Tigers Begin NCAA Tournament Thursday against Boise State

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Memphis Tigers are in the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight season and open play Friday with a first-round matchup against Florida Atlantic at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The East Region game between the eighth-seeded Tigers and the ninth-seeded Owls is scheduled to tip off at 8:20 p.m. CT on TNT.

After falling to 12-5 on Jan. 21 after a fourth-straight road loss, the Tigers won 14 of their last 17 games en route to winning the American Athletic Conference's automatic bid to get back to the Big Dance. That stretch included six road victories and a 75-65 win over No. 1 Houston in the conference championship game on March 12, giving the program its first-ever…