Memphis, Tennessee:

The Memphis Tigers will return to action on Saturday afternoon as the Houston Cougars come to town in a highly anticipated AAC matchup.

Houston comes into the game on Saturday ranked 22nd and alone in first place atop the AAC standings. Having won four out of the last five, the Cougars are one of the hottest teams in college basketball, and will likely put up a tough for this Memphis team.

The FedEx Forum will be rocking on Saturday with an expected sellout and a blue-out, it will likely have the feel of the old school Mid-South Coliseum with fans being relentless on Houston from the opening tip.

The Tigers will need to figure out how to stop Houston from crashing the boards, the Cougars rank 1st in the AAC with an average of 41.3 rebounds per game.

Head Coach Penny Hardaway addressed that issue on Friday when he spoke with the media.

" Houston is going to put you in a position where you are going to be very uncomfortable the entire game, especially if you are out there playing nonchalant," Hardaway said. "I think we will meet that challenge. Houston is one of those teams that will bring the best out of (our) guys."

"Understanding that I think they will be more careful, they'll be more understanding that this is the best team in our league. I think they'll be ready."

Memphis will need a balanced attack to counter this Houston team. It all starts with the frontcourt for the Tigers, led by Precious Achiuwa, who leads the AAC with 15 double-doubles. Memphis will also need Lance Thomas and Malcolm Dandridge to pull their weight on the glass.

Memphis will also need valuable minutes from Boogie Ellis and Lester Quinones to keep pace with the high flying Cougars. Last time out, Boogie Ellis was second in scoring with 17 points and played an amazing floor game, Memphis will need a similar performance on Saturday.

Saturday's matchup will be the first of two games this season.

Memphis and Houston will tip-off at 1:00 central and will be televised on ESPN2.