Anderson’s free throws lift Tigers

SAN ANTONIO – Antonio Anderson isn’t the player Memphis would have picked to go to the line with a chance to advance to another NCAA regional final.

But there Anderson was, shooting free throws with 3.1 seconds left in a game in which he had already blown two open layups and missed three straight free throws.

“I wanted to choke him at halftime,” Memphis coach John Calipari said.

Calipari and the rest of the Tigers felt drastically different after Jackson made both free throws to beat Texas A&M 65-64 Thursday night and put Memphis in a regional final for the second year in a row.

Anderson went to the line after being fouled at the end of a wild sequence in which the Tigers (33-3) missed three quick shots. He knew what was about to happen.

“When I got to the line I could see we were tired and deep down so was the other team. I just wanted to get the game over with,” said Anderson, who finished with five points. “I missed free throws earlier, but I had the confidence I could knock them down.”

Those visualization drills must really work.

The Tigers have been one of the nation’s worst free-throw shooting teams all season. They were so bad that Calipari quit having them shoot in postseason practice and told his players to visualize making them instead.

Now the Tigers, who have won 25 straight games, see a chance to get to the NCAA Final Four for the first time since 1985. They will play Ohio State on Saturday in the South Regional final.

Texas A&M (27-7), three seasons with coach Billy Gillispie removed from a 0-16 record in the Big 12, had one final chance after Anderson’s free throws, but Dominique Kirk’s shot from just inside halfcourt was woefully short.

Kirk took the final shot instead of “Captain Clutch,” senior Acie Law, who had 13 points. He was only 6 of 17 from the field in his final game for the Aggies – and blew a layup with just less than a minute left after he took a long inbound pass.

That was the last good shot the Aggies got.

“I was disappointed in the way that I performed. It’s just a tough loss out there,” Law said.

Texas A&M was unable to take advantage of a partisan crowd.