Memphis still doesn’t look vulnerable
HOUSTON – Vulnerable? Not exactly.
The mighty Memphis Tigers humiliated Michigan State and embarrassed all those naysayers who suggested they were the most suspect of the top seeds in this year’s NCAA tournament.
The final score Friday night: Memphis 92, Michigan State 74, but really, it was worse than that.
Next up in the South Regional, a game Sunday against Texas, with a trip to the Final Four on the line, though the message on this overwhelming night was clear: Don’t mess with Memphis.
“Everyone picked us to lose. We were the upset special,” Memphis coach John Calipari said. “That was us. We were going to get outplayed, outcoached, outskilled, outhustled, out-this, out-that, and we can’t shoot free throws.”
It didn’t play out that way.
Freshman Derrick Rose will play at least one more college game after a 27-point, five-assist night that showed he’s ready for the NBA. He exited early in the second half with a cut on his forehead that required medical attention, but returned to the floor with 8 1/2 minutes left and started dominating again.
Meanwhile, Michigan State senior Drew Neitzel’s career is over, and this was no way to end it. He was held to six points, his first of two buckets coming on a 3-pointer that clanged around the rim and fell, mercifully, with 1:47 left.
The game had long been over by then. The score at halftime was 50-20.
“That first half of basketball was one of the best I’ve been involved in as a coach,” Calipari said.
Goran Suton led the fifth-seeded Spartans with 23 points and nine rebounds. Chris Allen had 20 points.
The Tigers (36-1) were already rolling, ahead by 15, when they went on a 15-0 run to close the first half. It was borderline ridiculous. It included a jam by Antonio Anderson, a double-pump stuff by Rose, a breakaway windmill dunk by Joey Dorsey and an appearance from the big fella, Pierre Niles, a 310-pound forward who had played all of 93 minutes this season.
By the time the halftime buzzer sounded – yes, that annoying Reliant Stadium buzzer that sounds like the horn on your sister’s ‘92 Corolla – the Spartans (27-9) were walking off in shock and the crowd of Texas fans was murmuring about the task ahead.
How to stop the Tigers?
This is the third straight year Calipari’s team has made it this far. The two previous trips ended in the regional finals.
This team could be different. Rose is a special player, a Chicago kid sold on Memphis by the player he replaced in the starting lineup, sophomore point guard Willie Kemp.
Chris Douglas-Roberts is a dominating force. He finished with 23 points and probably played this one with a chip on his shoulder; he’s a product of Detroit who was roundly ignored by coach Tom Izzo and Michigan State in the recruiting process.
But everyone on this Memphis roster is playing to prove something. Calipari is making sure of it. Their existence in Conference USA, their average 3-point shooting, their bad free-throw shooting – all of it was fodder for the so-called experts who singled out Memphis as the top seed to likely go first.
Calipari is using it, playing the us-against-the-world card.
“Every game we’re the underdog for some reason,” Douglas-Roberts said. “We use it as motivation. It’s just getting old.”