01-15-2015, 02:39 AM
Ellis faces hometown team as UC visits Memphis
Tom Groeschen, tgroeschen@enquirer.com 11:29 a.m. EST January 14, 2015
Cincinnati guard Troy Caupain goes up for a shot against Memphis forward Austin Nichols last March. (Photo: Enquirer file)
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – University of Cincinnati basketball player Octavius Ellis is a Memphis product, and Ellis can jog onto the FedEx Forum floor with head held high here Thursday night.
The 6-foot-10 Ellis leads UC in scoring at 9.7 points per game, and he ranks 27th nationally in blocked shots at 2.7 per game.
Ellis leads UC (11-4, 2-1 AAC) into a tough matchup against Memphis (9-6, 2-2 AAC). The Tigers have somewhat underwhelmed this season, but they come off of a 62-44 road victory last Sunday over Houston.
"I was a Memphis fan when I was growing up," Ellis said. "Everybody from Memphis always had a dream of playing for Memphis."
For Ellis, that did not quite happen. Although his father Jerrell Horne played at Memphis in 1993 and '94, Ellis went to UC from high school in 2010. He later was asked to leave after his involvement in a nightclub incident, then went to Trinity Valley (Texas) Community College and earned All-America honors last season.
Ellis returned to UC this year, but not before giving Memphis a look.
"I talked to (Memphis coach) Josh Pastner this summer, but I felt they already had their starting lineup," Ellis said. "I felt I probably wouldn't play as much as I did somewhere else."
The Memphis frontcourt truly is well-stocked, with preseason all-conference forwards Austin Nichols (team high 13.0 points per game, 6.0 rebounds) and Shaq Goodwin (8.7 ppg, team high 6.3 rpg) the biggest names.
The 6-foot-8 Nichols, a sophomore, ranks No. 4 nationally with 3.53 blocks per game. Memphis is relatively inexperienced at the guard positions, and the Bearcats will try to exploit that with heavy defensive pressure.
"You can't give the transition and you can't give them easy lay-ups," UC interim head coach Larry Davis said. "Then you've got to concentrate certainly on Nichols. Shaq Goodwin has not had quite the year he had last year, but you know the potential there for him to do damage."
That is where things will fall on Ellis and his inside teammates, including fellow forwards Gary Clark (7.7 ppg, 7.5 rpg) and Shaq Thomas (6.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg).
In the backcourt, UC point guard Troy Caupain (9.5 ppg, 3.5 apg) and shooting guard Kevin Johnson (5.9 ppg) will direct things.
UC comes off of a 62-56 loss at UConn last Saturday, and the Bearcats look to remain among the upper echelon in the AAC race.
"We've just got to figure out little things to do better towards the end of the game, how to time-manage the game, not turn the ball over," Caupain said.
Ellis, who had a career high six blocks against UConn, said UC cannot afford anything in the neighborhood of the 15 turnovers it had against UConn. And while Ellis will have a large crew of family and friends watching, he is unsure what to expect since he has not played a college game in his hometown.
"It's my first time playing at Memphis," Ellis said. "It will be a good experience for me, going back home and playing in front of all my family and playing against some friends back from high school. It'll be a good test."
A test that UC cannot afford to fail, Davis said, after seeing a four-point halftime lead evaporate at UConn.
"You can't keep giving away opportunities," Davis said. "This would be very, very big for us."
RECENT HISTORY: Memphis and UC both have played in the last four NCAA tournaments.
Memphis has won at least 24 games in each of Pastner's five seasons. UC has won at least 26 games in three of the last four years under Mick Cronin, who is sidelined for the rest of this season for medical reasons.
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http://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/c.../21742121/
Tom Groeschen, tgroeschen@enquirer.com 11:29 a.m. EST January 14, 2015
Cincinnati guard Troy Caupain goes up for a shot against Memphis forward Austin Nichols last March. (Photo: Enquirer file)
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – University of Cincinnati basketball player Octavius Ellis is a Memphis product, and Ellis can jog onto the FedEx Forum floor with head held high here Thursday night.
The 6-foot-10 Ellis leads UC in scoring at 9.7 points per game, and he ranks 27th nationally in blocked shots at 2.7 per game.
Ellis leads UC (11-4, 2-1 AAC) into a tough matchup against Memphis (9-6, 2-2 AAC). The Tigers have somewhat underwhelmed this season, but they come off of a 62-44 road victory last Sunday over Houston.
"I was a Memphis fan when I was growing up," Ellis said. "Everybody from Memphis always had a dream of playing for Memphis."
For Ellis, that did not quite happen. Although his father Jerrell Horne played at Memphis in 1993 and '94, Ellis went to UC from high school in 2010. He later was asked to leave after his involvement in a nightclub incident, then went to Trinity Valley (Texas) Community College and earned All-America honors last season.
Ellis returned to UC this year, but not before giving Memphis a look.
"I talked to (Memphis coach) Josh Pastner this summer, but I felt they already had their starting lineup," Ellis said. "I felt I probably wouldn't play as much as I did somewhere else."
The Memphis frontcourt truly is well-stocked, with preseason all-conference forwards Austin Nichols (team high 13.0 points per game, 6.0 rebounds) and Shaq Goodwin (8.7 ppg, team high 6.3 rpg) the biggest names.
The 6-foot-8 Nichols, a sophomore, ranks No. 4 nationally with 3.53 blocks per game. Memphis is relatively inexperienced at the guard positions, and the Bearcats will try to exploit that with heavy defensive pressure.
"You can't give the transition and you can't give them easy lay-ups," UC interim head coach Larry Davis said. "Then you've got to concentrate certainly on Nichols. Shaq Goodwin has not had quite the year he had last year, but you know the potential there for him to do damage."
That is where things will fall on Ellis and his inside teammates, including fellow forwards Gary Clark (7.7 ppg, 7.5 rpg) and Shaq Thomas (6.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg).
In the backcourt, UC point guard Troy Caupain (9.5 ppg, 3.5 apg) and shooting guard Kevin Johnson (5.9 ppg) will direct things.
UC comes off of a 62-56 loss at UConn last Saturday, and the Bearcats look to remain among the upper echelon in the AAC race.
"We've just got to figure out little things to do better towards the end of the game, how to time-manage the game, not turn the ball over," Caupain said.
Ellis, who had a career high six blocks against UConn, said UC cannot afford anything in the neighborhood of the 15 turnovers it had against UConn. And while Ellis will have a large crew of family and friends watching, he is unsure what to expect since he has not played a college game in his hometown.
"It's my first time playing at Memphis," Ellis said. "It will be a good experience for me, going back home and playing in front of all my family and playing against some friends back from high school. It'll be a good test."
A test that UC cannot afford to fail, Davis said, after seeing a four-point halftime lead evaporate at UConn.
"You can't keep giving away opportunities," Davis said. "This would be very, very big for us."
RECENT HISTORY: Memphis and UC both have played in the last four NCAA tournaments.
Memphis has won at least 24 games in each of Pastner's five seasons. UC has won at least 26 games in three of the last four years under Mick Cronin, who is sidelined for the rest of this season for medical reasons.
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Quote:UC vs. Memphis
When: 7 p.m. Thursday
Where: FedEx Forum (Memphis)
TV/Radio: ESPN, 700WLW
Records: UC 11-4 (2-1 AAC), Memphis 9-6 (2-2 AAC)
http://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/c.../21742121/