----------
Tigers escape Pirates'
lair
By AARON BEARD
AP Sports Writer
GREENVILLE Memphis is
still figuring out the best way to attack a zone defense and play on the
road with a target on its back.
Rodney Carney scored 27
points Wednesday night to help the fifth-ranked Tigers hold off East
Carolina 77-67, giving Memphis its first road win in nearly a month.
Shawne Williams added 13
points and 12 rebounds for the Tigers (14-2), who had to fight the
entire way to remain unbeaten against the Pirates (6-8) in the
Conference USA opener for both teams.
The Tigers whose only
losses were to top-ranked Duke and No. 8 Texas hardly played up to
their lofty ranking against a program that hasn't had a winning record
in nine years.
Memphis struggled with its
shooting, opting for plenty of 3-point attempts against the ECU zone
which appears to be the textbook strategy for matching up with the
Tigers after their loss to the Longhorns and a tougher-than-expected win
against Winthrop.
But, with the game tied at
halftime, Memphis did enough after the break in front of a rowdy and
hostile sellout crowd to win in its first road game since beating
Mississippi on Dec. 17.
Consider it a small step
forward for a team that played five freshmen, two sophomores and two
seniors.
"Some of the teammates
thought we'd just come out and easily beat them, but I knew that we
wouldn't," said Carney, a senior who hit six 3-pointers. "I knew they'd
come out and play hard and make incredible shots, that the fans would
get on us and we wouldn't get no calls. That's what I told them and
that's exactly what happened. It's hard to play down here."
Memphis was the
highest-ranked team ever to visit Minges Coliseum, a place where the
Pirates have had recent success against ranked teams. They earned two
wins against Marquette, beating the ninth-ranked Golden Eagles in
2001-02 and the Dwyane Wade-led Final Four team that was ranked 13th the
following season.
But East Carolina was 1-7
against other ranked teams at Minges, and the Tigers added another loss
to that mark though not without quite a fight from the Pirates.
Memphis shot just 37
percent, including 10-for-35 from behind the arc, and had trouble
getting easy baskets in transition. But the Tigers kept pressing the
Pirates to wear them down, and knocked down enough big shots while
holding East Carolina without a field goal for almost the final 8
minutes.
"Every team's going to
play their best when they play against us because we've got a tiger on
our back," Williams said. "Everyone's going to play zone. We're just
working hard at practice to prepare for it."
On this night, that meant
continuing to hoist the open long-distance shots that came off good ball
perimeter movement or penetration.
"If they're wide open, you
have to shoot them," coach John Calipari said. "I know people are going
to look at me and say, 'Cal, you're losing your mind. Your former teams,
none of them shot this many 3s.' If they're contested, they're bad
shots. I think they were open."
The Tigers went ahead to
stay on Williams' stickback of his own missed tip for a 51-50 lead with
12 minutes left, and pushed the lead to 58-52 on a 3 from Darius
Washington Jr. with 8:16 left.
The Pirates answered on
the next play, getting a 3 from Courtney Captain to cut the deficit to
three. But the Pirates struggled getting open looks from there against
the long and athletic Tigers defenders, failing to hit another shot
until the final minute.
Carney followed Captain's
3 with one on the next play to put the Tigers up 61-55 with 7:46 left.
East Carolina got as close
as 61-59 on two free throws from Corey Rouse (20 points, 12 rebounds)
with 5:16 left, but Williams knocked down a 3 off penetration by Antonio
Anderson on the next possession to make it 64-59.
The Pirates had several
chances afterward, but they missed five free throws in the second half.
They also couldn't shake out of their shooting drought in time, going
without a field goal until Rouse banked in a long 3-pointer to make it
73-67 with 26 seconds left.
"There's no in-between
you win or you lose," said Ricky Stokes, East Carolina's first-year
coach. "But if we continue to have that effort, I think good things can
happen for this team."
ECU continues its
Conference USA schedule Saturday when it plays at Texas-El Paso. Tip-off
for the game is set for 9 p.m.
BOX SCORE
MEMPHIS 77, EAST CAROLINA 67
Jan. 11, 2006, Greenville,
NC.
Officials: Art McDonald, Mike Wood, Gene Menees.
Attendance: 7,553.
MEMPHIS
32 45 - 77
EAST CAROLINA 32 35 - 67
MEMPHIS (14-2, 1-0
Conference USA)
FG 3PT FT
Reb
No Player
Min M-A M-A M-A
O-D-T A PF ST TO BK PTS
4 Shawne Williams 34 5-16
1-6 2-2 6-6-12 3
4 3 2 4 13
10 Rodney Carney 36 8-23
6-13 5-5 2-2-4 2
0 3 1 0 27
3 C. Douglas-Roberts 9 0-1 0-1 0-0
0-1-1 1 3 0 0
0 0
32 Joey Dorsey 8
1-1 0-0 0-0 0-1-1
0 5 0 1 1
2
35 D. Washington Jr. 27 2-9 1-6
3-4 1-4-5 3 2
1 2 1 8
2 Robert Dozier 23 2-4 0-0
2-5 5-4-9 0 3
0 2 1 6
12 Antonio Anderson 30 4-10 1-5
2-2 3-3-6 4 5
2 1 0 11
15 Andre Allen 16
2-5 1-4 0-1 1-3-4
3 1 1 2 0
5
42 Kareem Cooper 12 2-2
0-0 1-1 1-1-2 2
0 0 2 0 5
1 Waki Williams 5 0-0
0-0 0-0 0-1-1 0
0 0 1 1 0
0-0-0 0
0
Totals
200 26-71 10-35 15-20 19-26-45 18 23 10
14 8 77
Percentages: FG .366, 3PT .286, FT .750; Deadball
Rebounds: 2.
EAST CAROLINA (6-8, 0-1
Conference USA)
FG 3PT FT
Reb
No Player
Min M-A M-A M-A
O-D-T A PF ST TO BK PTS
22 Tyronne Beale 22 3-10
0-1 0-0 1-1-2 0
1 0 0 0 6
23 Corey Rouse 28 6-11
1-1 7-8 4-8-12 1
3 0 2 0 20
14 Sam Hinnant 36
4-9 2-4 1-3 0-3-3
1 2 1 3 0
11
10 Japhet McNeil 24 1-5
0-0 1-1 1-1-2 9
3 1 2 0 3
15 Jeremy Ingram 34 4-10
1-4 3-4 2-9-11 0
3 0 1 0 12
5 Courtney Captain 23 4-10 2-7 0-0
0-1-1 4 3 2 1
0 10
11 Jeff Robinson 1 0-1
0-0 1-2 1-0-1 0
2 0 0 0 1
12 Taylor Gagnon 3 0-1
0-1 0-0 0-0-0 0
0 0 0 0 0
31 Jonathan Hart 19 0-1
0-0 4-7 1-3-4 0
2 0 2 0 4
44 Quinton Goods 10 0-1
0-0 0-0 0-2-2 0
1 1 1 0 0
3-1-4 0
5
Totals
200 22-59 6-18 17-25 13-29-42 15 20
5 17 0 67
Percentages: FG .373, 3PT .333, FT .680; Deadball
Rebounds: 6. |
02/23/07 10:58 AM
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