1985–86 Memphis State Tigers men's basketball team

1985–86 Memphis State Tigers men's basketball
1985–86 Memphis State Tigers men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Second round (vacated)
Conference	Metro Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 12
AP	No. 12
Record	27-5 (28–6 unadjusted) (9–3 Metro)
Head coach	Dana Kirk (7th season);
Assistant coaches	Larry Finch (6th season); Lee Fowler;
Home arena	Mid-South Coliseum
	Seasons ← 1984–85 1986–87 →

1985–86 Metro Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 7 Louisville †	10	–	2	.833	32	–	7	.821
No. 12 Memphis State	9	–	3	.750	28	–	6	.824
Virginia Tech	7	–	5	.583	22	–	9	.710
Southern Miss	6	–	6	.500	17	–	12	.586
Cincinnati	5	–	7	.417	12	–	16	.429
Florida State	3	–	9	.250	12	–	17	.414
South Carolina	2	–	10	.167	12	–	16	.429

† 1986 Metro Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 1985–86 Memphis State Tigers men's basketball team represented Memphis State University as a member of the Metro Conference during the 1985–86 NCAA Division I men's basketball season.^[1]

Memphis State opened the season with 20 consecutive wins and peaked at No. 2 in the AP poll on January 27, 1986. The team went on to finish second in the conference regular season standings and lost in the championship game of the conference tournament (eventual National champion Louisville won both titles). After reaching the Sweet 16 each of the previous four seasons including a Final Four appearance the year prior, the Tigers fell in the second round^[2] of the 1986 NCAA Tournament and finished with a 28–6 record (9–3 Metro).

Roster

1985–86 Memphis State Tigers men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	10	Andre Turner	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Sr	Memphis, Tennessee
G	20	John Wilfong	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Jr	Memphis, Tennessee
F	23	Vincent Robinson	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Fr	Bridgeport, Alabama
G	30	Vincent Askew	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	So	Memphis, Tennessee
G	31	Dwight Boyd	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	So	Memphis, Tennessee
F	32	Kenneth Moody	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Jr	Memphis, Tennessee
F	34	Aaron Price	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sr	West Memphis, Arkansas
F	41	Rodney Douglas	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Fr	Memphis, Tennessee
C	42	DeWayne Bailey	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	So	Memphis, Tennessee
F	43	Baskerville Holmes	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Sr	Memphis, Tennessee
F	44	David Jensen	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	So	Greenville, South Carolina
C	50	William Bedford	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Jr	Memphis, Tennessee
F	51	Marvin Alexander	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	Fr	Memphis, Tennessee

Head coach

Dana Kirk (Marshall)

Assistant coach(es)

Larry Finch (Memphis)
Lee Fowler (Vanderbilt)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

^[3]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
Nov 29, 1985*	No. 14	Tennessee State Mid-South Classic	W 107–61	1–0	Mid-South Coliseum (11,200) Memphis, Tennessee
Nov 30, 1985*	No. 14	Middle Tennessee Mid-South Classic	W 73–63	2–0	Mid-South Coliseum (11,200) Memphis, Tennessee
Dec 3, 1985*	No. 13	Kent State	W 83–69	3–0	Mid-South Coliseum (11,200) Memphis, Tennessee
Dec 6, 1985*	No. 13	at Hawaii–Hilo Pearl Harbor Classic	W 95–52	4–0	George Q. Cannon Activities Center (1,000) Honolulu, Hawaii
Dec 7, 1985*	No. 13	vs. Fresno State Pearl Harbor Classic	W 80–46	5–0	George Q. Cannon Activities Center (1,000) Honolulu, Hawaii
Dec 9, 1985*	No. 12	at Texas Tech	W 80–55	6–0	Lubbock Municipal Coliseum (5,680) Lubbock, Texas
Dec 14, 1985*	No. 12	South Carolina State	W 119–73	7–0	Mid-South Coliseum (11,200) Memphis, Tennessee
Dec 17, 1985*	No. 10	Ole Miss	W 73–56	8–0	Mid-South Coliseum (11,200) Memphis, Tennessee
Dec 23, 1985*	No. 10	Murray State	W 82–59	9–0	Mid-South Coliseum (11,200) Memphis, Tennessee
Dec 27, 1985*	No. 10	vs. Fresno State Holiday Bowl Classic	W 57–46	10–0	San Diego Sports Arena (3,730) San Diego, California
Dec 28, 1985*	No. 10	vs. Charlotte Holiday Bowl Classic	W 106–82	11–0	San Diego Sports Arena (3,548) San Diego, California
Jan 4, 1986*	No. 9	No. 5 Kansas	W 83–80 ^{OT^[4]}	12–0	Mid-South Coliseum (11,200) Memphis, Tennessee
Jan 6, 1986	No. 6	South Carolina	W 89–81	13–0 (1–0)	Mid-South Coliseum (11,200) Memphis, Tennessee
Jan 9, 1986	No. 6	No. 17 Louisville	W 73–71	14–0 (2–0)	Mid-South Coliseum (11,200) Memphis, Tennessee
Jan 11, 1986*	No. 6	Arkansas State	W 87–64	15–0	Mid-South Coliseum (11,200) Memphis, Tennessee
Jan 15, 1986	No. 6	at Cincinnati	W 89–71	16–0 (3–0)	Riverfront Coliseum (6,456) Cincinnati, Ohio
Jan 18, 1986*	No. 6	at New Orleans	W 68–64	17–0	University of New Orleans Lakefront Arena (6,554) New Orleans, Louisiana
Jan 20, 1986	No. 2	at Southern Miss	W 68–64	18–0 (4–0)	Reed Green Coliseum (7,758) Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Jan 25, 1986*	No. 3	Missouri	W 79–68	19–0	Mid-South Coliseum (11,200) Memphis, Tennessee
Jan 27, 1986	No. 2	No. 16 Virginia Tech	W 83–61	20–0 (5–0)	Mid-South Coliseum (11,200) Memphis, Tennessee
Feb 1, 1986	No. 3	at No. 15 Virginia Tech	L 72–76	20–1 (5–1)	Cassell Coliseum (10,000) Blacksburg, Virginia
Feb 3, 1986	No. 3	Cincinnati	W 74–55	21–1 (6–1)	Mid-South Coliseum (11,200) Memphis, Tennessee
Feb 8, 1986*	No. 3	at No. 9 UNLV	L 66–67	21–2	Thomas & Mack Center (18,832) Las Vegas, Nevada
Feb 10, 1986	No. 4	Florida State	W 99–73	22–2 (7–1)	Mid-South Coliseum (11,200) Memphis, Tennessee
Feb 15, 1986	No. 4	Southern Miss	W 92–85	23–2 (8–1)	Mid-South Coliseum (11,200) Memphis, Tennessee
Feb 22, 1986	No. 4	at Florida State	L 80–82	23–3 (8–2)	Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center (2,671) Tallahassee, Florida
Feb 24, 1986	No. 7	at South Carolina	W 86–73	24–3 (9–2)	Carolina Coliseum (7,325) Columbia, South Carolina
Feb 27, 1986*	No. 7	New Orleans	W 63–52	25–3	Mid-South Coliseum (11,200) Memphis, Tennessee
Mar 2, 1986	No. 7	at No. 13 Louisville	L 69–70	25–4 (9–3)	Freedom Hall (19,582) Louisville, Kentucky
Metro Conference Tournament
Mar 6, 1986*	(2) No. 10	vs. (7) South Carolina Quarterfinals	W 100–59	26–4	Freedom Hall (19,083) Louisville, Kentucky
Mar 7, 1986*	(2) No. 10	vs. (6) Florida State Semifinals	W 73–71	27–4	Freedom Hall (19,452) Louisville, Kentucky
Mar 8, 1986*	(2) No. 10	at (1) No. 11 Louisville Championship game	L 79–88	27–5	Freedom Hall (19,611) Louisville, Kentucky
NCAA Tournament
Mar 13, 1986*	(3 SE) No. 12	vs. (14 SE) Ball State First round	W 95–63	28–5	LSU Assembly Center (13,749) Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Mar 15, 1986*	(3 SE) No. 12	at (11 SE) LSU Second round	L 81–83	28–6	LSU Assembly Center (13,749) Baton Rouge, Louisiana
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. SE=Southeast region. All times are in Eastern Time.

^[5]

Rankings

^[6]

References

^ "1985-86 Memphis Tigers Schedule and Results | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". sports-reference.com. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
^ "LSU Beats Memphis State With Basket at the Buzzer". The Los Angeles Times. March 16, 1986. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
^ "1985-86 Men's Basketball Roster". University of Memphis Athletics. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
^ "Kansas Loses in Overtime". The New York Times. January 5, 1986. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
^ "1985-86 Men's Basketball Schedule". gotigersgo.com. Retrieved April 9, 2025.
^ *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 899–900. ISBN 0-345-51392-4.

[sports-reference-1] "1985-86 Memphis Tigers Schedule and Results | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". sports-reference.com. Retrieved March 29, 2022.

[2] "LSU Beats Memphis State With Basket at the Buzzer". The Los Angeles Times. March 16, 1986. Retrieved April 3, 2022.

[3] "1985-86 Men's Basketball Roster". University of Memphis Athletics. Retrieved April 2, 2022.

[4] "Kansas Loses in Overtime". The New York Times. January 5, 1986. Retrieved March 29, 2022.

[5] "1985-86 Men's Basketball Schedule". gotigersgo.com. Retrieved April 9, 2025.

[ESPN-6] *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 899–900. ISBN 0-345-51392-4.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

v t e Memphis Tigers men's basketball
Venues	Various locations (1920–1929) Memorial Fieldhouse (1929–1966) Mid-South Coliseum (1966–1991) Pyramid Arena (1991–2004) FedExForum (2004–present)
Rivalries	Cincinnati Louisville UAB
Culture & lore	Pouncer Newby's TOM (mascot) "Go Tigers Go" Mighty Sound of the South
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1942–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics