Tulane at Memphis

Memphis rolls to 13th straight win, crushes sloppy Tulane

CBS SportsLine.com wire reports
  •  

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Memphis keeps showing how much better they are than the rest of Conference USA. Now, the eighth-ranked Tigers are starting to get even more comfortable in the role.

Robert Dozier and Willie Kemp each scored 13 points to lead a balanced offense, and Memphis beat Tulane 95-51 on Saturday night for its 27th consecutive victory at home.

"We're getting better from three weeks ago," said guard Doneal Mack, who scored nine points. Everybody's in a comfort zone. Everybody is getting the hang of each other. Everybody's in a groove. Right now, we've got a little swagger, and we don't want that to turn into arrogance."

Memphis (21-3, 11-0) was never threatened in its 13th straight win overall. The Tigers used a 13-0 run midway through the first half to pull away.

The Green Wave (11-11, 4-6) were hampered by poor shooting and sloppy ball-handling.

Five Memphis players finished in double figures. Tre'Von Willis and Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 12 points each, while Jeremy Hunt added 11. Dozier, who was 4-for-7 from the field, also had seven rebounds.

Willis' points were a season high, and his 18 minutes were the most of the year partly because of foul trouble among the Tiger starters, but more because of his recent work ethic.

Memphis coach John Calipari said Willis has worked harder in practice and deserved more court time.

"I feel real confident, " the freshman guard said. "I feel we have the greatest guards on our team in the nation. If I can play against these guys every day, I feel like I can play against any guard or any team."

Even when Memphis emptied its bench and Calipari sent the reserves in to play zone during the final four minutes, he was pleased with the effort.

"The biggest thing is they like each other now," Calipari said. "As long as they like each other, they are going to want this to continue."

Chris Moore was the only Tulane player in double figures with 10 points. Leading-scorer David Gomez was limited to six, taking only two shots. Kevin Sims, Tulane's second-leading scorer, was scoreless, missing all seven shots from the field.

"It's our 21st game of the year," Tulane coach Dave Dickerson said. "You would think that our two leading scorers would come out and play with a mentality of being the leading scorers on the team. I'm a little surprised they didn't do it."

Tulane shot only 31 percent and committed 21 turnovers that led to 32 Memphis points. The Green Wave came into the game having won three of their last four, and the trio of victories came by an average margin of 20 points.

"We were playing our best basketball before this game," Dickerson said. "We were averaging 81 points per game and still had one of the best defenses in the conference. We thought we could come in here and compete. We ran into a team that was better and had better players."

Memphis led 51-29 at the break, matching its biggest lead of the half with a pair of baskets in the final five seconds.

The Tigers pulled away in the first half behind 3-point shooting and their 13-0 run midway through the period. Hunt started the streak with six straight points, and Willis had four points as Tulane went almost four minutes without scoring.

When Douglas-Roberts hit a free throw with 8:23 left in the half, Memphis had run the advantage to 35-15.

Tulane went to a zone to try and slow the Tigers' offense, but Memphis hit half of its 10 shots outside the arc to offset the zone. Memphis finished the night 9-for-17 from 3-point range.

Meanwhile, the Memphis defense forced 11 Green Wave turnovers in the half, and Tulane shot 38 percent from the field.

The Tigers extended the lead with a 10-1 run to open the second half, capped by a reverse dunk from Joey Dorsey on an alley-oop pass.

Memphis' 19-3 spurt produced a 70-32 cushion midway through the second half.

"We just couldn't get anything going offensively to where I thought we were comfortable enough with our team to where we could score," Dickerson said.

Copyright 2013 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.
 
You May Also Like
CBSSports Facebook Twitter
COMMENTS
Conversation powered by Livefyre
Everyone in a Memphis uniform has a laugh as the Tigers win in a 44-point rout.  (AP)
Everyone in a Memphis uniform has a laugh as the Tigers win in a 44-point rout. (AP)

 
Scoreboard
Tulane (11-11)292251
Memphis #8 (21-3) «514495
TLN:C. Moore 10 Pts
TLN:D. Stith 6 Reb
TLN:A. Garcia 2 Ast
MEM:R. Dozier 13 Pts
MEM:R. Dozier 7 Reb
MEM:W. Kemp 4 Ast
 

CBSSports.com Shop

2013 NCAA Men?s College World Series Bound Omaha 8 Group T-Shirt

2013 College World Series
Get your gear Shop Now

PLAYERS OF THE GAME
MemphisTulane
MEM
R. Dozier
TLN
C. Moore
PtsRebsAstPtsRebsAst
13711041
Tulane Green Wave
C. Moore, G-F323-74-641110
K. Sims, G310-70-12210
D. Gomez, F-C231-24-66136
M. Wheaton, G-F201-32-40054
R. Louisme, F-C130-21-20041
D. Stith, F190-13-66023
A. Garcia, G193-60-02218
D. Puckett, F182-90-01045
A. McQueen, F182-43-64047
K. Castine, F72-43-44007
R. Williams, GDid Not Play
J. Mayhane, FDid Not Play
E. Vianney, GDid Not Play
Totals 14-4520-352962351
 31.1%57.1% 
Memphis Tigers
W. Kemp, G255-71-214013
C. Douglas-Roberts, G233-96-921112
D. Mack, G233-71-24349
R. Dozier, F204-74-571213
J. Dorsey, F153-41-46127
J. Hunt, G204-82-412411
T. Willis, G183-64-511212
K. Cooper, F-C142-62-26016
A. Allen, G141-20-03232
P. Niles, F120-00-04010
C. Wade, G40-20-00100
C. McGrady, G40-01-20121
J. Sandridge, G41-10-00003
H. Bailey, F-C42-22-21046
S. Taggart, FDid Not Play
T. Long, GDid Not Play
A. Anderson, GDid Not Play
Totals 31-6124-3736172595
 50.8%64.9% 
Conference USA
TeamConf. W-LTot. W-L
Memphis16-031-5
So. Miss12-427-10
UTEP10-618-14
E. Carolina9-723-12
UCF9-720-11
Tulsa8-817-16
Houston7-920-13
UAB7-916-17
Tulane6-1020-15
Marshall6-1013-19
SMU5-1115-17
Rice1-155-26
 
Other games
MARQET 58 Final
GTOWN 76
Purdue 56 Final
Ohio St 63
UCLA 65 Final
W Virg 70
VANDY 57 Final
Tenn 84
Wake 67 Final
NC 104
Iowa 62 Final
Wisc 74
Arizona 77 Final
Oregon 74
Kansas 92 Final
Missouri 74
TXTECH 91 Final
Okla St 93
California 46 Final
Wash St 59
Alabama 69 Final
Ole Miss 75
AF 60 Final
N Mexico 51
PROV 68 Final
PITT 74
CREIGH 68 Final
S Illinois 72
Butler 65 Final
Wright St 77
Tx A&M 66 Final
Nebraska 55
Florida 64 Final
Kentucky 61