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.
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Tigers Pull Away from Bucs, 75-49; Antonio Barton led the charge with 12 points as 11 different Tigers scored
By Preston McClellan
MEMPHIS - "Winning is hard" was all that University of Memphis head coach Josh Pastner could say after last year's close call with Christian Brothers, but that certainly wasn't the case this season as 11 different Tigers scored en route to defeating the Buccaneers 75-49 at FedExForum on Tuesday night.
"Our thing has been that we cannot play as individuals," University of Memphis head coach Josh Pasnter said. "This has got to be a team effort for us to be successful."
In their final exhibition test before the regular season opener on Friday, the Tigers controlled the opening half, keeping CBU in single digits until the 2:27 mark and took a 30-18 advantage into the break.
CBU cut the lead to single digits three minutes into the half on a jumper by Michael Drake, but Memphis responded with nine straight points, including seven by Antonio Barton to effectively put the game out of reach.
The Tigers would push the lead to as many as 33 after a driving layup from Angel Garcia extended the advantage to 66-33. CBU scored 16 points in the final five minutes to narrow the gap.
Barton finished with 12 points to go along with four assists and three steals in 25 minutes of play to lead a balanced scoring attack in which six Memphis players scored eight or more.
Wesley Witherspoon set the pace on the glass, pulling down nine boards to add to his eight points as the Tigers again won the rebounding battle 43-30. D.J. Stephens, who set the tone for the game with a ferocious block on the first defensive series, finished the game with eight rebounds.
The Tiger bench came up huge for Memphis, scoring 43 of its 75 points compared to just 13 points for the Buccaneer reserves. The Tigers also exploited their size and physicality, mustering 48 points in the paint compared to just 26 for CBU.
"We have the chance to do something special this year, if we put the team above 'I.' We've done a good job for the most part." Pastner said.
The Bucs were led by Zack Warner, who finished with a game-high 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting. Dennis Scott added five points and 10 rebounds in 36 minutes.
The Tigers finished the game shooting 50.8 percent from the floor on 30-of-59 shooting, but were only 4-of-14 (28.6 percent) from beyond the arc.
Memphis opens the regular season Friday against Centenary at FedExForum. The game is part of a doubleheader with the Memphis women's basketball team. The women kick things off with their season opener against Missouri at 5 p.m., followed by the men's game at 8 p.m. Tickets purchased for either game can be used for both contests.
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Nov. 3, 2010
Memphis Overcomes Slow Start in Exhibition Victory over LeMoyne-Owen; Charles Carmouche led the way with 18 points.
By: Preston McClellan
MEMPHIS - LeMoyne-Owen hung tough for the first 10 minutes, but Memphis proved too much as the Tigers used a 27-3 run over the last 8:51 of the first half to put the game away and defeat the Magicians 106-49 Wednesday at FedExForum.
Memphis had five players score in double figures and was led by junior transfer Charles Carmouche, who finished with 18 points on 4-of-7 shooting to go along with three rebounds and three assists.
Freshman forward Tarik Black led the way on the glass for the Tigers, pulling down eight boards to go along with 15 points. Drew Barham (13), Wesley Witherspoon (12), and Angel Garcia (10) all finished in double digits.
Memphis finished the game shooting 58.6 percent on 34-58 from the field, including 9-of-21 (42.9 percent) from beyond the arc. The Tigers outrebounded the Magicians 50-28 and scored 43 points off 27 LeMoyne-Owen turnovers.
The Tigers also took full advantage of their superiority in size, scoring 46 points in the paint.
It wasn't pretty at first, but the Tigers used a decisive 27-3 run to close the first half to effectively put the game out of reach. The run was part of a 10 minute stretch spanning halves in which the Memphis defense held LeMoyne-Owen without a field goal.
The Magicians led by as many as eight points in the first half as Gerald Robertson came out on fire from beyond the arc, making his first three from deep to put Memphis in a hole 18-11.
An old fashioned three-point play by Joe Jackson at the 8:08 mark put the Tiger ahead 24-23, and Memphis would hold onto its lead for the remainder of the contest.
Robertson finished with 11 points to lead the Magicians, who finished the game shooting 42.1 percent from beyond the arc. A.J. Nance (10) was the only other Magician to muster double figure scoring.
The Tigers conclude their exhibition slate on Tuesday, Nov. 9, when they take on Christian Brothers at FedExForum. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. (CT).
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