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Memphis at UCF

Memphis leads game from the tip, up by 20 in second half
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ORLANDO, Fla. -- Coach John Calipari wants Memphis forward Joey Dorsey to be like Lawrence Taylor.

"Where every time you drive you're looking for number 56," he said.

The 6-foot-9 junior forward looked like it Wednesday night, scoring 22 points inside and grabbing nine rebounds as No. 11 Memphis routed Central Florida 87-65.

"What you saw today, a little bit of Lawrence Taylor," Calipari said. "But he hadn't played like this every night. This was his best game by far."

Chris Douglas-Roberts added 23 points and Memphis (18-3, 8-0 Conference USA) led from the tip in its 10th straight win.

The Tigers finally shrugged a three-game shooting slump, hitting 57 percent from the field after shooting less than 40 percent its past few outings. Central Florida made 50 percent, but turned the ball over 22 times to Memphis' 11.

Douglas-Roberts scored 15 in the first half, and had six points in a 1:23 second-half span on two acrobatic layups and a driving dunk in traffic. He finished 9-of-13 from the field and had four assists.

"That's about as well as my team can play," Calipari said.

Josh Peppers led the Golden Knights (15-6, 4-3) with 20 points, and no other UCF player cracked double figures. The loss broke UCF's 12-game home winning streak dating back to last season.

"We just got complacent, and I'm really not sure why," UCF guard Mike O'Donnell said. "We had some guys that should've stepped up today and they didn't."

Dorsey put in back-to-back misses for dunks within 30 seconds of one another to give Memphis a 66-46 advantage with just under 10 minutes left. The lead ballooned to 27 points on Willie Kemp's 3-pointer with about 6 1/2 minutes to go.

Central Florida didn't score in the game's first three minutes, and didn't get its second basket until 2 1/2 minutes after that. Down by 11, the Golden Knights mounted an 11-5 run to draw within five.

But Douglas-Roberts had four points on a 12-2 Memphis spurt in the last four minutes of the first half that put the Tigers up 42-27.

The 4,800-person advance sellout was UCF's first in school history, and Memphis was only the second Top 25 team to play the Golden Knights at home. The first was No. 25 Charleston in December 2002, the only game against a ranked opponent UCF has won in 17 all-time tries.

The win gives Memphis an 8-0 record in January, just the sixth time in school history the Tigers have completed the month unbeaten. Calipari did it at Memphis one other time, going 7-0 in the 2000-01 season.

Copyright 2012 by STATS LLC and The Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and The Associated Press is strictly prohibited.
 
 
Memphis junior forward Joey Dorsey plays his best game of the year, says coach John Calipari.  (AP)
Memphis junior forward Joey Dorsey plays his best game of the year, says coach John Calipari. (AP)

 
Scoreboard
Memphis #11 (18-3) «424587
Central Florida (15-6)273865
MEM:C. Douglas-Roberts 23 Pts
MEM:J. Dorsey 9 Reb
MEM:C. Douglas-Roberts 4 Ast
UCF:J. Peppers 20 Pts
UCF:J. Peppers 5 Reb
UCF:J. Peppers 4 Ast
 

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PLAYERS OF THE GAME
UCFMemphis
UCF
J. Peppers
MEM
J. Dorsey
PtsRebsAstPtsRebsAst
20542290
Memphis Tigers
J. Dorsey, F2910-132-490322
C. Douglas-Roberts, G289-135-524223
A. Anderson, G242-50-01334
R. Dozier, F221-43-40015
W. Kemp, G222-40-23135
J. Hunt, G194-62-232212
A. Allen, G170-20-02330
D. Mack, G152-50-04215
K. Cooper, F-C81-10-00012
T. Willis, G61-14-41016
C. Wade, G30-00-00000
C. McGrady, G30-10-00000
P. Niles, F31-21-20013
H. Bailey, F-C10-00-00000
S. Taggart, FDid Not Play
J. Sandridge, GDid Not Play
T. Long, GDid Not Play
Totals 33-5717-2325151887
 57.9%73.9% 
UCF Knights
J. Peppers, F335-118-954320
M. O'Donnell, G333-71-32219
D. Noel, G242-42-22136
L. Payne, F203-52-53139
K. Zondervan, F161-10-00012
J. Taylor, G211-50-03112
C. Cartwright, G201-22-21124
M. Battle, G132-41-20037
S. Billings, C72-20-01014
T. Davis, F40-00-00030
A. Gill, C30-00-00110
J. Loucks, F30-00-02200
A. Thornton, F31-10-00002
D. Speraw, GDid Not Play
T. Young, GDid Not Play
Totals 21-4216-2319131965
 50.0%69.6% 
Conference USA
TeamConf. W-LTot. W-L
Memphis13-326-9
Southern Miss11-525-9
UCF10-622-11
Tulsa10-617-14
Marshall9-721-14
UAB9-715-16
Rice8-819-16
Houston7-915-15
UTEP7-915-17
East Carolina5-1115-16
SMU4-1213-19
Tulane3-1315-16
 
Other games
VANDY 64 Final
Florida 74
Ohio St 78 Final
Purdue 60
Wisc 66 Final
Indiana 71
Miami-FL 64 Final
NC 105
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Young St 58
Iowa St 49 Final
Tx A&M 73
Nevada 79 Final
LATECH 71
Texas 76 Final
TXTECH 64
NCST 70 Final
VATECH 59
Alabama 73 Final
LSU 70
GONZAG 90 Final
Stanford 86