Top 25: Taggart, Evans help No. 18 Memphis dominate Marist
CBSSports.com wire reports
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Shawn Taggart had 21 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks and freshman Tyreke Evans added 24 points Tuesday night as No. 18 Memphis dominated every phase of the game in a 100-61 victory over Marist.
Antonio Anderson scored 12 points and Roburt Sallie finished with 11 for Memphis (5-1). Evans was 10-of-13 from the field.
David Devezin led the Red Foxes (2-4) with 11 points, while Lawrence Williams and Ryan Schneider had 10 each.
Memphis built the lead to double digits within the first seven minutes, continued to extend it through the first half and kept the pressure on after the break, leading by 40 with 10 minutes left.
The Tigers would finish the night shooting 53 percent, and holding the Red Foxes to 35 percent and causing 21 turnovers. Memphis blocked 14 shots, one short of the school record set against Arkansas-Pine Bluff in 1998.
The game was the latest of the teacher-vs.-student matchups for John Calipari. First-year Marist coach Chuck Martin was an assistant on Calipari's staff the previous two years. Calipari will face five former assistants this season.
Memphis, which had nine days off since its first loss of the season to Xavier on Nov. 23, went with a different lineup, starting Pierre Henderson-Niles and freshman Wesley Witherspoon, who became the latest Tiger to get a chance at the point. Full story
No. 17 Villanova 69, Penn 47
PHILADELPHIA -- Dante Cunningham had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Corey Stokes scored 14 points and No. 17 Villanova cruised again in a victory over Penn.
The Wildcats (7-0) have won every game by at least 13 points and have fattened their record against teams that won't come close to cracking the Top 25. Coach Jay Wright defended Villanova's soft nonconference schedule by suggesting games against four Philadelphia schools are almost like playing a Big East school.
Connecticut and Pittsburgh will surely prove a stiffer test.
Harrison Gaines led Penn with 14 points.
No. 23 Florida 73, Florida A&M 58
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Nick Calathes had 16 points, five rebounds and seven assists, Chandler Parsons added 15 points and No. 23 Florida beat Florida A&M.
The Gators (6-1) improved to 10-0 all time against the Rattlers, to 18-0 against teams from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and to 20-2 in December over the last three years.
The latest victory was much closer than anyone expected.
The Rattlers (1-6), coming off a 25-point defeat at Arkansas and having been outmatched in every loss this season, played the Gators tight most of the way.
No. 25 Marquette 81, Central Michigan 67
MILWAUKEE -- Wesley Matthews scored 18 points and No. 25 Marquette bounced back from its first loss with an aggressive defense that stymied Central Michigan in a victory.
Back at home, Marquette (6-1) looked little like the team that got outrun by Dayton in the Chicago Invitational three days earlier.
Instead, the Golden Eagles, who came in averaging 89 points per game, took it to the Chippewas in a game that featured 49 fouls and a plodding pace. Dominic James scored 15 points and Lazar Hayward added 14 for Marquette.
Jerel McNeal, who finished with 14 points, hit a jumper as time expired in the first half, and Marquette began pulling away to start the second, outworking Central Michigan (2-4) on the glass at key points with a 13-4 run to start the half.
