2008 - 2:04 PM Gonzaga (15-4) at No. 1 Memphis (18-0) 12:00 pm EST

MEMPHIS, Tennessee (Ticker) - Memphis will play its second game of the season as the top-ranked team in the country on Saturday when it faces Gonzaga in a non-conference game.

The Tigers have piled up easy victories against both conference and non-conference competition, including Wednesday's 56-41 victory at Tulsa.

The last time Memphis was ranked No. 1 was in 1983, but the Tigers lost on the same day and fell to No. 6 in the next poll.

"For me as a coach the only rating I worry about is April 7," said Memphis coach John Calipari, referring to the date of the national championship game. "If you said to me I could have the No. 1 ranking or a No. 1 seeding, I'd take the seeding every time. For your players and the school, though, this is huge."

Junior guard Chris Douglas-Roberts leads the Tigers in scoring at 16.6 points per game. Freshman guard Derrick Rose is averaging 14.1 points for Memphis, which has won 42 straight home games. The Bulldogs enter having won six consecutive games, including a 72-64 victory over San Francisco on Monday to deny Eddie Sutton his 800th career coaching win.

Sophomore guard Matt Bouldin leads Gonzaga in scoring at 14.7 points per game. Junior forward Josh Heytvelt averages 11.9 points and 5.0 rebounds.

The Tigers have won two of the three games played in the series.