GAME NOTES: Two teams coming off blowout losses get together on Friday, as the Memphis Tigers take on the Indiana State Sycamores to close out their involvement in the Las Vegas Invitational.

Memphis has had a rough go of it in the first couple of weeks of the 2014-15 season, as the team is just 1-2. Thursday's showdown with Baylor resulted in a lopsided 71-47 loss.

Indiana State went into Thursday's clash with Illinois at 3-1, but it too suffered a demoralizing loss in an 88-62 final.

Memphis leads the all-time series with Indiana State, 2-0, and this is the first meeting between the two since the 1981-82 season.

Poor shooting, particularly in the second half, proved to be the Tigers' undoing on Thanksgiving against Baylor as the Bears prevailed by 24 points. Memphis led 32-29 at the break, but made only 4-of-21 field goal attempts over the final 20 minutes in what was truly a horrid offensive display. The Tigers committed 14 turnovers compared to only eight for the Bears, who drained 11 3- pointers and claimed a 43-32 advantage in rebounds. Pookie Powell was the only Tiger to reach double figures in the contest, netting 13 points in 27 minutes of action off the bench. UM's starters went a combined 10-of-27 from the field.

As a result of the poor showing against Baylor, Memphis is averaging just 60 ppg for the season, shooting only 41.7 percent from floor and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc. No player is averaging double figures at the moment, with Nick King leading the way with 9.0 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. The team's defensive effort hasn't been bad, as foes are generating just 63.7 in hitting less than 40 percent of their total shots.

Illinois opened Thursday's tilt with Indiana State on a 30-8 run, and kept the pressure on until the final second ticked off the clock. The Sycamores were held to 36 percent field goal efficiency, and they converted only 16-of-29 foul shots. They were also rather careless with the basketball, turning it over 20 times. No starter scored in double figures for ISU, as reserves Grant Prusator and Brenton Scott paced the squad with 17 and 10 points, respectively. Devonte Brown had a tough outing, as he went just 1-of-6 from the floor and was guilty of five miscues.

Despite being a game over .500 at the moment, the Sycamores are giving up more points (69.2 ppg) than they score (67.2 ppg). Kristian Smith (14.0 ppg, 5.2 rpg) and Brown (13.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg) are the only two players averaging double digits in the scoring column, and both have done a decent job corralling loose balls as well.

Memphis needs to pick it up offensively, or this is going to be a long season for coach Josh Pastner's club. Indiana State is certainly no pushover, but expect the Tigers to put one in the win column as they close out their time in Vegas on a high note.