Memphis too strong for
depleted Pirates
By
Al Myatt
©2013 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
Post-game audio: ECU coach Jeff
Lebo...
Post-game audio: Memphis coach
Josh Pastner...
Post-game audio: ECU players Ty
Armstrong & Miguel Paul...
View W.A. Myatt's photo gallery...
GREENVILLE — The energy of
Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum wasn't enough to lift shorthanded East
Carolina past the talent and tradition of Memphis on Wednesday night.
The Tigers put together some incredible
numbers in holding off the Pirates 75-68 for their 11th straight win, a
pretty incredible number in itself.
Memphis shot 58.3 percent in the second
half, including four of seven behind the arc.
It took the Tigers some time to find
the range as they made just one of their first 11 field goal attempts.
Those four 3-pointers came within a
span of two minutes, 15 seconds in the second half and comprised a 12-2
Memphis run that extended the lead to 49-37 with 12:12 remaining.
"You pick your poison with them," said
ECU coach Jeff Lebo. "They crushed us in the paint. They made four
(threes) in a row. Some were against our zone. We wanted to play some
zone and hoped they'd miss some shots. We were trying to keep our guys
out of foul trouble. ... Give them credit. They were big shots and kind
of separated the game in the second half."
Story
continues below the following picture.
ECU's Maurice Kemp denies Antonio
Barton's shot attempt in the first half.
[W.A. Myatt photo]
Without Robert Sampson,
who was out with a bruised knee, Maurice Kemp moved from small forward
to the power forward. That left ECU with a smaller lineup and helped the
Tigers to a 49-33 rebounding advantage. Memphis also blocked 10 shots.
"I've been around a lot of
guys who could jump but, wow!" Lebo said of the Tigers' 6-foot-5 D.J.
Stephens, who had four rejections.
On the offensive end,
junior guard Joe Jackson had 26 points and six assists, exhibiting an
improved focus after a halftime critique from Tigers coach Josh Pastner
about picking up loose balls.
ECU (12-8, 3-4 Conference
USA) also was without Shamarr Bowden, who had to sit out one game for
throwing punches at Texas-El Paso's Konner Tucker on Saturday night.
That meant more minutes for Corvonn Gaines, who started, and Prince
Williams, who managed four points in seven minutes.
Williams had 3-point play
with 16 seconds left to complete an 8-0 ECU run. That drew the Pirates
within 71-68 and the crowd of 6,246 had hope for an incredible comeback.
The Tigers (17-3, 6-0)
kept their poise and closed out the win from the free throw line.
Ty Armstrong had 18 points
and nine rebounds to lead the Pirates in both categories. He played 28
minutes as Lebo took him out after his second and third fouls.
Armstrong appeared
surprised to get a dish from Miguel Paul in the first half but he
adjusted for a dunk.
"If you're open, he'll
find you," Armstrong said.
Paul had 15 points and six
assists in a busy 34 minutes. He had to ask to come out late in the
first half because of the tiring effect of Memphis's defensive pressure.
Kemp played all 40 minutes in his new/old position and contributed 13
points with seven rebounds.
Akeem Richmond's 12 points
came on four of 12 shooting from long distance.
ECU partially offset the
Tigers' skills in other areas with 10 steals. Memphis had 19 turnovers
compared to 10 for ECU.
Pastner's purple tie
Pastner said he gets a
good clothing allowance, but the Memphis coach doesn't consider himself
an especially sharp dresser.
He wore a purple tie with
a light blue shirt and a dark suit for the ECU game.
Much of the building wore
gold for an ECU "gold out."
"It's just one of those
ties," he said. "A random thing. ... My wife complains about (my
dressing). She calls me Ned Flanders (bland character on the Simpsons
cartoon). But, you know what, she's married to me and I've got three
kids so she likes me for something. It's not my dress."
More wardrobe notes
Three ECU players had to
take off their gold T-shirts from underneath their jerseys with ECU
leading 10-4 less than seven minutes into the game. Bobby Pennington,
the officials observer, said that the undergarments had a manufacturer's
logo, which is an NCAA no-no.
Pennington, who works with
BSM Sports, said he actually sold the T-shirts to the Pirates.
"They're Badgers," he
said. "It's hard to find that gold in a T-shirt."
Richmond got around the
rule by turning his T-shirt inside out and concealing the logo in the
second half.
Rice on the road
Lebo was not sure of
Sampson's status for Saturday (8 p.m.) at Rice. The ECU coach said the
6-foot-8 junior would be evaluated today. If he's not able to practice,
he's unlikely to play, Lebo said.
The Owls (5-15, 1-5) will
come into the contest with some momentum after overcoming a 15-point
deficit to defeat Houston 79-69 Wednesday night at Tudor Fieldhouse.
The Pirates have been
without small forward Erin Straughn and his defensive skills all season.
Paul said ECU could take a
page from the Memphis book about succeeding on the road.
"You've got to be strong
on defense and also stop the home team from getting runs," said the ECU
point guard. "They did a good job of that, of really controlling the
tempo. They like to run, too, but they just stopped us from doing what
we had to do at times.
" ... If we continue to
work on defense, our offense will be there. We'll be good."
CONFERENCE USA
GAME SUMMARY |
Memphis 75, East Carolina 68 |
--------------------- |
Date:
Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013
Facility: Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum
Attendance: 6,246
Records: ECU 12-8, 3-4 C-USA; UM 17-3, 6-0
|
--------------------- |
SCORE BY PERIODS |
1 |
2 |
FINAL |
Memphis |
28 |
47 |
75 |
East Carolina |
27 |
41 |
68 |
Send an e-mail message to Al Myatt.
PAGE UPDATED
02/01/13 10:00 AM.
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