Saturday, November 13, 2010

Memphis Blows Past Centenary 104-40

Nov. 12,  2010

By: Preston McClellan

MEMPHIS - In a game that it dominated throughout, Memphis used scoring from 10 different players and a deluge of trifectas to down Centenary College 104-40 in front of 17,792 fans Friday night at FedExForum in the regular season opener.

The Tigers were led by freshman Antonio Barton, who scored 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including 3-of-3 from beyond the arc, to go along with five steals and four assists in 23 minutes of action.

"No one can say our effort isn't there every single possession," Memphis head coach Josh Pastner said. "Our guys just want to ball."

Fellow freshman Chris Crawford was also perfect from the field, finishing with 16 points on a perfect 6-of-6 from the field in just 13 minutes. Angel Garcia netted 14 points and five rebonds on 3-of-6 shooting and a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe.

Sophomore Drew Barham finished with a career-highs in both points (13) and rebounds (nine) in 19 minutes. Charles Carmouche finished with five steals to complement 13 points.

The Tigers sprinted out to a 31-6 advantage with just over eight minutes remaining in the first half behind Garcia, who finished with 10 first half points. Memphis started its downpour of threes quickly, as Joe Jackson connected on a corner trey to give Memphis a 3-0 advantage. Carmouche and Antonio Barton followed suit, and Memphis found itself with an early 9-4 advantage.

Memphis would finish the game with 14 three-point baskets, shooting 14-of-27 (51.9 percent) from beyond the arc. The Tigers shot an impressive 55 percent (33-of-60) from the field and followed the Pastner philosophy of "the go to man is the open man" by assisting on 25 of 33 field goals.

The Tigers' defense was also in full force, holding the Gentleman of Centenary to a 26.1 shooting percentage for the contest, including just 2-of-15 from beyond the arc. Memphis also forced 28 turnovers, converting them into 37 points. The biggest difference in the game for Memphis was its bench, which scored 63 of the Tigers' 104 points, led by Crawford's 16 in the second half.

None of the Gents managed double figures, with a trio of players finishing with six points (Jeron Trotman, Aaron Harwell, and Logan Lowery.) Trotman led Centenary with five rebounds, while Harwell added three steals.

Next up for Memphis is an 11 p.m. tilt Monday against Miami at FedExForum. The game is the kick-off for ESPN's 24 Hours of Hoops marathon, and the game will be televised immediately following Monday Night Football.

"Miami is a good team. They're a top-four team in the ACC," Pastner said. "We need to have a sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and 10th man in the stands Monday."

Centenary will play at UT Martin, Monday, in its second game of the Global Sports Challenge.

- This story was written for and published by Preston McClellan for use by www.gotigersgo.com and can be found in its original form here

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