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No Minges cakewalk for Memphis
From staff and
electronic reports
Stymied in the first half
and at the beginning of the second by an outmanned but scrappy East
Carolina team, No. 17 Memphis eventually marshaled its resources to
grind down the Pirates 61-44 Saturday night in Greenville.
Jeremy Hunt scored a
game-high 16 points and the bigger, deeper Tigers (15-3, 5-0) finally
shook off the pesky Bucs to remain unbeaten in Conference USA.
Memphis built an advantage
at the foul line that accounted for most of its final 17-point margin,
making 23 of 39 free throws (59 percent) while ECU was converting only 8
of 18 (44.4 percent.)
Plagued by turnovers
early, the teams went into intermission knotted 21-21. The Pirates
(5-12, 0-4) gave up the ball 14 times in the first half, while Memphis
lost possession 13 times.
Freshman forward John
Fields sparked ECU offensively, scoring 12 of his team-high 14 points in
the first half. His efforts included an off-balance shot as time expired
before intermission that pulled the Pirates even, much to the delight of
the announced crowd of 6,064.
"I don't know what it is,"
said Memphis coach John Calipari after the game, "but every time we come
here it is a war."
Fields' dunk in the first
minute of the second half put the Pirates ahead 23-21. ECU expanded its
lead to as much as four (28-24) on a three-pointer by senior guard
Courtney Captain with 17:18 remaining.
Memphis then reeled off 13
straight points to take control of the game.
Doneal Mack scored 15
points and Robert Dozier added 12 for the Tigers. Joey Dorsey hauled in
15 rebounds, Antonio Anderson grabbed 11 and Dozier snared 10 as Memphis
dominated the backboards 48-33.
None of Fields' ECU
teammates joined him in double figures.
""I thought we played a
good first half," said East Carolina coach Ricky Stokes. "We did not
handle the ball very well in the second half, or make some key free
throws, and they really hurt us on the boards. Dorsey was just too much
for us, too wide, too big, and too powerful."
ECU shot 36.2 percent from
the field (17-47) while holding the Tigers to 30.9 percent (17-55). Both
teams shot poorly from behind the arc: The Pirates converted 15.4
percent (2-13); Memphis made 17.4 percent (4-23).
The contest, which aired
on CSTV, was ECU's third national television appearance in less than a
month. The Pirates' outings at N.C. State (Dec. 28) and Tulsa (Jan. 10)
were televised by ESPNU and CSTV, respectively.
East Carolina, which has
lost four games in a row and 11 of its last 12, faces league foe
Southern Mississippi on the road Wednesday (8:00 p.m.)
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BOX SCORE
MEMPHIS 61, EAST CAROLINA
44
Date: Jan. 20, 2007.
Site: Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum, Greenville, NC.
Attendance: 6,064.
Officials: Steve Pyatt, Duke Edsall, Tim Gattis.
Technical Fouls: None.
SCORE BY PERIODS 1
2 FINAL
Memphis
21 40 - 61
East Carolina
21 23 - 44
MEMPHIS (15-3,5-0
C-USA)
PLAYER MIN FG 3PT FT
R PTS
Dozier 34 3-9
0-0 6-10 10 12
Dorsey 30 3-6
0-0 1-5 15 7
Kemp 12
0-3 0-3 0-0 1
0
Anderson 36 0-6
0-3 3-6 11 3
Mack 16
3-8 2-6 7-9 0 15
Wade 1
0-0 0-0 0-0 0
0
Hunt 30
5-12 1-6 5-7 1
16
Allen 32 3-10
1-5 1-2 4 8
Cooper 9
0-1 0-0 0-0 1
0
TEAM
5
TOTALS 200 17-55 4-23 23-39
48 61
PERCENT
.309 .174 .590
EAST CAROLINA (5-12,0-4 C-USA)
PLAYER MIN FG 3PT FT
R PTS
Fields 31 5-6
0-0 4-9 4 14
Blair 22
1-4 0-0 2-4 4
4
Farmer 31 1-6
1-3 0-0 5 3
Captain 24 1-7
1-3 1-2 3 4
Jenkins 31 1-7
0-4 0-0 6 2
Dillard 13 2-4
0-0 0-0 1 4
Gagnon 4
2-2 0-0 0-0 0
4
Ingram 10 0-1
0-1 0-0 1 0
Ramsey 9
2-2 0-0 0-1 2
4
Evans 25
2-8 0-2 1-2 4
5
TEAM
3
TOTALS 200 17-47 2-13
8-18 33 44
PERCENT
.362 .154 .444
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PAGE UPDATED
02/23/07 11:45 AM.
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statistics may be compiled from various sources, including but not limited
to staff, East Carolina University, opposing team and Conference USA reports.
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