GAME NOTES: The Memphis Tigers begin a two-game road swing on Thursday as they visit Moody Coliseum for an American Athletic Conference matchup against the SMU Mustangs.

The Tigers had a five-game winning streak snapped on Saturday when they were defeated, 74-66, by Tulane at home. The loss dropped Memphis to an 8-5 overall record, including a 1-1 mark in AAC action. The Tigers' chances against the Green Wave were hindered by 16 turnovers, which Tulane converted into 24 points. Coach Josh Pastner's squad has done a terrific job on the glass en route to an average of 40.1 rebounds per game, the 25th best average nationally. Memphis is also ranked fourth among AAC programs in both scoring offense (68.5 ppg) and scoring defense (61.3 ppg).

Coach Larry Brown's Mustangs enter Thursday's contest with a 10-4 overall record. SMU split its first two AAC tilts of the season, downing South Florida, 83-59, before being defeated, 56-50, at Cincinnati on Jan. 3. The loss to the Bearcats ended a nine-game winning streak for the Mustangs, who picked up a notable road win at Michigan during their non-conference slate. SMU is pacing the conference in points per game (69.9) and is ranked third in scoring defense with an allowance of only 60.4 ppg on 37.9 percent efficiency from the floor.

This will be the first time in history Pastner and Brown coach against one another. Pastner is 4-4 in his career versus Hall of Fame adversaries. Memphis has won 12 of the previous 16 matchups between these schools. The teams split the season series in 2013-14.

In the loss to Tulane, Austin Nichols posted a career-high 28 points on 13- of-19 shooting from the floor and came up just one rebound shy of a double- double. Shaq Goodwin also just missed a double-double with 14 points and nine boards, while Pookie Powell racked up six points, nine assists and seven turnover. Nichols is pacing Memphis in the scoring column on the season with 12.9 ppg, and Trashon Burrell is also carrying a double-digit scoring average with 10.5 ppg. Burrell finished 2-of-9 from the field for six points in the setback to the Green Wave.

The Tigers, who will be playing their first true road test of the season, will need more production out of Burrell to succeed outside of FedExForum.

SMU's performance versus Cincinnati wasn't typical. The usually offensively dangerous Mustangs were held to 50 points, connected on only 3-of-11 attempts from 3-point range and finished with four more turnovers (17) than assists (13). Ryan Manuel had a strong showing, tallying 14 points on 7-of-8 efficiency from the field. Nic Moore added 11 points, but committed six of the team's miscues.

Moore leads three Mustangs averaging double figures at 14.6 ppg. Yanick Moreira (12.1 ppg) and Keith Frazier (10.9 ppg) also play big roles for SMU. Moore is also ranked in the top 10 in the AAC in assists (4.8 apg) and steals (1.5 spg). Just like the hosts, the Mustangs have been excellent on the boards, outrebounding their opposition by an average of 7.5 rpg.

Memphis is no longer going to be a dominant force in league play like it was not too long ago as a member of the Conference USA. The Mustangs have taken a big leap forward since leaving the C-USA for the AAC under Brown, who has gone 52-31 in two-plus seasons at the helm of the program. The homecourt advantage should be a great help for SMU, since Memphis has yet to experience a rowdy crowd as a visitor.