It was quite a wild ride to the 2008 National Championship tonight. Here, in pictures, is a quick chronological look at the pomp and circumstance that surrounded the Kansas-Memphis title bout here in San Antonio...

(Four hours before Armageddon hits. The quiet tranquillity of the stadium you see here won't last for long as the crowd, the teams, the bands, the cheerleaders and the energy start to fill the building.)

(Jim Nantz and Billy Packer are prepping for their first on-camera appearance of the night. Doesn't it look like Nantz is looking straight at the camera as if to ask, "Who the hell is this freak taking a picture of me?")

("Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up." ESPN's Shelley Smith is about to give a court-side pre-game report.)

(Ya' gotta love CBS hoop dude Gregg Doyel. Not only does he know his roundball stuff, but he also sported the coolest haircut among the Final Four media throng. Dig the Mohawk Gregg. Although he did tell me it was only temporary because his slight bald spot is exposed more with this cut.)

(The Memphis dancers and Pouncer the Tiger are keyed up for tip-off.)

(Who's more fired up, the Kansas dancers or the dudes in the lower sections that are leering at the Kansas dancers?)

(Of course, no Final Four would be complete without Jesse Jackson, right? Here, he and Houston Phi Slamma Jamma alum Clyde Drexler are chatting it up with a mutual friend.)

(Soon after, Hall-of-Famer Bill Russell happened to pass by and made this a trio of famous people all within the frame of my camera lens.)

(For the injured Roderick Stewart, this was the only way to get around the Alamodome before the game.)

(This is the Memphis Tigers walking out of the locker room on their way to the court. As you can see from some of the players that are laughing, they were loose and even quite jovial at this moment, seemingly at ease with the big game ahead of them.)

(KU, on the other hand, walked out a few minutes later and were very quiet and serious in demeanor. I didn't think this was a good sign for the Jayhawks.)

(ESPN roundball guru Andy Katz is caught courtside looking for another story to break.)

(KU seemed a step slow in the early going, although Mario Chalmers is providing some in-your-face D here.)

(At halftime, both teams walked amongst each other on their way to the locker rooms and to my surprise there was no trash talking at each other. Unlike on the way to the court to start the game where the two teams stood in the tunnel one behind the other and a couple of F-bombs were tossed back and forth - there's a picture of that in one of the earlier entries.)

(The dreadfully shy Dick Vitale gives Patrick Ewing a hug after being introduced at halftime of the game as part of the Hall of Fame class of 2008.)

(As the game went on, you could see John Calipari's body language and expressions change as the score tightened.)

(Ya' nervous there? I bet so. This Memphis dance girl had to catch her breath as she saw Kansas start making its move in the waning minutes of the game.)

(Check out this look that Calipari was shooting at Joey Dorsey. Ouch. Coach Cal was not particularly happy with his enforcer after he fouled out of the game in regulation.)

(As was their bugaboo all season long, the Tigers couldn't hit their free throws - even though Calipari swore up and down that the poor charity stripe percentage was not a big worry of his. Here Derrick Rose tosses up another late-game brick.)

(This was my view of Mario Chalmers' game-tying shot at the buzzer. Sorry for the slight blur to the picture. Then again, this whole final sequence seemed to go as fast as a blur anyway.)

(The scoreboard and the confetti didn't lie. Kansas wins the game and the national title. The jumbotron camera is fixed on MU's Joey Dorsey as he leaves the court.)

("Did this really just happen?" Chris Douglas-Roberts can barely look up as he makes the long walk back to the locker room.)

(The Jayhawk radio crew wrangles Chalmers up for a post-game interview. Doesn't that guy look like a slightly heavier version of James Carville?)

(Coach Self gets his post-game query from Jim Nantz. This is the one media interview every college coach dreams of doing.)

(Jim Gray, manning the mic for CBS Radio, gets second dibs on Self after the TV crew is done with him.)

(Funny thing I found out about the post-game celebration... See the KU player holding up the "Champions" newspaper - something that is very common for teams that win the football national championship. Now, notice the player behind him taking the paper out of his hands...)

(This is J.D. Hamilton of the NCAA, he has a wad of those faux "Champions" papers in his hands. J.D. would later tell me that those newspapers aren't allowed to be shown because only those advertisers that are "corporate champions" to the NCAA are allowed to have a post-game presence at the Final Four. So this fake Lawrence paper printed out well beforehand proclaiming Kansas as the national champs had to be confiscated.)

(To the victors go the nylon spoils. Mario Chalmers is relishing his turn up on the ladder after the game.)

(... and one last shot of the Kansas Jayhawks holding up the rather blandly-styled NCAA basketball trophy. Ever wonder what happens to the shirts and hats that were pre-printed with "Memphis - National Champions" on them? They are set in a locked room in the bowels of the stadium and later set ablaze by the NCAA, never to be seen again.)

Continue reading "Final Four: The National Championship Game In Pictures" »

Posted by Eric Sorenson at 03:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

SAN ANTONIO -- You have to feel bad for Memphis coach John Calipari, who had a great team and a great season, but must be pained by the missed opportunities in tonight's championship game.

Even the hot UofM dancers had a hard time handling the stress...

Billy says, "Damn. I screwed the pooch on my bracket!"...

But Mr. Dunk-the-ball-then-grab-it-so-they-can't-inbound-it deserves a long walk tonight...

Posted by Eric Sorenson at 12:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO -- Kansas has scoreboard...

Kansas has cutting nets...

Kansas also has its Self...

Posted by Eric Sorenson at 12:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO -- Kansas out 6-0 to start OT. Memphis has the ball with 2:29 left in OT and Kansas up, 69-63.

. . . Memphis 10-of-17 at the free throw line in regulation.

. . . How huge is that negated three-pointer from Rose? It was the right call of course.

. . . And Memphis is really missing Dorsey in the post.

. . . A bad three-point attempt by Anderson, too.

Posted by David Scott at 11:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO -- OK, Coach Cal ... guess what? We're not going to believe you from now on when you say free throws won't be a problem.

Here's a shot of Derrick Rose's choke job (following CDR's choke job) that helped KU send the game into OT:

Posted by Eric Sorenson at 11:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO - Forty-four second left in the game, Memphis up 2 with the ball and 19 seconds on the shot clock.

CDR missed the front end of a one and one and Arthur answered with a nice shot on the baseline. 62-60.

Give the ball to Rose.

Posted by David Scott at 11:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO - Joey Dorsey fouls out with six points and two rebounds, but every point was big and he was 3 of 3 from the field. Tigers up six, 62-56 with 1:23 left.

It's never easy.

Posted by David Scott at 11:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO - Kansas has now begun to foul and Robert Dozier is the first victim and he makes his two shots. Kansas answers with an Arthur jumper. With 1:54 left in the game, Memphis is up 60-53.

. . . Attendance 43,257.

. . . Taggart who had been awful most of the game gets a huge bank shot to go with 2:45 left in the gamne to keep the Memphis lead at 58-51.

Posted by David Scott at 11:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO - Yes he did. Final Four MOP-in-waiting Derrick Rose banked in a two-pointer from deep with the shot clock at zero and 4 minutes left in the game to put tthe Tigers up 56-49. His left foot was just inside the line and the officials reviewed the play during the under-4:00 timeout to make the proper call. The shot came on a broken in-bounds play.

Good biut of officiating.

Posted by David Scott at 11:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO - Kansas's box and one experiment is over but they might want to bring it back and use it on Derrick Rose who has taken over this title game in every way imaginable. Rose now has 15 points (12 in the second half) and the Tigers lead 54-47 with just over 5 minutes left in the game.

. . . Tony Barbee and Bruiser Flint are sitting next to each other and in what looks to be excuciating pain on each play.

. . . CDR picked up a foolish foul with 6:20 left. It was his third and sent Willie Kemp into the game. He got a steal right away and then made a sloppy pass in transition on an alley-oop attempt to Dozier.

. . Bill Russell looks thoroughly disinterest. He's in a red sweater, gray pants and has white NBA socks on with black casual shoes. He's still the meanest looking dude in the building.

Posted by David Scott at 11:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO-- The longer the game goes, the more animated Memphis coach John Calipari seems to get. He has been gyrating, screaming and fist-pumping like a whirling dervish this second half. Here he is in one of his "calmer" moments:

And this was the KU fans reaction to the Alamodome jumbotron showing former KU coach Roy Williams in the crowd.

(See? Kansas fans still love Roy. So can we all just move on now?)

Posted by Eric Sorenson at 11:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO - Memphis has picked up its defensive intensity considerably and is up slightly in rebounding, holding a 10-8 edge in the second half. The Tigers lead 49-47 with 8:08 left in the game.

Derrick Rose now has 10 points, seven in the second half.

. . . On Robert Dozier shot and foul in the lane with 8:49 left Calipari got as animated in reacting as I've ever seen him.

. . . Kansas is Box and oneing CDR now (he has a game-high 15 points) and it looks like Chalmers has drawn the CDR assignment.

Posted by David Scott at 10:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO-- Strange as it sounds, Kansas and Memphis walked intermingled with each other to the locker rooms and not a single word was said to anybody from either team. In this day and age, that's an upset in itself. I'll see if anything is said when they come out for the second half.

Oh, also, they announced the college basketball Hall of Fame class of 2008. Here's a picture of them. (Special thanks to ESPN's Shelley Smith, who allowed me to stand in the spot where her seat was.)

(I didn't hear the entire class, but second to left is Adrian Dantley, followed by Patrick Ewing, Akeem Alojuwon, Pat Riley, some lady and Dickie V.)

Posted by Eric Sorenson at 10:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

SAN ANTONIO-- When Shawn Taggart drove toward the goal, trying to get a foul call but instead just forced up a wild shot that flew out of bounds, Calipari took him out immediately. He sat him down on the Tiger bench and said, "You've got two fouls! You're not going to get that call. If you're not going to get the call, don't just throw it away!"

(Taggart after getting called for his second foul earlier in the game)

Posted by Eric Sorenson at 09:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO - A little bit ragged to start and some poor shot seletcion by Memphis but the Tigers lead 9-5 with 15:36 left in the half. Memphis is 4 of 8 from the field.

. . . Dorsey scored the game's first bucket 2-0, a good sign for Tiger fans.

. . . Antonio Anderson turnover leads to breakaway and then a hard foul by Anderson on Rush.

. . . CDR on Rush, Antonio Anderson on Collins, Dorsey on Kaun, Rose on Robinson and Taggart on Arthur.

. . . Tigers very loose during introductions boucning all around and creating a circle. Chants of "JOEY, JOEY" for the first time tonight.

. . . The scoreboard is in proper order tonight, something that wasn't true for the start of Saturday's first game.

. . . Willie Kemp was very loose in warm-ups, bouncing and dancing and bumping teammates. If he and Mack can give a lift off the bench, Memphis will be in very good shape.

. . . Pouncer the Tiger mascot in my favorite blue Elvis jumpsuit with glitter.

Posted by David Scott at 09:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO-- As the two teams were standing in the darkened tunnel you see below, some Memphis players turned around and started yackin' back at the Jayhawks who were standing behind them.

Pierre Niles and Robert Dozier (who you can sort of see in the background of the picture) of Memphis were the biggest trashers, even going so far as to throw out a few "f___ y__!" yells back at the Kansas players. The KU players were yelling stuff back as well, but I couldn't hear them as well from where I was standing.

Boys. Boys.

Posted by Eric Sorenson at 09:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

SAN ANTONIO - All that's left is prediction time, keeping in mind that Memphis is a 1.5 point favorite with an over/under of 146.

Jerry Palm predicts Memphis, 82-76
David Scott predicts Memphis, 85-75

Let's get it on!

. . . Bill Russell is seated over my left shoulder wearing a black Celtics cap.

Posted by David Scott at 09:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO - The Memphis celebfans are pouring in and so far we have Mrs. Fields (Debbi Fields), who lives in Memphis with her husband, Mike Rose. Mmmmmm, cookies.

Also here are in the Memphis section are the Governor of Tennessee, Phil Bredesen, creator of the dribble drive offense, Vance Walberg, Calipari coaching pal and Manhattan head coach Barry Rohrssen and former Elvis running mate, Jerry Schilling.

Some ex-Memphis athletes include Larry Keenon, Hank McDowell, Isaac Bruce, DeAngelo Williams and Cedric Henderson.

. . . National Anthem is complete and we're inching closer to game time.

Posted by David Scott at 09:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO - We're less than an hour from tip and both teams are warming up on the court. Kansas in their red shooting jerseys and blue uniforms is shooting at the basket in front of the Posting Up Perch. Memphis players have a combination of white and blue shooting shirts over their white uniforms.

. . . Jesse Jackson, who a week ago spoke to the Tigers at practice, is right behind the Posting Up perch, two rows behind the Calipari family.

. . . Officials have not yet been announced but we did see Ed HIghtower near the River Walk today, so unless he's a back-up official, it's likely he will be one of the three.

. . . The Calipari family is directly behind our perch in their usual seating order of, from left to right, Ellen, Megan, Erin and Bradley.

. . . Penny Hardaway is here again, of course, and was scheduled to be a guest on the CBS College Sports Network pre-game show.

Posted by David Scott at 08:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO-- Here in San Antonio, the Alamo is the center point of town and a national landmark.

But in 1982, Ozzy Osbourne visited.

On a cool February night, the Ozzman, drunk in his hotel room, decided to don one of his wife's dresses and go out and about to take pictures of the city. At one point, while allegedly changing film, he decided to lift up his dress and urinate on a crumbling part of a wall. Turns out it was a wall on the side of the Alamo.

So when the police spotted him, he got busted. He was then banned from performing in San Antonio. Soon after, Ozzy did a benefit concert raising $10,000 for the Alamo. The ban was lifted in 1992.

- Turns out that Jon Feinstein doesn't like Robert Earl Keen.
Keen's twangy music and performance was being televised on the big screens around the AlamoDome and the sound was - I admit - a tad on the loud side. But Jon got up from the table he was sitting at near me and said, "Now if we could just get the staff to turn this sh#@t down."

- Just thought I'd say it here... Palm is better.
Jerry Palm nailed all 65 teams in the NCAA tournament in his projections he does right before the field is announced. He also got all the seedings correct too, just missing out on a few teams going to different venues. How did Bracketologist Joe Lunardi do? According to an XM basketball radio host, also at my table, Lunardi missed 11 of the teams in the 2-through-5 seeds. "He would've done a better job flipping a coin to get those picks."

Posted by Eric Sorenson at 08:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO - There are two signs that have caught our attention more than most at this year's Final Four. The first is the NCAA's catchy, "The Road Ends Here." Problem is, Robert Earl Keen (still on the big screens live from HemisFair) has a song (that we hope he does soon) titled "The Road Goes on Forever." The rest of the lyrics include the line, ". . .and the party never ends."

So which is it? Does the road end here or does the dance never end? For one team it will be the end, but for the other the party will never end.

Our other favorite sign was posted coincidentally at our favorite drinking establishment of the fortnight here, The Sirius Club on Losoya. It read, "Stay Thirsty, My Friend."

That's exactly what these teams have done to get here. They stayed hungry, thirsty and composed.

Okay, we're getting all clichey on you now, but you get the point. Big night, big game. Enjoy it.

. . . And yes, we've stayed reasonably thirsty despite our frequent visit to Richard the Barkeep at Sirius.

. . . In between songs of REK, the Big Board is showing each of tonight's teams' Road to San Antonio.

. . . Our Posting Up Perch is located two rows behind the Memphis bench, a much better seat than Saturday.

. . . REK just did "Merry Christmas from the Family," one of his classic. We're guessing he either closes or encores with "Road Goes on Forever."

. . . Fans have been allowed in and slowly they are filling seats throughout the Alamodome.

. . . We've got to go get some nourishment so we'll leave you with a link to our feature from last year's Monday night game on the talented writer (and best singer) of "One Shining Moment."

Posted by David Scott at 07:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO - Welcome back to the Alamodome for tonight's national championship game between 38-1 Memphis and 36-3 Kansas. About 20 minutes ago the 2008 Selection Committtee gathered at midcourt around the Final Four logo for a "team picture."

The big boards in the arena are currently simulcasting the concert from HemsiFair Park and The Big Dance featuring Robert Earl Keen, which we consider vert fortuitous. We were torn between coming here early and going to see REK, a long-time favorite, and decided it was better to actually do the work we are paid for.

. . . In a first for the Final Four, the newly announced Hall of Fame class will be introduced at halftime of the game. Dick Vitale has been floating on air all weekend.

Posted by David Scott at 07:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO - It's another sunny, warm day in Spurstown and we took a leisurely stroll over to the Memphis team hotel at the Crowne Plaza to get a feel for the gameday temperature of Tiger Tooters.

But first, an update on Memphis freshman Derrick Rose who had a stomach ache yesterday that kept him out of media interviews. Rose's brother, Reggie, said the freshman phenom is feeling better and will, as expected, be ready to go tonight. Reggie also said that Derrick is curtailing his gummy bear intake.

. . . Outside the team hotel, a band - complete with three gyrating ladies - entertained a throng of probably a thousand or more blue-clad Memphis fans in a raucous event sponsored by the Memphis Alumni Association. Tables of Tex-Mex food were spread out on the street and cash bars dotted the perimeter of the stage. One of the dancing ladies shook a blue and white pom-pom and used her Tiger tail as a microphone for the band's rendition of "It's All Right Now."

. . . For JD Moorehead of Wichita, Kansas things are more than just all right now. A native Memphian, Moorehead and his 9-year-old son Luke made an 11 hour car ride to San Antonio in order to root on the Tigers. "I grew up going to games in the old Coliseum and watching Larry Finch," said Moorehead who held a hand painted sign that read: "Kansans for Memphis. "I've yet to meet another Memphis fan in the six years I've lived in Kansa and I have one neighbor who is just a huge KU fan."

As for third-grader Luke, who was feeling the effects of his historic road trip, the youngster actually prefers another blue team, the Duke Blue Devils. "When Duke's not playing," his dad said, "he roots for Memphis."

Tonight, young Luke will be a Tiger backer all the way.

. . . We're in the final hours before the 9:21 ET tip and we're going to get into full pre-game mode with a poolside nap and pre-game stretching exercises. Jerry Palm and myself will begin blogging live from the Alamodome in the 6 p.m. ET hour and then be with you (technology permitting) throughout the National Championship Game.

Tell your friends, bring your family and sit back as CSTV.com caps off the season in style.

Posted by David Scott at 02:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO-- I have to admit, my fellow colleague, and RPI guru, Jerry Palm put it best after the final buzzer's echo was still ringing throughout the arena, "UCLA just never did stop their guards. Their three starting guards score almost all of their points."

Sorry to plagiarize Jerry, but that's pretty succinct.

(Unfortunately, Coach Howland and his two star players sit through another painful post-game press conference at the Final Four)

Continue reading "Final Four- Bruins Lay in Final Four Ruins Again" »

Posted by Eric Sorenson at 09:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO - Leading 73-60 with 1:03left in the game, Memphis appears ready to advance to the Championship game on Monday night as UCLA is now in full-on foul mode and the Tigers are, as Calipari foretold, hitting the free throws that matter.

Just another very impressive performance from Memphis and one that will likely make the Tigers a small favorite on Monday evening.

We'll be turning things over to Jerry Palm and Josh Herwitt for our second game so please stay tuned and keep on Posting Up with CSTV.com.

Posted by David Scott at 08:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This cat knows his team has won. 78-63.

Posted by Eric Sorenson at 08:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO-- These Memphis band members might as well be playing "Taps" for UCLA.

Once again, it doesn't seem to be the Bruins turn to win it all. Memphis is now up 65-52. Barring a hah-yuuuuuge comeback that makes me eat crow by the pound, I'm thinking it's Memphis moving on to play on Monday.

Just one athlete too many for the Tigers.

Posted by Eric Sorenson at 08:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO-- UCLA is shooting itself in the foot.

A pair of unforced turnovers and a blocking call on Lorenzo Mata-Real have really put the Bruins behind the eight-ball, down 10 with 7:53 remaining.

(Ben Howland knows it may be "Love-time" in the late stages here)

Posted by Eric Sorenson at 07:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO - Memphis continues to withstand rallies by UCLA and now leads 59-48 with 7:53 left in the game.

. . . Collison with four fouls for UCLA, likewise for Dorsey of Memphis. Collison's 4th came on a offensive foul just before this media timeout.

. . . Dorsey with a dozen boards and zero points, a stat line that will look just fine for the big fella if the score holds up.

. . . Westbrook with 17 to lead UCLA.

. . . Memphis shooting 43 percent for the game; UCLA at 40 percent.

. . . By the way, the "smidge" of an edge that I gave the UCLA cheer squad in the first half became a full blown monster advantage after the ladies' halftime performance in denim mini-skirts and cowboy boots. Oh my, as Dick Enberg might say.

. . . An alley oop miss by Dorsey from Rose with 10:23 left would have brought the Tiger faithful into full eruption. Dorsey just couldn't handle the pass.

Posted by David Scott at 07:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO - Memphis leads 54-47with 11:41left and CDR now has a game-high 21 points as UCLA can't find a way to contain the plastic and elastic Tiger.

UCLA trimmed the Tiger lead to 50-45 with 13:32 left in the game prompting a John Calipari timeout. Out of that timeout, CDR was re-inserted and scored to move it back to 7.

. . . Joey Dorsey has 10 rebounds to lead all boarders and his performance throughout the NCAA Tournament could very well move him into the first round of the 2008 NBA Draft. He has shown what a force he can be especially when he's focused and consistent.

Posted by David Scott at 07:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO-- The Bruins cut the Tiger lead to five at just under the 14 minute mark, but MU quickly came back with a steal and dunk and a pair of free throws by Chris Douglas-Roberts to put the Tigers back up by eight with 12:20 left.

Key stat to keep in mind: The foul was called on Bruin guard Russell Westbrook, which was his third of the game. However, he is the only UCLAn in foul trouble. For now.

(former voice of the Bruins, Dick Enberg is on hand to take in the action of his old team)

Posted by Eric Sorenson at 07:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO - Memphis now leads 48-41 with 14:55 left in the game. The Tigers had built it out to 11 but once again UCLA has crept back in and not allowed the game to get out of control.

. . . Memphis got out to a seven point lead with 1:15 gone in the half after a 4-0 mini-run and ben Howland called a time out.

. . . Joey Dorsey whistled for his third foul with :52 gone in the half. Looked like a questionable call, but from our vantage everything does.

. . . Memphis used 9 players in the first half, UCLA used 7. But Niles for Memphis played just one minute.

. . . Penny Hardaway is over our right shoulder behind us and eating nachos. We'd like some nachos right about now. And a cerveza, por favor.

. . . Sean Miller, Bruiser Flint and Tony Barbee, three Calipari confidants are all seated together behind the Tiger bench. Miller also is eating nachos. It's a conspiracy I tell ya.

. . . Keep forgetting to mention the unbelievable work that CSTV's Danielle Santoro and her two-man Memphis 24/7 crew have done over the past three weeks. They've been embedded with the Tigers.

. . . Hashim Bailey evidently had to remove his tribute headband to Andre Allen and just wore it for it pre-game. I believe the NCAA has a ban on written messages on gear.

. . . UCLA was 3 of 5 from 3-point land in the first half; UCLA was 3 of 9.

Posted by David Scott at 07:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO -- UCLA needs to come out with a new purpose in the second half.

Despite appearances here, the Bruins haven't looked very good so far in this game. It's Memphis 38-35 at the half, but the story is that Memphis has "sped" the Bruins up so far in this game and are keeping the Bruins in an uncomfortable position so far.

At the half the Bruins have shot just 12-for-27 (44%) and have been boxed out well, getting only four offensive rebounds so far in the game. If not for an 8-3 free throw advantage, it would be a much bigger Tiger lead.

As expected, Love leads the scoring with 11 points and has added six rebounds.

Posted by Eric Sorenson at 07:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO - Stat check:

FG % - M, 16 of 40, 40 percent; UCLA, 12 of 27 44 percent
(Memphis got 13 more shots up thanks to nine offensive rebounds.

Rebounds, Memphis 20-19

FTs - UCLA, 8 of 10, M, 3 of 4

Leading scorers: Love with 10 and Westbrook with 11
CDR with 13 and Rose with 11

Love has 6 rebounds to lead UCLA; Memphis led by Dorsey's 8 (he laso has two assists)

Turnovers - Memphis, 3 and UCLA 8

Darren Collison leads all with 3 dimes.

Fast break points, Memphis 10-0
Paint points, Memphis 18-14

Largest lead, seven by Memphis.

. . . Chatted with new Indiana coach Tom Crean for a minute and he said, "I think he'll get it," referring to good friend Calipari. "They just couldn't bury them. The first seven, eight minutes will be key."

Posted by David Scott at 07:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO - Memphis had some poor clock management down the stretch and what could have been a seven or eight point lead at the break is just 3 as Memphis leads 38-35.

A very competitive first half and great action at both ends of the floor. Some late big man foul trouble for Memphis allowed UCLA to score inside more easily in the final two minutes of the half.

We'll have halftime stats shortly.

. . . As Eric Sorenson pointed out, big John Thompson sports the black Crocs with his back suit. As a fellow Croc lover, we give big ups to Big John for that fashion statement.

Posted by David Scott at 07:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO-- Ben Howland just took point guard Darren Collison aside and told him that he "needs to control things more out there." The pace is still in Memphis' favor, at 38-33 with 37 seconds left in the half.

(Howland giving some pointers to Collison during a timeout.)

Posted by Eric Sorenson at 06:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO - Memphis leads 32-27 with 3:57 left in the half. Shawn Taggart has continued his solid play from the Texas game and now has 7 points. Now, with 2:19 left, 36-29 and in comes Pierre Niles. Hello, Big Fella!

. . . Calipari is doing a nice job of giving Derrick Rose some breathers, knowing that his main back-up Andre Allen is not available.

. . . Westbrook continues to lead UCLA in scoring with 11.

. . . Co-blogger Eric Sorenson has been having even worse technical issues than us and has wisely gone to the upper deck to shoot some photos that I'm sure he'll be bale to post for halftime.

. . . Joey Dorsey with his second foul with 3:12 left in the half. He is replaced by Taggart.

. . . Forgot to mention the Calipari family of Ellen, Megan, Erin and Bradley are sitting behind the Memphis bench. Bradley has some killer blue glasses that flash. Jerry Palm would like those considering his blinking blue necklace choice of last night.

. . . Great battle of cheer/dance teams in thsi one. Edge: UCLA by a smidge. Okay, a bit more than a smidge. California dreamin' indeed.

Posted by David Scott at 06:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO - Memphis leads 28-23 with 12:43 gone in the half.

Derrick Rose has several highlight reel moves already and there's still 7:17 left in the half. He has eight points and two rebounds.

Memphis shooting 46 percent and UCLA at 45 percent from the field.

. . . CDR with a super block in transition.

Posted by David Scott at 06:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO - A technical note: we seem to back with regular service so we abandoned the Cover It Live option. Sorry for any confusion. Snafus happen.

We're 8:14 into this one and both teams are scoring with relative ease and relative proficiency. UCLA is 8 of 14 from the field and Memphis is 9 of 15. Those first game of the semifinals jitters that sometimes plague the early game are a non factor so far.

Memphis is liking the pace and if the game continues this way, it favors the Tigers we'd think.

. . . CDR with double digits in scoring (10 points) less than eight minutes into the game.

. . . Russell Westbrook has seven points for UCLA, CDR leads Memphis.

. . . Scoreboard issues have been resolved. You'd think the NCAA might check things like that, right? Or is that another thing you can't blame the NCAA for?

Posted by David Scott at 06:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO -- At just under the 11 minute mark of the first half, the Bruins usual grind-it-out-and-defend style is taking a back seat to the track meet Tigers.

It's 24-21 Memphis, and you can see it's frustrating Ben Howland... or maybe he always looks salty out there.

(Whatever Coach Calipari is drawing up, it's working for the Tigers.)

Posted by Eric Sorenson at 06:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO - I don't want to say that John Calipari doesn't miss a beat, but the guy sure does multi-task well. Good friend and new Indiana coach Tom Crean and his wife are sitting in the corner behind the Memphis bench and Calipari spotted him just as line-ups were being announced and sent a team manager over to try and upgarde Crean's seats. Didn't seem to work, but it does go to show that Calipari probably is fairly loose.

. . . Unreal start to this one as Memphis now leads 17-12 with 14:22 left in the half. To think, the over/under was 130!

. . . Memphis in man-to-man as usual. UCLA also going man but may be throwing in some junk as well.

CDR with Tigers' first four points.

. . . Backstage celebs included Bill Russell and Tim Robbins, a regular Final Four attendee.

. . . Players point totals are reversed under the big board's scoring with Memphis players listed under UCLA and vice versa.

Posted by David Scott at 06:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO-- Josh Shipp is bombs away in the firrst four minutes of this one. John Calipari keeps looking up to see the replays of his team getting out-hustled so far. Calipari was just in the grill of Robert Dozier, saying, "Don't let that ball get behind you. C'MON!"

It's now UCLA 10-8 at the 16 minute mark

(Meanwhile new Indian coach Tom Crean can't see over the media seats, Memphis cheerleaders or Tiger bench. He's looking to get re-assigned seats.)

Posted by Eric Sorenson at 06:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO - Due to some technical difficulties within the Alamodome and on the wireless network, we are reverting to using the Cover It Live software for the remainder of our blog for the first game. We will do our best to stay within the paramaters of the NCAA Blogging guidelines but can not risk being shut down in the midst of posting or slow connections. Our apologies in advance should we consider to encounter such issues.

Posted by David Scott at 05:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO -- Here are the starters for tonight's Memphis-UCLA game:

UCLA:
G- Russell Westbrook
G- Darren Collison
F- Josh Shipp
F- Luc Richard Mbah a Moute
C- Kevin Love

Memphis:
G- Antonio Anderson
G- Chris Douglas-Roberts
G- Derrick Rose
F- Robert Dozier
F- Joey Dorsey

Game Officials:
Karl Hess
Curtis Shaw
JD Collins

Posted by Eric Sorenson at 05:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO -- That's right, you read correctly. The seats from where this picture was taken were $450 for two seats for all three games. So if any of you out there are thinking of trying to get seats for the 2009 Final Four through that lottery system, THIS IS (approximately) WHERE THEY WILL BE.

Okay, maybe they'll have a few rows better than this. But it's your money.

Posted by Eric Sorenson at 05:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO - Both teams were allowed to begin shooting around at 4:06 local time and both began simultaneously. Memphis is in home white uniforms with dark blue shooting jerseys and the Bruins are in light blue road uniforms with matching shooting jerseys.

Posted by David Scott at 05:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO - Fans were allowed in at 4:15 and a smattering of them have settled into their seats. Lots of a similar color blue with the Memhis and Kansas fans and then lighter blue with the UCLA and UNC fans.

Members of the Selection Committee gathered at mid-court for what appeared to be a photo op and both Dick Enberg and Lesley Visser did live stand-ups from opposite baselines for the CBS cameras.

. . . Just spent some time with the Memphis Tigers coaching staff and they once again did everything but say, "The hay's in the barn." But it is.

. . . The Tigers tookt the court at 3:56 local time to loud cheers from their faithful.

. . . Reserve Hashim Bailey has a white adidas headband on and on the back he has written "#15" in black Scripto on the back of it to honor suspended teammate Andre Allen. Robert Dozier is the only other Tiger that wears a headband regularly but there is no writing on his.

. . . Our first game will feature live-blogging from myself and cohort Eric Sorenson who has been following UCLA through its tournament run. Sorenson is currently taking photos in the arena, including his annual shot from the worst, farthest seat in the house. He'll be back with that soon.

. . . Don't forget ASAP Sports if you're looking for transcripts from this weekend (now featuring yesterday's press conferences).

Posted by David Scott at 05:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SAN ANTONIO - Good afternoon and welcome to balmy, sunny San Antonio where there's not a cloud in the sky nor a fan in the arena. Every paid seat in the Alamodome contains a Final Four seat cushion on it and red-jacketed ushers are beginning to man their assigned sections.

The River Walk area is absolutely jammed with lunchtime waits reaching an hour or more at several locations. Fans are swarming the River Walk and surrounding area, including the outdoor block party where Kid Rock is scheduled to perform.

The Posting Up Perch is located behind the Memphis bench which is to the left of the scorer's table (as you face it), about 15 feet beyond the baseline. Clearly CBS's relationship with the NCAA carries no weight for the CSTV.commers, nor would we expect it to beyond the fact that we have more readership and site visits than a good portion of those outlets seated in more advantageous positions. Clearly that doesn't go in to the thinking when assigning seats and it's probably the least of the NCAA's worries, not to mention something you the valued reader could cared less about. However, it will affect our vision on some plays at the other end of the floor so forgive us if we get a call wrong or mis-identify a player.

. . . We'll be back throughout the pre-game with sights and scene from the National Semifinals.

Posted by David Scott at 04:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HOUSTON - Fans started chanting "One More Year" upon the news that Derrick Rose was named the regional's Most Outstanding Player.

Joining him on the all-regional team are Brook Lopez, DJ Augustin, CDR and Joey Dorsey.

. . . Calipari to the crowd: "Thank you to all the Memphis fans. How about this basketball team? What a great day for our univeristy and our city."

Posted by David Scott at 04:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HOUSTON - Memphis played its basketball of the season in this two games of the regional and because of it they now advance to San Antonio next week where they will meet UCLA in the national semifinal. The Tigers won this one, 85-67, and, much to the dismay of many, were able to hit free throws down the stretch. CDR was 12 of 15 from the line, Rose was 7 of 8 and the Tigers were 30 of 36 from the stripe.

Memphis shot 26 of 52 from the field . Texas began the Hack-a-Tiger assault with about four minutes and left and Memphis leading by 20 to no avail.

It was another never-ending Gobstopper for the Tigers as Texas stretched the game with 3-pointers and fouls in the final four minutes.

. . . Calipari pointed to his family as time wore down which started Erin crying on Ellen's shoulder. Derrick rose waved goodbye to the Texas fans with a huge smile on his face.

. . . Abrams and Augustin both helped their numbers with some 3-balls down the stretch, but the job the Memphis guards did on them, coupled with the big man scoring in the paint for Memphis (40-24) was the real story of the game. Abrams finished with 17 points on 6 of 16 form the field (5 of 10 from 3-point land). Augustin had 16 points (4 of 18 and 2 of 6).

. . . Dozier fouled out with 3:36 left in the game. He had two points and seven rebounds and was 1 of 6 from the field.

. . . Mason fouled out for Texas with 2:47 left in the game. He had 7 points, 7 rebounds and three assists. James fouled out with 46.2 seconds remaining. he had 8 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

. . . We'll stick around for the awards presentation and then work the post-game interviews and have a regional wrap-up for you in our final Hang Time Office Hours of the year later tonight. be sure to check it out and we'll be back with you from San Antonio on Thursday afternoon sometime.

Posted by David Scott at 04:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HOUSTON - Appearing in its third straight Elite Eight, the Memphis Tigers are on their way to the school's third-ever Final Four and the first since 1985. Memphis leads 67-48 with 3:56 left and the Memphis fans are on the verge of total celebration amidst the burnt orange, and some of that burnt orange is heading to the exits.

Abrams and Augustin are now a combined 5 of 25 from the field and have 16 points between them (11 for Augustin).

Joey Dorsey has a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

. . . Not looking like I get an all-regional ballot but my team would be CDR, Rose, Dorsey, Augustin and Justin Mason. Rose will be my regional MVP.

. . . Today's attendance is announced at 32,798. Friday was 32,931.

Posted by David Scott at 04:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HOUSTON - With 8:07 left in the game, Memphis is up 59-43 and Texas is going to need to really turn things around to get back in this one.

Memphis remains at 50 percent shooting from the field (24 of 48) while Texas has dropped slightly since halftime to 17 of 47. Both teams have hit just one 3-pointer this half.

Paint points are now 38-20 in favor of Memphis while rebounding remains close at 30-27 for Memphis.

. .. DJ Augustin is 3 of 14 from the field and AJ Abrams is 2 of 8.

. . . Taggart has had a very solid game off teh bench for the Tigers with 12 points on 5 of 7 from the field. he had four points in the first half.

. . . Dozier picked up his fourth foul with 8:32 left in the game, he was replaced by Dorsey. Pittman missed the free throw that would have given him the 3-point play on the foul.

Posted by David Scott at 03:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HOUSTON - Memphis has weathered an early second half run by Texas to extend its halftime lead by one point, 50-38 with 12:53 left in the game. Joey Dorsey will go to the line to shoot one after being fouled on a basket to put the lead at 12.

The Texas run got to 12-0 as they scored the first six points of the half to trim the lead to 39-34. Taggart ended it with a jumper in the paint over Atchley. Memphis quickly got it back to nine on a Rose dunk.

Damion James scored four of first six points of the half for Texas. He now has eight points and Augustin has 11 to lead Texas.

. . . Rose defedning Augustin, Anderson on Abrams.

. . . Anderson banked in a 3-pointer just under 15 minutes left to put memphis back up by 12.

Posted by David Scott at 03:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HOUSTON - With the the exception of Texas's 6-0 run to end the half, Memphis has to be v ery happy with the way things played out in the first half.

Calipari was able to use eight players for five or more minutes and despite having been outscored 8-4 by the Texas bench, the Longhorns trio of guards had to play all but four minutes of the half (20 for Augustin, 18 each for Abrams and Mason). That wearing down of the gaurds is definitely part of teh Memphis strategy as they have been able to shuttle in Andre Allen, Doneal Mack and Willie Kemp.

No one is any real foul trouble and only 15 total fouls were whistled in the first half, something that definitely favors the Tigers.

. . . Rose was 5 of 6 form the field in the first half, his only miss coming from 3-point land on a shot that rimmed out.

Mack and Kemp are 0 of 4 from 3-point land.

. . . The Tigers met in a circle at halfcourt after watching Dorsey hit a free throw attempt and raised arms and fists in unison.

. . . Texas cheerleaders are in chaps, as is the halftime custom, and we are once again happy for such rituals.

. . . Well, there is a Bish in the house, but it's former President Bush not the sitting one.

Posted by David Scott at 03:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HOUSTON - Texas re-gained a bit of composure toward the end of the half with a couple of sloppy plays by Memphis and now trail 39-28 at the break.

Some quickie stats:

Tigers led in scoring by CDR with 11 and Rose with 10.
Longhorns led by Mason and Augustin with seven each.

Joey Dorsey leads all rebounders with seven.
Mason has six for Texas

Memphis shot 15 of 31 from the field (48 percent) and 2 of 9 from 3-point land.
Texas shot 10 of 27 form the field (37 percent) and 2 of 8 from 3-point land.

Paint points are in favor of Memphis 24-12.
Rebounds are Memphis 18-17.

Turnovers are 8 for Texas, 3 for Memphis.

Rose has four assists to lead all dishers.

Dorsey dunked with 2:40 left on an alley-oop from CDR, then pointed to the Memphis rooters who responded with a chant of "Joey, Joey, Joey."

Posted by David Scott at 03:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HOUSTON - With each attempt to get back in it by Texas and their fans, Memphis seems to have an answer. It got especially loud after Texas trimmed the lead to 12 with just over 4:00 left on a dunk by Pittman, but Memphis answered with a Shawn Taggart bucket off the galss. The score is now 34-20 Memphis with 3:45 left in the half.

. . . Rebounding battles is going to Memphis, 17-15.

. . . Texas has eight turnovers to three for Memphis.

. . . Paint points are 22-8 in the Tigers favor.

. . . A DJ Augustin trey off a block from Clint Chapman trimmed the Memphis lead to 29-18 with 6:26 left in the half, prompting a Calipari timeout.

. . . The daily Dorsey dunk-o-rama came on a leak-out after some great Tiger defense in transition and led to Dorsey two handing a monster flush all alone. It brought the Memphis lead to 13.

Posted by David Scott at 03:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HOUSTON - It's not quite Friday night when Memphis stormed out to a 30-point lead, but with 7:40 left in the half, the Tigers are up 29-13 and have been on a 11-2 run over the last seven minutes.

CDR now has 11 points for Memphis and Rose has 10 points. Mason continues to lead Texas with 7.

The length of Memphis is certainly affecting the shot selection of the Longhorns who are now 5 of 19 from the field (26 percent). Memphis is 11 of 24 (46 percent). Both squads are 1 of 7 from beyond the arc.

. . . It went to 24-13 on Rose steal and dunk at 10:00 mark, then 26-13 8:56 on alley-oop in transition from Rose to Dorsey and finally 29-13 with 8:10 left, CDR lay-up in transition and foul.

. . . Memphis switching up with man-to-man and then zone.

Posted by David Scott at 02:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HOUSTON - With 11:56 left in the half, Memphis is up 20-13 and Texas will have the ball coming out of the timeout.

Memphis is being led by CDR's eight points and Rose's eight. Texas is led by Mason's seven points.

The Tigers are shooting 47 percent from the field (7 of 15) and Texas is at 36 percent (5 of 14).

Paint points are 10-6 in favor of Memphis.

Texas has three turnovers to two for Memphis.

. . . Rose started off 4 of 4 from the field. Not sure he had hit anything but net until his first trey attempt rimmed out in the 12:30-area.

. . . Biggest lead so far is 18-8, Memphis.

. . . Texas has switched to a 2-3 zone.

. . . Barnes inserted Dexter Pittman and Calipari countered with Pierre Niles. That, friends, is some texas-sized beef in the paint. First battle goes to Niles who deflected a rebound off Pittman. Niles stayed for just a miunute.

Posted by David Scott at 02:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HOUSTON - A wonderful start with great intensity at both ends as Memphis leads 13-8 with 15:49 left in the half. CDR has seven early points, Derrick Rose has four, including a rebound and coast-to-coast lay-in that was breathtaking in its speed and control.

Justin Mason has four for Texas. Memphis is 5 of 8 from the field, Texas 4 of 9.

. . . A 5-0 start by Memphis. Ended by Connor Atchley dunk.

. . . A preponderance of burnt orange engulfs the Stadium, but a strong showing by the Tiger faithful as well. But when Texas made a run, it got very loud for the 'Horns.

. . . Calipari and Barnes exchanged a hug pre-game during lay-up lines and then another after line-ups were announced. Looked like Cal made a funny. Nice moments, both of them.

. . . Derrick Rose has a bandage over his right here where he was cut on Friday night. He checked out at 18:37 favoring the eye and was tended to immediately by Memphis medical staff. Andre Allen replaced him. Rose was re-inserted 1:03 later

. . . Texas starts out in man-to-man defense. Memphis also man-to-man but showing some match-up zone it appears.

. . . Calipari using the coacing stool, Barnes not.

Posted by David Scott at 02:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HOUSTON - Some familiar names and faces on the officiating crew this afternoon with veterans Mike Kitts, Bob Donato and Patrick Driscoll. Kitts was in Little Rock last week and had Texas but not Memphis. Donato was in Birmingham last week and Driscoll was in D.C.

. . . Analysis:
This is one of those games that won't be about the Xs and Os as much as it will be the Jimmys and the Joes (cliches work, whaddya want from me?). Both teams are going to run, both have exceptional talent level and both are capable of scoring bursts.

Our two deciding factors in our pick of Memphis (by five or less) are this:

1. The Tigers are likely going to start out in their usual man-to-man defense and will force Texas to make outside shots. The hope being that DJ Augustin had his one breakout game on Friday and they can contain AJ Abrams enough to keep things managable.

2. The depth factor: Memphis has it, Texas doesn't and especially at the guard spot. If Memphis's bulky guards acan wear down the 'Horns, it will be the end of Texas.

. . . Memphis mascot Pouncer has broken out the ref jersey. Nice.

. . . Our CSTV.com Road Trippers are in the house. They're tired but feisty and it brings all new levels of excitement to have them courtside. We love those guys.

Posted by David Scott at 02:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HOUSTON - One of the many interesting tales that came out of John Calipari's extended press conference yesterday was one about a text message he received form former UMass guard Edgar Padilla, who was part of Calipari's Final Four team at UMass.

"It's funny, Edgar Sent a text and said, 'I hope you live that experience all over again, that was one of the greatest experiences of my life,'" said Calipari. "I hope these young men get to experience it , because one of the things I've told them is that they are a Dream Team. I handed out alist to them a couple of weeks ago about what a 'Dream Team' is and there were 15 things on it and I read to my players, and they meet every one of those statements.
And I said, basically, you're a Dream Team. You may never play on a team that gets along this way ever again in your life. You're a Dream Team. And what I'm saying to them now is, let's keep playing just so we can stay around each other for another two weeks, and let's just do it. The experience of going one more step, they will talk about it the rest of their lives."

. . . Probable starters as listed on the stats monitor to our right:

Memphis
Robert Dozier
Joey Dorsey
Anotnio Anderson
Chris Douglas-Roberts
Derrick Rose

Texas
AJ Abrams
Damion James
DJ Augustin
Justin Mason
Connor Atchley

. . .Memphis assistant John Robic just stopped by for some pre-game talk. He appeared relaxed and did everything but say, "The hay's in the barn." But it is and the Memphis coaching staff is comfortable with its gameplan.

Robic said the court configuration wasn't a big issue on Friday night aside form the fact that from the opposing bench, it is near impossible to see the other bench. That becomes a factor when coaches try and see what calls are being made by the opponent but doesn't have that big of an effect on the game itself. Especially in this contest where both teams are mostly about running and not running a whole lot of set plays.

. . . Memphis has taken teh court for pre-game stretching at 12:17 local time. They are in blue shooting jerseys with white uniforms underneath. Antonio Anderson is shwoing some dance moves as he slides onto the court. JOey Dorsey is in all black warm-ups and wearing long pants as has become his custom. He is the lone Tiger in long pants.

. . . Calipari children, Bradley and Megan are already in their seats and have just been joined by Erin. They are in Row 2 behind press row a bit off center-court.

Posted by David Scott at 01:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HOUSTON - Welcome back to Reliant Stadium for today's Regional Final between No. 1-seed Memphis and No. 2 seed Texas. A smattering of fans has begun to filter into the seats and Jim Nantz and Billy Packer are working on some pre-recorded voice-overs just in front of the Posting Up perch (we've been upgraded to the 2nd row today, indicating we behaved well on Friday in the third row).

There had been rumors that President Bush was going to be in the house today, but judging from the way our bags were lightly inspected coming in, we're guessing G-Dub will be watching this one on the White House's flat screen.

. . . The NCAA's Greg Shaheen has been spotted in the building, as he and Committee Chair Tom O'Connor are scheduled to complete their four sites in four days tour of the Sweet 16/Elite 8.

. . . The Tigers have been installed as slight 3 1/2 point favorite by the wiseguys.

. . . Two great columns on today's game that we'll leve you with for now:

Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe.

Geoff Calkins of the Commercial Appeal.

Posted by David Scott at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HOUSTON - We have just concluded the day-before interviews here at Reliant Stadium and we can't say we heard any ourageous comments or taunting from either the Memphis or Texas side.

No real feel for how each team will perform tomorrow, but it is pretty safe to bet that this game will be quite an up and down battle. John Calipari joked that the score could be in the 100s for each side. Or maybe he wasn't joking.

Responded Rick Barnes: "Who did he say was going to win? (Laughter) Did he say? Well, I don't know. We're going to play the way we've played. I think that at this point in time, I think teams are who they are, and both teams -- Stanford, they ran (Friday) night. We knew they were going to run. I think every team that we've played all year has had the attitude that you have to get out and try to get easy baskets; I think so much depends on how you take care of the ball. What you don't want to do is to allow teams to get out from your turnovers, but we are going to run. There's no doubt they are going to run and they are not going to change what they do and we are not going to change what we do. In terms of a score, I don't know. But like our guys were saying, we've got to this point playing a certain way, and we are going to continue to do that."

Said DJ Augustin: "Like Coach said, we are not going to change anything we have been doing all year, we are going to push the ball up and down and we have to do the same thing in defense. It's going to be an up-and-down game but we are just going to play our game."

. . . The cut above Derrick Rose's right eye showed no signs of swelling and despite an early morning headache, Rose said he is fine and the cut won't affect him tomorrow.

. . . A big part of the Texas presser was dedicated to the unsung hero-ness of "glue guy" Justin Mason. Several questions were asked about Mason - who was sitting there sort of bemused by all the attention. You can expect the Mason storyline to be a big one for tomorrow's game. As will the DJ Augustin-Rose storyline. The two played against each other over the summer at an adidas camp and Rose said Augustin got the better of him.

. . . We're working on a column about the two coaches in tomorrow's game and it will be posted at Hang Time in a couple of hours. Please be sure to check it out.

In the meantime, you can venture over to our good friends at ASAP Sports for transcripts of the day's pressers.

Posted by David Scott at 04:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HOUSTON - Memphis wins it 92-74 and will meet Texas on Sunday at 1:20 local time.

Rose finishes with 27 for Memphis, CDR has 25. Suton with 23 and Allen with 20 for State.

We'll be back with you from interview day, tomorrow (Saturday) in the early afternoon.

Posted by David Scott at 12:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HOUSTON - Despite missing much of the second half with an eye injury, Derrick Rose leads all scorers with 25 points and Memphis is up 83-66 with 1:56 left.

We're being assured by the NCAA that this game will actually end at some point.

. . . Tip for Sunday's South region championship game was just announced as 1:20 CT (2:20 ET). That's slightly odd because we thought with Billy Packer and Jim Nantz at this site, they would have had the natural lead-in to "60 Minutes" and be able to set the complete Final Four field. Instead, it will be Cinderella Davidson and Kansas that get the fill the final spot.

. . . Neitzle hit his first field goal of the game with 1:45 left. He is 1 of 7 from the field., with all but one attempt a 3-pointer.

Posted by David Scott at 12:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HOUSTON - If this game were a candy, it'd be a Gobstopper.

Michigan State has, much to Tom Izzo's credit, been able to extend this one and wring out every last second. With 3:58 left in the game, Memphis leads 78-62 and the parade to the free-throw line is going to continue.

Neitzel has still not scored for State.

. . . There's no way you can blame Memphis for its second half lapse. It's too hard to keep up the kind of intensity they brought in the first half and with a 30 point lead at halftime, there's a certain expectation that the game is over, even though 20 minutes still needed to be ticked away.

That said, Calipari will gladly use the second half as further motivation for his Tigers as he tries to convince them that the world is against them on Sunday. And few do such motivtaional games better than the Tiger mentor.

Posted by David Scott at 11:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HOUSTON - With 6 minutes left, it appears that Tom Izzo will foul on every Memphis possession.

Calipari has said he will have his players try and run away and hide, but so far the technique has led to two trips to the line for Rose and Kemp. Rose missed one, Kemp made two.

Posted by David Scott at 11:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HOUSTON - It's not a game, but State has done it's best to make it one after Memphis dozed off for the past ten minutes of game time.

Memphis leads 69-48with 7:39 left in the game.

. . . Drew Neitzel still has not scored in the game. He is 0 of 5 from the field and 0 of 4 from 3-point land.

. . . Rose returned for Memphis with 8:45 left in the game. He is sporting a bandage over his right eye. He score four straight points. Guess they missed him a bit.

Posted by David Scott at 11:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HOUSTON - Memphis is having a hard time creating a flow in this latter portion of the game, understandably so. But Calipari is not happy despite a 61-39 lead with 11:55 left in the game.

Derrick Rose is nowhere to be found and has definitely left the bench area.

. . . Text Message of the night, received at 10:23 CT with Memphis up 61-36, from a weisenheimer friend of Posting Up (FOPU): "Geez, I hope Memphis's free throw shooting doesn't hurt them down the strecth of this one."

Why can't I come up with gold like that?

. . .Memphis Media Moron is now eating my media room-procured Snickers and M&Ms. The chewing seems to keep him quiet, which is nice. Wish they had Laffy Taffy.

. . . Every game tonight has the potential to be double-digit blow-outs. Not exactly what the mothership of CBS was looking for to boost sagging ratings.

Posted by David Scott at 11:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

HOUSTON - We're not going to insult your intelligence by continuing to post at every media timeout. If the game gets below 20, we'll check in. Otherwise just assume the Tigers are maintaining a helathy double-digit lead. It's now 61-29 with 15:56 left in the game.

. ..Derrick Rose got poked in the eye and was taken out of the game when the official stopped play. He doesn't appear to be on the bench - not sure where he is currently.

. . . Tigers went up 34 within first minute of half.

. . . Attendance for this session was 32,931. There were approximately 43,000 seats available, but thhe bulk of those remaining 10,000 are way up in the eaves.

. . . Dozier picked up his third foul of the game a minute into the half, but remained in the game.

. . . A moron media member from Memphis is trying to get his wife to see where he's sitting by waving his hand in the air each time the camera comes down this end of the court. He may need to be beaten. By Joey Dorsey. And Pierre Niles.

. . . Calipari is going to use the rest of the half to get some rest for his starters in preparation for Sunday against Texas.

Posted by David Scott at 11:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HOUSTON - Michigan State could not get anything going in the first half and the stats don't lie in this one:

Memphis won the board battle, 22-6.

Memphis shot 20 of 32 from the field (63 percent).
State shot 9 of 23 (39 percent).

Memphis hit 4 of 10 from 3-point land.
State hit 1 of 6 from beyond the arc.

Suton led State with 11 points.
Rose led Memphis with 12 and four assists (Neitzel led State with four assists).

Just four State players scored (two with 2 points each).
Eight Tigers scored.

Memphis had 3 turnovers.
State had 9.

Memphis had 6steals.
State had 1.

Memphis scored 24 points in the paint to 12 for State.
Memphis netted 16 points off turnovers to 2 for State.
Memphis has 13 second-chance points (10 offensive boards), State has zero.

. . . Tough night for the Big Ten with Wisconsin falling to team from a mid-major conference and State looking at a 30-point deficit to a team from a Mid.

. . . State's last field goal of the half came with 6:17 left in half.

Posted by David Scott at 11:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - Memphis beat writers are already finished with their game stories. Columnists will have no trouble meeting deadline. This one is a joke. Memphis leads 50-20 at half, a score that was punctuated by a breakaway, between the knees dunk by Derrick Rose.

Michigan State may be boarding the bus right now for all we know.

. . .Big fella Pierre Niles checked in for Memphis with a little over two minute sleft in the half and proceeded to take an alley-oop and lay it in for two. if this thing goes this way and Memphis meets texas, we're proposing a sumo match at halftime on Sunday between Niles and Texas's Dexter Pittman.

. . . Back with stats when they get to us.

Posted by David Scott at 10:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HOUSTON - Playing their best half of basketball in the NCAA Tournament, Memphis has taken a commanding 41-20 lead with 3:46 left in the half.

Drew Neitzel looks especially frsutrated and has yet to score for the Spartans. Memphis is lead by CDR's eight points.

. . . Incredibly, Memphis is shooting 67 percent (16 of 24) and State is shooting 9 of 19 (47 percent). But the difference has been on the boards, where Memphis has 14 rebounds to just 4 for State.

. . . A Joey Dorsey steal and tomahawak slam with 5:41 left in the half put Memphis up 37-20. It also started chants of "Joey, Joey, Joey" from the Tiger faithful.

. . . Raymar Morgan picked up his second foul with 7:05 left in the half.

Posted by David Scott at 10:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HOUSTON - Memphis has built up a 13 point lead with 7:32 left in the half and now lead 31-18.

Goran Suton has half of State's points with nine, while Memphis has seven players with at least two points, led by Dozier and Rose with seven each.

. . . Willie Kemp with two early 3-pointers for Memphis. The Tigers are 4 of 7 from beyond the arc.

. . . The Tigers have so many student managers that five of them have been relegated to auxiliary seating in the abandoned Stanford band section.

. . . The Memphis mascot is in its Elvis costume, a personal favorite of ours.

. . . With Anderson out, Rose picked up Neitzel on defense for Memphis.

. . . The video board that had been distracting Memphis players during yesterday's shoot around gets turned off during free throws.

. . . Robert Dozier picked up his second foul with 7:32 left in the half.

Posted by David Scott at 10:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HOUSTON - The Tigers lead 19-13 with 11:42 left in the half. Both teams are shooting well with Memphis at 7 of 10 and State at 6 of 12. Memphis holds a slight 5-2 rebounding edge. Rose has 7 points to lead Memphis and Chris Allen has 5 to pace the Spartans.

. . . State is in a 2-3 zone to start.

. . . A trey by Rose gave Memphis a 10 point lead right around the 15-minute mark. Biggest of the game.

. . . Idong Ibok picked up his second foul with 13:58 left in the half.

. . . Texas players have just entered the arenadium and are sitting down to scout their next opponent. Big cheers all around.

Posted by David Scott at 10:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HOUSTON - On our way back to the media room, we passed by Tom Izzo's good friend, Steve Mariucci, the ex-NFL head coach of the San Franccisco 49ers and Detroit Lions. Nice support for his pal.

. . . The officials for the second game will be Karl Hess, Bert Smith, Tom O'Neill.

. . . Probable starters look like this:
Michigan State
Kalin Lucas
Drew Neitzel
Goran Suton
Raymar Morgan
Drew Naymick

Memphis
Antonio Anderson
Chris Douglas-Roberts
Derrick Rose
Robert Dozier
Jey Dorsey

. . . Slightly more blue in the crowd than green, but we're guessing all those burnt orange fans are going to be Green Teamers.

. . . Okay, we'll give you a prediction in this one - close throughout and Memphis wins by five or less.

Posted by David Scott at 09:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HOUSTON - A big dunk from Joey Dorsey but nothing from Derrick Rose who electrified the open session crowd in Little Rock last week.

The Tigers are winding things down and so will we. We'll be back with you tomorrow night before the first game tips at 6:27 CT and you can also chekc the Hang Time blog on Friday morning for a column on Texas's DJ Augustin.

Thanks for joining us and be sure to stick around Posting Up for all the game action tonight.

Posted by David Scott at 04:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HOUSTON - Calipari has the bigs at one end and the littles at the other and has switched ends to allow for both sets of players to adjust to the shooting background. All players are going through several minutes of shooting drills in rotation.

. . . Andre Allen, who suffered a shoulder injury in the Mississippi State game appears to be fine and Calipari said earlier today that he is expected to play. He's draining 3's from the corner.

. . . Worldwide Wes has been spotted in the bowels of the stadium. Memphis AD RC Johnson is also hovering along press row. Tough to say who's more important to Memphis hoops. We kid, we jest.

. . . Joey Dorsey was complaining about the video screens behind the basket as he shot some free throws. But Dorsey made three shots and Packer - who had the Tigers in a game for CSTV - applauded the big fella. Packer had told Calipari that his team had good form and that the free throw shooting wouldn't be a problem for the Tigers.

. . . All of the Tigers are taking free throws.

Posted by David Scott at 04:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HOUSTON - The No. 1 seed Memphis Tigers have taken the floor for their open practice session. John Calipari was the first man out and a handful of Tiger fans cheered for their team. Robert Dozier was the first player on the court.

The Tigers will have a real practice at the Rockets practice facility immiediately after this open session, so they will just have a light workout for the crowd.

Calipari's son, Bradley, 11, has already adjusted to the backdrop and is draining some deep shots.

. . . There is one stool on the carpeted fringe of the court in front of each bench where, we presume, the head coach will be able to sit if he chooses. Calipari looked at the stool and shook his head.

We looked at the stool and got thirsty for a beer.

Posted by David Scott at 04:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HOUSTON - Welcome to Reliant Stadium for the South Regional games, being hosted by Rice University and the Univeristy of Houston. This is one mammoth stadium and it sits next to the building that used to be called the Eighth Wonder of the World, the Houston Astrodome. Reliant, by that logic, is the Ninth Wonder.

The set-up for this regional is a first-time experiment by the NCAA (also being used at Ford Field in Detroit, where Jerry Palm will describe the action for Posting Up and CSTV.com). The court is elevated and placed in the middle of the football field with seating brought down close to the court. The endzones have been draped off with black curtains, but the rest of the seating under the retractable roof (which is closed, wiseguy) is available for fans and tickets still remain for the three games on Friday and Sunday.

Interviews start shortly with Stanford going at 1 p.m. CT, followed by Texas, Michigan State and Memphis. Stanford has just finished its open practice in front of a small crowd and they are being followed by Michigan State, Texas and Memphis (3:10-4 p.m.)

We'll try and liveblog the latter two open practices after we work some of the interviews.

. . . In the official regional media guide, there is a reference to Memphis as "Memphis State University," a moniker they have not used in some time. Very old school.

Continue reading "Houston: Interviews and Open Practice Day" »

Posted by David Scott at 01:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Welcome to the South Regional, an experiment in both seating and seeding.

Reliant Stadium (in addition to Ford Field) will be guinea pig sites in the NCAA's latest plan to get more fannies into the game. That seating issue - no matter how the experiment in "Hoops in the Round" goes over - is quite secondary to the seeding issue.

No. 1-seed Memphis is suddenly the least liked 1-seed in the history of 1-seeds - taking slings and arrows from all sides. No. 2-seed Texas finds itself with a decided homecourt advantage. Even if Texas coach Rick Barnes doesn't it see that way.

"The bottom line is that in the two games we played in San Antonio (en route to the 2003 Final Four), we had to fight for our lives," said Barnes of his team's wins over UConn and Michigan State. "At this point and time in the season, (playing in Houston) is probably going to be made a bigger deal that it really is."

Still, there is evidence that Everything's Bigger and Better in Texas for the Longhorns. They are 9-4 in NCAA Tournament play in the state of Texas and are undefeated in such games under Barnes(6-0, twice in Dallas and once in S.A.). In fact, Barnes is .500 (9-9) in NCAA games outside the friendly borders, as the Texas head man.

In other Houston seeding intrigue the site also gives us the slightly under-seeded duo of Michigan State (5) and Stanford (3). The Spartans are more of a "4" and Stanford feels like a "2.5." Both - at the very least - are playing their best ball at the most opportune time and quite deserving of playing on the next-to-the-last weekend of the season.

After the jump, some South Regional tidbits that will help you pass the time between now and Friday night's tip from the Texans' home.

Be sure to join us for live-blogging from Media Day on Thursday afternoon from Houston (as well some open practice live-blogging) here at Posting Up.

Continue reading "South Regional: The Day Before the Day Before Preview" »

Posted by David Scott at 08:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - Well, the server gremlins thwarted our attempts to summarize the final couple of minutes of this battle but we'll try and give you the same splendid in-game commentary that we had been executing before the snafus occurred.

Memphis won, by the way, 77-74, depsite missing 17 of 32 free throws and despite having several opportunities at the line to avoid having to hold their breath as Jamont Gordon launched what would have been a game-tying 3-pointer as time expired.

Joey Dorsey - The Bear - did indeed awaken from his slumber with a yeoman's effort of 13 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks for Memphis. It was the senior's 25th career double-double. Chris Douglas-Roberts led the Tigers with 17 points, five rebounds and four assists while Derrick Rose had 17 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

"Joey was just a monster today," said Calipari.

"When he plays like that, our team is so much better. He was everywhere. He was helping everybody. He was great today," said CDR.

Jamont Gordon led State with 21 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.

. . . Calipari was flat-out exhausted after the game. He coached much of the final portion of the contest with all three of his big men saddled with four fouls each. He would eventually lose Robert Dozier and Dorsey to disqualification but was able to deftly rotate his four-foul trio in and out to allow for presence in the paint.

It's pretty clear that Calipari won't be receiving the National Coach of the Year honors that will likely go to Keno Davis, but the arguments that Calipari is all recruiter and no bench coach need to stop and they need to stop now. You don't have three consecutive 30-win seasons, including a 35-1 record this year, without being able to handle the X's and the O's.

Continue reading "Little Rock: Late Wrap-up" »

Posted by David Scott at 09:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - It took six contests here in Le Petite Roche to get it right, but this one has had all the elements. It's been a battle of epic proportions and we're going back and forth now with Memphis leading 66-59 with 4:35 left.

This one feels like an Elite 8 game and every Tiger basket is being answered with a Bulldog bucket. Just tremendous competition and an electric environment.

. . . Dorsey picked up his fourth foul with 8:33 left on a made basket by Varnado. The free throw tied the game at 52-52. The Tigers now has three players with four fouls (Dorsey, Dozier and Taggart). State has two players with three each (Hansbrough and Bailey). Varnado has four.

. . . Hansbrough dove out of bounds and rolled up the NCAA banners on the scorer's table. He almost got wrapped like a pig in a blanket. Great hustle by 'lil Psycho T.

. . . Memphis's missed free throws have been costly, but they have grabbed at least three offensive boards off those misses.

. . . Dorsey has 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Posted by David Scott at 06:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - It took six contests here in Le Petite Roche to get it right, but this one has had all the elements. It's been a battle of epic proportions and we're going back and forth now with Memphis leading 68-59 with 3:35 left.

This one feels like an Elite 8 game and every Tiger basket is being answered with a Bulldog bucket. Just tremendous competition and an electric environment.

. . . Dozier has now fouled out.

. . . Dorsey picked up his fourth foul with 8:33 left on a made basket by Varnado. The free throw tied the game at 52-52. The Tigers now has three players with four fouls (Dorsey, Dozier and Taggart). State has two players with three each (Hansbrough and Bailey). Varnado has four.

. . . Hansbrough dove out of bounds and rolled up the NCAA banners on the scorer's table. He almost got wrapped like a pig in a blanket. Great hustle by 'lil Psycho T.

. . . Memphis's missed free throws have been costly, but they have grabbed at least three offensive boards off those misses.

. . . Dorsey has 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Posted by David Scott at 06:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - Charles Rhodes is jujst abusing Robert Dozier inside. With four fouls on him and Taggart, the Bulldogs are just going to continue to go inside with each possession and dare Memphis to stop Rhodes. It's 50-49, Memphis with 9:29 left.

Buckle your seatbelts, folks.

Posted by David Scott at 06:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - Getting down tot he nitty gritty here at the Alltel as State has made a nice comeback to trail by just three, 48-45, with 11:04 left in regulation.

Jamont Gordon is starting to carry the Bulldogs back into this one. He drove the length of the floor for a lay-up then on the next possession hit a trey to cut the Memphis lead to five. A Charles Rhodes dunk cut the Tiger lead to three, where we now stand.

Taggart has been awful for Memphis on its past two possessions with two straight turnovers and the "Mr. Fumbles" hands that Calipari abhors.

. . . Free throw shooting is hurting Memphis. They have connected on 5 of 14 and 0 of 4 in the second half.

. . . Foul trouble is plaguing the Tigers as Robert Dozier picked up his third foul of the game when he fell into Barry Stewart on a 3-point attempt just under 15:00. Stewart converted two of three from the stripe. Dozier then picked up his fourth with 14:14 left. He was replaced by foul-plagued Taggart.

. . . Varnado picked up his third foul a few seconds later when he got Dorsey who hit the lay-in.

Posted by David Scott at 06:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - Memphis had extended to 13 points early in the half, but State was able to climb back in and now trails 42-36 with 15:31 left in the game.

. . . Dorsey picked up his second and third fouls in the span of a minute and had to go to the becnh with 17:12 left in the game. He was replaced by Shawn Taggart. Taggart then picked up his fourth a minute later and Dorsey was re-inserted into the game with 16:38 left. Dicey times for the Memphis big men.

. . . Memphis has been called for four personal fouls in the first four minutes of the half. State has one. In the first half, both teams were whistled for seven fouls each.

. . .Rose to Dorsey on the back door lob dunk on Tigers' first possession of half put them up 38-27.

Posted by David Scott at 06:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - As expected, Memphis was able to use a lot of bodies with the hope of wearing down the fairly shallow Bulldogs. Seven Tigers scored and had 12 bench points. State had five players score and got only 5 points from its bench.

. . . Report from the locke room is that Andre Allen has a slightly sprained right shoulder but will play in the second half. There was nothing physically wrong with Doneal Mack, Calipari probably thought the game was too rough for the lithe guard.

. . . Rebounding edge, Memphis - 27-17 (12 of Memphis's rebounds were on the offensive glass)

Tigers shot 36 percent (13 of 36, 5 of 13)
Bulldogs shot 33 percent (9 of 27, 5 of 11)

Jamont Gordon led State in scoring with 11 points (3 of 8, 2 of 4)
Rose and Kemp led Memphis with nine each (Rose, 3 of 8 and 1 of 3; Kemp 3 of 4, 3 of 4)

Turnovers were State with 4 and Memphis with just 1.

Memphis missed 5 of 10 free throws, State hit 4 of 6.

. . . Taggart is the lone player with 3 fouls.

Posted by David Scott at 06:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - The Tigers used an 11-0 run to close out the half and lead 36-27 at the break.

Andre Allen returned to the bench but did not re-enter the game before half.

Memphis's Doneal Mack didn't see action until 1:12 remained in the half. he replaced Shawn Taggart who has three fouls. Mack hit his first show, a 3-pointer from the top of the key.

Posted by David Scott at 05:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - Some very intense action as Memphis holds a 27-25 edge with 3:07 left in the first half.

Willie Kemp and Derrick Rose each have nine points for Memphis. Gordon has nine for State.

Rebounding is still in favor of the Tigers, 22-16. Varnado has been credited with five blocks and Dorsey with four.

. . . Andre Allen took a hard foul driving to the hoop from Charles Rhodes and went back to the locker room with a trainer. he was replaced by Chris Douglas-Roberts who made on of two free throws.

. . . Dorsey dunk with 6:20 left, another of the monster variety.

. . . Willie Kemp with back-to-back 3-pointers and State looks like they were allowing him to take both. Kemp can storke it, so that strategy could be quite faulty. he hit his third with 4:27 to go and Hansbrough contesting late.

. . . Calipari yanked Antonio Anderson after Jamont Gordon stuck a 3-pointer in his face. Rose then picked up the Gordon assignment.

. . . Derrick Rose is taking it to the hole on almost every catch. he picked up the second foul on Varnado with 4:56 left in the half. Varnado remained in the game.

. . . Taggrt picked up his second foul with 5:35 left in the half and Calipari will have to stcik with him.

. . . State has a staffer on the bench who is wearing pink pants and a sky blue shirt. Think the dude wanted to be easy to pick out on TV? "Hi Mom, it's me your vibrant son."

Posted by David Scott at 05:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - Mississippi State has taken the lead 18-12 on the strength of an 10-3 run. Gordon, hansbrough and Brian Johnson each have 5 points for State. Derrick Rose leads Memphis with six points. The rebounding gap has closed and Memphis now holds just a 15-12 edge.

. . . Memphis is shooting 20 percent from the field (4 of 20) and State is at 41 percent (7 of 17).

. . .Dozier picks up his second personal foul with 8:24 left in the half. He's replaced by Shawn Taggart.

. . . Dorsey has four blocks in the first 12 minutes of the game

Posted by David Scott at 05:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - We're knotted at 11-11 with 11:16 left in the half. State's Ben Hansbrough just picked up his second personal foul of the game, but it apears Stansbury will keep his sophomore guard in the game.

Memphis has 14 rebounds already (8 on the offensive glass) to 6 for State.

. . .Dozier with a nice block in the lane on Rhodes.

. . . Gordon's first three of the game made it 9-8 Memphis with just under 13:00 left. A three by Hansbrough with 11:45 left tied the game at 11-11.

. . . State in a 2-3 zone, Memphis going man-to-man.

. . . Great win for Davidson and a near-miss for Butler.

Posted by David Scott at 05:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - Memphis leads 6-5 with 15:43 left in the half.

Encouraging signs for the Tigers that both Robert Dozier and Joey Dorsey appear focused and ready to play.

The Tigers have opened with some full court pressure and trapped the sideline at halfcourt to force an early State timeout with a minute and a half gone by.

. . . Ben Hansbrough and Jarvis Varnado each have one foul each for the Bulldogs. Keep an eye on Varnado's situation, if he gets in foul trouble that would be a bad thing for State fans.

. . . World Wide Wes is in the house, sitting about 20 rows behind the Tiger bench.

. . . It's an all-adidas sneaker battle in this one.

. . . Good energy in the building and we're sensing a slight edge in blue-clad fans.

. . . Found some egg shaped candies in the media buffet room and they're tasty little treats and likely to amp me up for another 12 hours. They are from Judson-Atkinson Candies and have a hard outer shell and a soft, sugary inside.

Posted by David Scott at 05:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - We got all caught up in the press room watching the fantastic finishes but our responsibility is to you the valued Posting Up reader, so we're back for the tip of this one.

We expect a tight game but ultimately we think the depth of Memphis will wear down the Bulldogs.

Great sign for the Tigers on State's first possession as Joey Dorsey rose above the fray and swatted a shot to set up a Memphis fast break that led to a free throw by Derrick Rose.

Posted by David Scott at 05:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - A look at some of the pertinent final stats from Game 1:

Texas won the board battle, 41-30

Texas shot 43 percent for the game (25 of 58 and 8 of 24 in the second half)
Miami shot 40 percent for the game (22 of 55 and 11 of 24 in the second half)

AJ Abrams finsihed with a game-high 26 points. Damion James had 16 points and 16 rebounds.

Jack McClinton had 18 points to lead Miami, Hurdle had 11 and Raymond Hicks had 10 points including 2 of 3 from 3-point land, with both makes coming in the final seconds. McClinton was 5 of 14 from the field and 4 of 10 from 3-point land.

DJ Augustin had 12 points and 8 assists and 3 steals.

Texas shot 12 of 21 from the free throw line and Miami was 19 of 22.

. . . Officials for the next game are Reginald Greenwood, Ted Hillary and Frank Scagliotta. Our tip will be at 4 p.m. local team.

We're going to (Austin) Peay (can't get enough of the sub-regional-themed joke) and we'll be back for the nightcap.

Posted by David Scott at 04:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - We're on our in-between day here in Le Petite Roche and Miami players and coach Frank Haith are starting their press room/locker room interviews. They will be followed by Texas at 2:15 local time; then Mississippi State at 3:10 and finally Memphis at 3:50.

All practices are closed today at the arena.

We'll plan on filing a column over at the Hang Time blog late this afternoon. if any news breaks here, we'll also be on top of that. In the meantime, enjoy the live-blogging here as half the Sweet 16 is filled out today. We'd also encourage you to check out Jerry Palm's Hang Time re-cap of his off-day game watching. The Palmist captured a wild day form the perspective a bar-sitter and he did it quite well.

Enjoy the action.

Posted by David Scott at 02:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - Memphis wins 87-63 and I get to go take some sleepy time cold medicine. All's well that ends well.

We'll check in from interview day on Saturday, but it will be pretty light. Be sure to join in with all the live-blogging form the nation's other sites with the able-bodied posse of CSTV.com live-bloggers.

. . . Pouncer, the Tiger mascot, has whipped out his blue Elvis jumpsuit costume. We get a big kick out of that outift for some reason. There's a special hole in the rear for the tail to protrude through. We wonder if Elvis had a similar trap door.

. . . Amazing sub-regional in Tampa. Two 12-13 games on tap for Sunday. Incredible.

Posted by David Scott at 12:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - It has not been pretty and it is definitely the kind of game that John Calipari will use to motivate his troops, but Memphis continues to lead comfortably, 73-55 with 7:45 left in the game.

. .. To go with his monster dunk, Dorsey now has a monster rejection on one of the UTA guards that led to tiger free throws at the other end.

. . . Sitting very close to the same seat that the Austin Peay iron lung band member sat, is now a UTA female band member with lungs of steel. Even the dude next her on clarinet had to shake his head at the latest screech from the basketball-face-painted co-ed.

. . . Rod Epps has fouled out for UTA. he had zero points

Posted by David Scott at 11:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - The Mavericks are still hanging around and trail 65-50 with 11:56 left in the game. Again, Memphis isn't in danger of losing this one, but they also aren't putting it out of reach the way their fans would like.

The Tigers continue to get beat on fast breaks and hustle plays, not to mention put backs. The Tigers also have 5 turnovers this half in 8 minutes. they had five all of the first half.

. . . There are rim rattlers and then there are rim rattlers. What Joey Dorsey threw down with just over 14 minutes left in the game was one for the books. How the basket withstood the trauma, I'll never know.

. . . Taggart picks up his third foul with 11:56 left as Vereen gets after it inside the lane and scores a hard-earned bucket.

Posted by David Scott at 11:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - A rather ho-hum continuance of this onw and Memphis is now up 55-40 with 15:52 left in the game.

It's clear Memphis is going to win, but they are not doing it in the fashion the other No. 1 seeds have and it will ikely give rise to more talk of the Tigers being a soft 1-seed.

. . . The Tigers are getting beat on long outlet passes and back door cuts, two things that don't sit well with the coaching staff. Memphis also isn't finishing well around the bucket. Lots of missed bunnies and lay-ups and put-backs.

. . . Dorsey picked up his third foul with 16:25 left and was taken out for Dozier.

Posted by David Scott at 11:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - Some pretty remarkable numbers form the first half, to wit:

Both teams shot better than 50 percent from the field.
Both teams shot 50 percent from 3-point land.
Memphis held just a 16-13 edge in rebounding despite a noticeable size advantage.
Both teams had 10 or more assists (10 for UTA, 12 for Memphis)

UTA had 10 turnovers, while Memphis had just five. Memphis converted the ten turns for 12 points and has 11 second-chance points as well.

. . . Memphis just didn't play with the intensity that Calipari expects from his team, but the numbers are pretty impressive and they executed well when they had to. UTA probably can't play much better and they're still down 14. There's been too much "Mr. Fumbles" from the Tigers - especially Dorsey and Dozier - and that drives Calipari bonkers.

Posted by David Scott at 11:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - Give UTA some credit, they kept this thing from getting out of hand despite a 57 percent shooting half for the Tigers. UTA shot 54 percent (13 of 24) from the field. Both teams were also 50 percent form 3-point land as Memphis hit 5 of 10 and UTA hit 3 of 6.

. . . CDR leads all scorers with 14 and Moffitt and and Vereen each have seven for UTA.

. . . UTA cut the lead to single digits with 2:20 left in the half, 38-29.

Posted by David Scott at 11:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - Memphis leads 36-21 with 3:52 left in the half. The Tigers aren't playing great, but CDR has 13 points and UTA continues to turn the ball over (10 so far this half).

. . . The five for five thing appears to be over as Shawn Taggart replaced Robert Dozier after the under-8:00 media timeout. More regular one-for-one and two-for-two substitution patterns have ensued.

. . . No mention of whether Anthony Vereen of UTA is related to Ben Vereen, the entertainer. No idea why I would care, either. he reminds me of a former Calipari player at UMass, Will Herndon. But Herndon could jump out of the gym, not to mention over cars.

Posted by David Scott at 10:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - Memphis is out ot a 12-point lead but UTA is certainly kepeing it within reason. Memphis leads 27-15 with 7:41 left in the half.

Memphis has forced six UTA turnovers and only holds a slim 10-9 lead in rebounding.

. . . As we indicated pre-game, Calipari is using the hockey line change approach once again. The second-teamers came in with 13:29 left in the half and was made up of Willie Kemp, Doneal Mack, Jeff Robinson, Andre Allen and Shawn Taggart. The players said they like the pattern of subbing because they are used to playing with each other that way in practice.

The First Five checked back in with 11:38 left in the half and look like they'll remain in.

. . . There's got to be a "Top Gun" joke in here somewhere with the 'Mavericks' involved, but I'm a little weak on that movie. How about: UTA has lost that lovin' feelin after starting out hot.

Yeah, I know. But you try live-blogging for 12 straight hours, you haters.

Posted by David Scott at 10:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - The Tigers have been back on their heels a bit to start out but lead 10-6 with 15:19 left in the half.

UTA won the game-opening tip a true moral victory. They even took a 4-0 lead on two buckets from Jermaine Griffin.

But a 3-pointer by Antonio Anderson gave Memphis an 8-6 lead and probably ended the Mavericks' hopes of staying in this one.

. . . Rebounding is even at 4-4. Let's see how long that lasts.

. . . UTA lists on ten players on its roster. Most teams have 14.

. . .UTA is clearly loose and easy for this one. Widebody Larry Posey has been bouncing and smiling since well before the game started.

. . . Two strong sections of UTA fans directly behind the Posting Up Perch, including a string of shirtless dudes spelling out UTAMAVS. The "M" is quite a specimen, as is the "V."

. . . Our sneaker battle is between adidad (Memphis) and Nike (UTA).

. . . With a No. 16 seed basketball team comes a No. 16 seed cheer and dance squad. That's just how it is. The dance portion of the Mavericks' rooters is especially, shall we say, "M" and "V"-like.

Posted by David Scott at 10:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - We're about 15 minutes from tip of the nightcap her at Alltel.

Probable starters look like this:

No. 1 seed Memphis (33-1)
Robert Dozier
Joey Dorsey
Antonio Anderson
Chris Douglas-Roberts (leading scorer with 17.2 ppg)
Derrick Rose

No. 16 seed UTA (21-11)
Rog'er Guignard (leading scorer with 13.0 ppg)
Rod Epps
Tommy Moffit
Larry Posey
Jermaine Griffin

. . . Officials for the game are Reginald Greenwood, John Hampton and Wallace Rutecki.

. . . UTA started shooting around at the wrong end of the floor and had to be shuffled off to the other end when Memphis took the court. rookie mistake.

. . . Look for Memphis to revive its platoon system of five in-five out that worked so well in the C-USA Title game against UAB.

Posted by David Scott at 09:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - The celebration is now ending and RC Johnson, the Memphis AD, just gave a fist pump to some friends along press row. Andre Allen is first up the ladder to clip the nets. He took down one all by himself while the other Tigers start on the other hoop. "Eye of the Tiger" plays from the sound system.

. . . Antonio Anderson finished with 19 points for Memphis to lead all scorers. Jordan led Tulsa with 17 points and nine rebounds. CDR finished with 16 points, Jeff Robinson had 11.

Mack, Allen and Kemp stood on the scorer's table and held the C-USA Champions sign aloft to the crowd. Tiger players raised three fingers to indicate the three-peat.

. . . A chant of one-more year broke out for CDR. He smiled at that. Rose got the same chant.

. . . All-Tourney team was:
Ben Uzoh
Jerome Jordan
Derrick Rose
CDR
Antonion Anderson - Tourney MVP

. . . Funny thing is, the awards ceremony was only the second time I've seen C-USA Britton Banowsky through the four days of the Tournament. He seems to lay very low.

Posted by David Scott at 01:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - Memphis has won its third straight C-USA title with a 77-51win over Tulsa before 14,071 fans.

The trophy presentation and all-tournament team will be announced shortly.

. . . With under a minute left, the fans chanted, "Joey, Joey, Joey" and Dorsey stood and saluted them from the bench.

Posted by David Scott at 01:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - There's just not a whole lot to say when the game has been decided since the second media timeout so we won't fake the funk. Memphis is up 71-44 with 3:11 left.

. . . Now is a good time to remind you to join us at the Hang Time blog on Sunday afternoon as we liveblog the CBS Selection Show from Memphis Coach John Calipari's annual selection party at his house. The show is at 6 p.m. Eastern time and we'll plan on being up and blogging about an hour before that start time. CSTV.com will have exclusive access to the party and we'll be able to get immeidate reaction from the presumptive No. 1 overall seed.

Posted by David Scott at 01:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - Tulsa has managed to keep this an almost respectable thumping by putting together a better second half. With 5:46 left int he game, Tulsa has scored 26 second half points while Memphis has also scored 26. Still, Memphis leads the overall game, 68-39 with 5:46 left.

. . . The second line is returning for Memphis and Shawn Taggart is being replaced on that line by widebody Pierre Niles.

. . . Tulsa is now 16 of 49 form the field (33 percent) and Memphis is 27 of 44 (61 percent). The Tigers are also 8 of 16 from 3-point land while Tulsa is 3 of 16 (19 percent).

. . . There's a sentiment on press row that Anderson is the MVP of the tournament, but I'm sticking with Rose because of the intangibles he gives. When he needs to score, he does. When he needs to pass, he does. When he needs to rebound, he does that too.

We love Anderson - he's even from the city (Lynn, Mass.) where we were born and he's one of the nicest kids you'd ever meet. But in the three games, cumulatively, Rose has been most valuable to the Tigers.

Posted by David Scott at 01:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - With 11:50 left in the game, Tulsa has cut the lead all the way down to 26, 55-29. The Tigers starting five line will be back in after this timeout. That was the worst shift of the game for a Tiger line, but it's understandable. Most of the fans are simply waiting for the trophy presentation.

. . . For thos watching at home, we're not sure if CBS caught it, but on the Memphis block that went out of bounds, that was your very own Posting Up poster who caught the ball over our head and fired it back into Duke Edsall. textbook catch and pass, if we do say so ourselves. With skills like that, it's a possibility that I could get into this game for the Tigers.

. . . Thought we'd pass along this announcement from the SEC if you hadn't already heard the plans for the remainder of its "Tornado Tournament" (Why is everyone so hesitant to call it a tornado? The thing was a twister for sure):

The Southeastern Conference announced that the remaining schedule of the 2008 SEC Basketball Tournament is as follows: Saturday, March 15 Game 8 - Georgia vs. Kentucky, 12 p.m. ET Game 9 - Tennessee vs. Arkansas, 6 p.m. ET Game 10 - Mississippi State vs. Winner of Game 8, 8:30 p.m. ET Sunday, March 16 Game 11 - Championship Game (Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10), 3 p.m. ET This format is based on an agreement between athletic directors and head coaches of the participating institutions after consultation with Tom O'Connor, chair of the Division I Men's Basketball Committee. O'Connor reaffirmed that since the league decides it automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament by its conference tournament champion, the competition must be completed prior to the announcement of the NCAA championship field. Because of damage to the Georgia Dome caused by severe storms in Atlanta on Friday night, the remaining games of the SEC Basketball Tournament will be played at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, on the campus of Georgia Tech University. Arrangements for television broadcast will be announced as soon as they become available. Out of respect for public safety demands that are required in the aftermath of Friday's storms, access to the remaining games of the championship will be limited to student-athletes' family members, cheerleaders, bands and other credentialed individuals.

Posted by David Scott at 12:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - The Tigers are now up 53-20 with 15:32 left in the (no)contest. CDR has six points in the first 4:28 of the half and now has 11 for the game. The Tigers' seocnd line has now been inserted again and it's just a matter of time before Chance McGrady, a deep reserve for the Tigers (and cousin of Tracy) gets in.

. . . The building has been sapped of its energy beacuse of the big lead. It's not only hard to play with a huge lead, it's evidently hard to cheer with a big lead.

. . . Ray Reese hit Tulsa's first 3-pointer of the game with 16:34 left in the game. Tulsa started 0 of 10 from trey land.

. . . Derrick Rose, after a turnover by Memphis, raced down court, blocked a lay-up attempt, then tried to take a charge on the rebound by Tulsa and then grabbed the rebound between two Golden Hurricane which led to a 3-pointer by Anderson. It was a breath-taking sequence but one that the crowd fully expected of the special freshman as it was unfolding. Just incredible and my description can not do it justice.

. . . Our ballot for all-Tourney looks like this. We're still reserving the last spot depending on CDR's performance in the second half. If we don't put him on, we'll probably go with UTEP's Stefon Jackson:
Derrick Rose
Antonio Anderson
Robert Dozier
Jerome Jordan

Tourney MVP if Memphis wins: Derrick Rose
Tourney MVP if Tulsa wins: Yeah, right.

Posted by David Scott at 12:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - Amid a caucophony of noise from a group of children banging drums and crashing cymbals from the Drums Unlimited group, we bring you some very loud halftime stats:

Memphis shot 59 percent from the field (16 of 27) and 4 of 9 from 3-point land (44 percent). Tulsa shot 22 percent (6 of 27) and 0 of 9 from 3-point land.

Rebounding: Memphis, 20-15
Turnovers: Tulsa 7-1
Paint points: Memphis, 22-10
Fast Break points: Memphis, 9-0
Bench points: Memphis, 13-0
Assists: Memphis, 9-3
Free throws: Memphis, 6 of 9; Tulsa 1 of 3
Steals: Memphis, 3-1

Dominance, thy name is the stat sheet.

Posted by David Scott at 12:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - The Tigers lead 42-13 at the half and if Tulsa was of sane mind they would take the back door out of the locker room and allow the title trophy to be presented to the Tigers.

. . . The Tigers first turnover of the game came with 2:08 left in the half. It was committed by Rose at midcourt on a ball that he dribbled off his foot. He was not benched for the indiscretion.

. . . With under a minute left in the half, Ray Reese bricked a 3-point attempt that pretty much summed up the Golden Hurricane effort so far.

. . . We just got our All-Tournament ballot to fill out. Gotta go study some prior stats to make educated picks.

Posted by David Scott at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - There may not be such a thing as a perfect half, but if there is, the Tigers are in the midst of it. With what amounts to its second string, Memphis extended its lead to 36-11 with 3:28 left in the half. Eight different Tigers have already scored and nine have at least one rebound.

Tulsa continues to struggle from the field at 5 of 21 and has yet to hit a trey (0 of 6). Memphis holds a 17-11 rebounding edge and an 18-10 paint points lead. Jordan leads Tulsa in scoring with six and he and Sam Mitchell each have three rebounds.

. . . With 4:15 left in the half, Calipari made another full line change, re-inserting the starters for the reserves - if you can even call them that. This is our eighth time seeing Memphis in person and this is by far the most complete half they have played.

Posted by David Scott at 12:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - CTSV analyst Pete Gillen told us before the game that Memphis would have too much for Tulsa and boy was Coach Gillen ever right. The Tigers now lead 31-10 with 7:25 remaining in the half. Even when Tulsa finds some consistency, it is offset by the Tigers who have hit 4 of 5 from beyond the arc and 12 of 18 overall. Tulsa is 5 of 15 form the field and hasn't made a trey in four attempts.

. . . After the second media timeout, Calipari made a hockey line change and inserted five fresh players in Shawn Taggart, Doneal Mack, Jeff Robinson, Andre Allen and Willie Kemp. the quintet proceeded to score on four of its first five possessions, including a Robinson trey and one by Mack that built the lead to 31-10.

The thinking for Calipari is to keep his team fresh while wearing down the overworked Tulsa team that had back-to-back OT games.

. . . Still no turnovers for the Tigers and they have nine fast break points to zero for Tulsa.

Posted by David Scott at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - It is, once again, a Tiger rout early as Memphis leads 21-6 with 10:53 left in the half. Tulsa appears to be a step behind on defense and a step slow on offense. The Golden Hurricane are 3 of 10 form the field while Memphis is 8 of 13.

Tulsa has four turnovers while Memphis has none.

. . . Back-to-back 3-pointers by Memphis (Anderson and CDR) ran the Memphis lead to 14-4 and forced a Doug Wojcik timeout with 14:17 left to stem the tide.

. . . The Tiger run included an alley-oop from Anderson to Dorsey and monster dunk with gusto from the big fella.

. . . Dorsey had three of the Tigers' first four rebounds and four of the first six. Anderson had eight of the first 17 Tiger points. Dorsey has six rebounds and six points while Anderson has eight points and two assists. Jerome Jordan leads Tulsa with four points and three rebounds.

. . . Yes, World Wide Wes is in da house. Ex-Pepperdine coach Vance Walberg is also supposed to be here as he has been all week long. Walberg and Calipari have become friendly since Calipari adopted much of Walberg's dribble-drive offense.

Posted by David Scott at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - The Tigers have come out quick once again, although not quite as quick as in their previous two games of the tournament. Memphis leads 8-4 at the first media timeout.

The Tigers of 3 of 6 form the field and Tulsa is 2 of 6. All of Tulsa's points have come in the paint and the Golden Hurricane have three turnovers in the early going.

. . . Early on, Joey Dorsey already looks better than yesterday for Memphis. His first rebound was both offensive and monstrous. It's comical how loud the ovation is each time Dorsey hits a free throw. He made his first two in a row. He also scored on a two footer in the lane.

. . . Rose is 0 for 2 to start form the field. He missed a 3-pointer and a driving lay-up.

. . . The starting intros included pyrotechnics shooting up from boxes at midcourt and on top of the baskets. These suckers give off some heat. I was able to warm up my coffee off the emanating waves.

Posted by David Scott at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - Probable starters are listed as:

Memphis: Robert Dozier, Joey Dorsey, Anotnio Anderson, Chris Douglas-Roberts and Derrick Rose.

Tulsa: Ben Uzoh, Calvin Walls, Brett McDade, Jerome Jordan and Ray Reese.

. . . Key match-up to watch is in the middle between the emerging, but lithe, Jordan and the inconsistent, and monstrous, Dorsey. Dorsey had a 19 rebound outing against the Golden Hurricane in the first meeting this year, but then had just five in the second. Jordan has had four points and five rebounds in game 1 and 8 and 5 in game 2 against Memphis.

Dorsey had a stinker yesterday and Calipari said that's how it goes with his enigmatic big man. "About every third game, that's what we get form him," said Calipari.

Posted by David Scott at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - The FedExForum is starting to fill up and among the early arrivers is John Calipari's wife, Ellen and their three children. Erin Calipari, who is a student at UMass, has come in for the game as she usually does for the "big 'uns."

. . . Officials for today's contest will be Steve Welmer, Steve Olson and Duke Edsall.

. . . In addition to having their fourth game in three and a half days, Tulsa is also battling injuries and will only have eight or nine healthy bodies today. Bishop Wheatley was injured during the UAB game and is out for today's game as he was for yesterday's win over UTEP.

Posted by David Scott at 11:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - Good morning and welcome to the FedExForum for today's C-USA Championship game between No. 1-seed Memphis (32-1) and No. 7-seed Tulsa (20-12). We're about 70 minutes from game time and a few of the Tigers are shooting around, inclduing Willie Kemp who is working on his outside shot with Memphis assistant Chuck Martin. At the other end of the floor Robert Dozier is working with assistant John Robic on free throw shooting and short jumpers. Antonio Anderson has now joined Kemp.

This will be the 27th meeting between the schools with the Tigers holding a slim 14-12 edge, but winning the last six in a row (ever since Tulsa joined C-USA in 2005-06). Tulsa hasn't beaten Memphis since the 2001 NIT. The two teams were also members of the Missouri Valley Conference.

. . . CSTV's Pete Gillen will be calling the game on radio today (the TV broadcast is on CBS) and he stopped by the Posting Up perch briefly to give his assessment. "Too tough for Tulsa," he said. "This is their fourth game in three and a half days and they've played back-to-back overtime games. Memphis is home and relatively rested. It's great for Tulsa to be in this game, but I don't see them winning it."

. . . Dick Enberg and Bob Wenzel have the game for CBS which begins with an 11:30 EDT tip.

. . . Our apologies to UTEP's Stefon Jackson, whose name we consistently spelled wrong in yesterday's live-blogging. He's too good of a player to be disrespected like that.

. . . Having had SEC Tournament duty last year for CSTV.com the news of the near-disaster that struck Atlanta last night struck close to home. We're just happy that no serious injuries occurrerd and that things were handled in a responsible manner.

. . . Most of the Tigers are now out shooting and they appear loose as always.

. . . We'll be back before tip and stay with you throughout the title contest. For now, we're gonna grab a little breakfast with our baskets. You should do the same.

Posted by David Scott at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - Tulsa managed to gut this one out with a hard-earned 64-62 win.

Brett McDade hit one of two free throws to make it 64-62 and a last second half court heave by Stephon Jackson went over the basket to secure the Tulsa win.

Culpepper missed the second of two free throws, got his own rebound and hit a baseline jumper with 5.5 seconds left to make it 63-62 Tulsa.

. . . The Golden Hurricane were able to convert on 15 of 19 form the free throw line, while UTEP was only able to make 8 of 18 form the stripe.

. . . Jackson led all scorers with 18 points (8 of 19 from the field). Ben Uzoh led Tulsa with 17 points on 5 of 13 shooting.

Tulsa overcame 19 turnovers (to just nine for UTEP) but the Golden Hurricane did out-rebound the Miners 42-38.

. . . Tulsa lost twice to Memphis in the regular season, both times by 15 points. Memphis is the first team to play in the league title game four years in a row (Charlotte did it thrice from 1997-99).

. . . This will be Tulsa's 14th conference title game all-time (including prior leagues), but first in C-USA. They are 5-8 in championship games. Tulsa is also the tenth different school to play in the league title game in the 13 year history of the conference.

. . . UTEP attempted 69 field goals (making 26 for 38 percent); Tulsa was 22 of 55 form the field (40 percent). Both teams had 32 points in the paint. Tulsa was 5 of 17 form 3-point land; UTEP was 2 of 19.

. . . Victor Ramalho has quietly had a nice game for UTEP. He's shown some fantastic post moves and had nine points and four rebounds and shot 4 of 9 from the field. jerome Jordan had 12 points and nine rebounds for Tulsa.

. . . The champsionship game tips off at 10:30 CDT on CBS with Dick Enberg and Bob Wenzel on the call.

Posted by David Scott at 09:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - Just two points have been scored so far in OT and Tulsa leads 59-57 with 1:17 left in the first OT.

. . . Culpepper forced an air-ball 3-pointer early in the OT and then took an ill-advised baseline runner with 1:30 left.

. . . With 15 blocks combined, this is the C-USA tournament record for blocks in a game. Eight for UTEP and seven for Tulsa.

Posted by David Scott at 09:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - We have overtime as Ben Uzoh wasn't able to create a good enough shot for himself with Marvin Kilgore defending him relentlessly. Uzoh launched an airball to end regulation. 57-57 with a 5 minute OT on its way. This is Tulsa's second straight OT game.

1996 was the only other C-USA tournament with two OT games and Cincinnati was involved in both, inclduing a championship game win.

Posted by David Scott at 08:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - We're tied 57-57 with 24.2 seconds left and Tulsa has the ball.

UTEP was down five with 1:30 left and Stephon Jackson drove the lane, drew the foul and completed the 3-point play. UTEP trailed 57-55.

On the ensuing possession Tulsa's James Jordan miss a five-foot jumper in the lane to give UTEP the ball with under a minute left. Jackson then tied it up with a jumper from just inside the 3-point arc. He has a game-high 18 points.

Posted by David Scott at 08:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - We're tied 57-57 with 24.2 seconds left and Tulsa has the ball.

UTEP was down five with 1:30 left and Stephon Jackson drove the lane, drew the foul and completed the 3-point play. UTEP trailed 57-55.

On the ensuing possession Tulsa's James Jordan miss a five-foot jumper in the lane to give UTEP the ball with under a minute left. Jackson then tied it up with a jumper from just inside the 3-point arc. He has a game-high 18 points.

Posted by David Scott at 08:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - Tulsa leads 52-49 with 3:54 left in the game. This one could be won at the charity stripe as UTEP has eight team fouls to just three for Tulsa.

What a difference from the first game where 40 combined fouls were called. This game has had 23 so far.

. . . Uzoh nailed a key 3-pointer with 5:42 left in the game to give Tulsa a five point lead.

. . . Culpepper has just been outstanding with his effort and intensity level. He's got 11 points, three rebounds and an assist. On the down side, he has missed all five of his trey attempts, but I'm willing to overlook that.

. . . UTEP has 11 team steals, Tulsa has just two.

Posted by David Scott at 08:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - UTEP cut the lead down to three right around the nine minute mark but Ben Uzoh answered at the other end with an old-fashioned 3-point play. Then UTEP was ab le to cut it to two on a pout-back dunk by Claude Britten. That brings us to the under-8:00 timeout, where Tulsa leads 47-45 with 7:01 left in the game.

Stephon Jackson leads all scorers with 13 points and UTEp has been able to convert 14 Tulsa turnovers into 14 points.

. . . After shooting 8 of 28 in the first half, UTEP is now 11 of 23 in the second half. Tulsa is 6 of 15 in the second half.

. . . UTEP has six team fouls to just two for Tulsa, but UTEP has shot 10 more free throws than the Hurricanes to this point (13-3).

Posted by David Scott at 08:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - UTEP is struggling to get on another run as Tulsa maintains between an 8 and 12 point lead. Tulsa leads 44-36 with 10:28 left in the game.

The rebounding edge is now 30-23 for Tulsa.

. . . That snack mix I was raving about a moment ago? I think it's making me queasy now. Can't. . . stop. . . eating. . . it. This re-inforces my theory that bar snack mixes can only be eaten in excess when accompanied by ice cold adult beverages. I always forget that theory.

. . . Six-foot, 160-pound (maybe) Randy Culpepper is a freshman with a senior's mentality. He is so explosive and so fearless. He now has eight points.

. . . Free throw shooting is hampering UTEP as they are 5 of 13 form the line. Tulsa is 2 of 2.

Posted by David Scott at 08:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - UTEP is struggling to get on another run as Tulsa maintains between an 8 and 12 point lead. Tulsa leads 44-36 with 10:28 left in the game.

The rebounding edge is now 30-23 for Tulsa.

. . . That snack mix I was raving about a moment ago? I think it's making me queasy now. Can't. . . stop. . . eating. . . it. This re-inforces my theory that bar snack mixes can only be eaten in excess when accompanied by ice cold adult beverages. I always forget that theory.

. . . Six-foot, 160-pound (maybe) Randy Culpepper is a freshman with a senior's mentality. He is so explosive and so fearless. He now has eight points.

. . . Free throw shooting is hampering UTEP as they are 5 of 13 form the line. Tulsa is 2 of 2.

Posted by David Scott at 08:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - Tulsa is still on top in this one, 39-28, with 16:06 left in the game. Tavaris Watts opened up the second half for UTEP with a three from the corner to cut the lead to nine. UTEP had a 5-0 run to start the half, which was followed by 4-0 run by Tulsa

. . . As Tony Barbee emerged form the tunnel and onto the court as halftime wound down, he yelled out to his team, "Where's our energy level? How's our energy level, Guys?"

. . .Picked up a nice cup of bar snack mix from the media room - all sorts of crunchy, salty, spicy goodness to go with my Frost Gatorade. The only thing better than snacks during the post-season is naps. It's sort of like Kindergarten in that regard.

. . . Looks like St. Joe's is making its case for being in the Field of 65 as they lead Xavier by a dozen with five minutes left.

Posted by David Scott at 08:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - Tulsa leads 33-21 at the half as the Miners have gone ice cold from the field. The Miners are now 8 of 28 from the field (29 percent). Tulsa is 14 of 33 from the field (42 percent).

Tulsa has outcored UTEP 18-8 in the paint and is out-rebounding the Miners 24-16.

Ray Reese leads Tulsa with nine points, all on 3-pointers (3 of 4 from beyond the arc). Stephon Jackson also has nine for UTEP. Calvin Walls leads all rebounders with seven for Tulsa.

. . . Randy Culpepper told us after the first game of the Tournament when he went off for seven 3-pointers, that he had 25 family and friends in the house. Culpepper, a freshman, is from Memphis and we'd guess he has a similar contingent here today.

. . . More leftovers from game 1: Memphis is now 13-3 in the C-USA tourney on their home floor and tomorrow will be the Tigers' fourth straight title game appearance, having won two in a row (the 2004 loss came against Louisville in the famous Darius Washington game).

Posted by David Scott at 07:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - Tulsa is back up to a six point lead, 25-19, with 3:27 left in the half. UTEp is having trouble finding the bottom of the basket and is now down to 35 percent from the field. Tulsa continues to damage in the painty with 16 points in the lane (to eight for UTEP).

. . . We're told by people who would know such things that Bootsy Collins is in the house, which is pretty cool because the UTEP band just played "We Got the Funk." Sad part is, I'm so square, I had to look up all that information.

Just for the record, I'd like to be called Bootsy for the remainder of the post-season.

Posted by David Scott at 07:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - UTEP managed to put together a 16-4 to tie the game at 18-18 and now trails by just two, 20-18, with 7:05 left in the half.

Stephon Jackson now has nine points to lead all scorers. he is 4 of 7 from the field and 1 of 2 from beyond the arc. Tulsa has already had six players enter the scoring column and continues to win the reboudning battle, 14-9. Both teams are shooting 43 percent from the field and both have made just one 3-pointer.

. . . The arc on Stephon Jackson's shot is a thing of beauty.

Posted by David Scott at 07:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - Good action in this one as UTEP has overcome a 14-2 deficit to now trail by five, 18-13, with 10:22 left in the half. UTEP's Marvin Kilgore leads all scorers with seven points.

Tulsa continues to own the backboards with a 12-6 edge and they hold the same edge in paint points.

. . . Stephon Jackson is heating up for the Miners with back-toback jumpers that cut the lead to six.

Posted by David Scott at 07:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - Tulsa - sporting snazzy blue uniforms with some aqua trim - is out to a 9-2 lead with 15:17 left in the half. UTEP is just 1 of 6 from the field while Tulsa is 4 of 9 and is out-boarding the Miners 8 to 3.

. . .Calvin Walls with four of Tulsa's first seven points.

. . . A pretty good percentage of fans remained for this one, which is good to see.

. . . Leftover stat from Game 1: Antonio Anderson had six assists for Memphis; UTEP had four total assists in the game.

. . . Congrats to American on winning the Patriot League title. It will be the school's first NCAA appearance.

Posted by David Scott at 07:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - We're a few minutes form tip of the second semi-final.

Your officials for this one will be Steve Olson, Terry Moore and Steve Pyatt.

. . . UTEP should control the crowd as Tony Barbee, head coach of the Miners, was a former Calipari assistant in Memphis.

. . . Starters for UTEP are Tavaris Watts, Julyan Stone, Stephon Jackson, Marvin Kilgore and Victor Ramalho. For Tulsa it's Ben Uzoh, Calvin Walls, Brett McDade, Jerome Jordan and Ray Reese.

. . . As much as we liked the USM dance squad, it's refreshing to have the Tulsa ladies for this one. Energetic bunch, they are.

Posted by David Scott at 07:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - With a 25 points - one off his career high - freshman Derrick Rose led Memphis to a 69-53 win over Southern Miss and a berth in the conference title game on Saturday.

Memphis now awaits the winner of the UTEP-Tulsa game which tips in about 30 minutes.

. . . Memphis was led by Rose's 25 points (9 of 14 from the field and and 4 of 7 from 3-point land) and 14 from CDR. Robert Dozier led all rebounders with 11.

. . . An emotional Sai'Quon Stone left the court in tears. there are many better days ahead for the Brooklyn, NY sophomore. He's a quite a talent. Stone led the Golden Eagles in scoring with 14 points and ten rebounds.

. . . The Tigers shot 42 percent form the field (26 of 62) and Southern Miss was 14 of 42 (33 percent). USM won the board battle 31-30.

. . . Southern Miss just missed tying a conference tournament record for fewest field goals made with 14 (record is 13 by Saint Louis in 2002).

. . . We'll be back for the UTEp-Tulsa game in a bit.

Posted by David Scott at 06:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - A Derrick Rose 3-pointer with just over four minutes left proabbly salted this one away for the Tigers as it gave them a 16 point lead. Rose has a game-high 23 points on 8 of 12 from the field (4 of 6 from 3-point land). Memphis leads 63-49with 3:26 left in the game.

. . . The Memphis bench was assessed a technical foul during the timeout. No idea what that was about either. Lots of mystery events in this one from Duke Edsall and his crew of Rick Randall and Kevin Mathis.

. . . Sai'Quon Stone had a brief wardrobe malfunction as he coudln't get his right sneaker to go on his foot properly. After a made USM basket, the officials stopped the game to allow him to re-lace and re-Velcro.

. . . Joey Dorsey has zero points, two rebounds and four fouls for Memphis. Fortunately for Memphis, Robert Dozier has six points and 10 rebounds as well as two assists.

. . .USM has a 30-21 rebounding edge but has ten more turnovers than Memphis (19-9).

. . . Still some tickets available for tomorrow's championship game if you're in the area and want to see a little basketball with your breakfast (10:30 a.m. local start time).

Posted by David Scott at 06:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - Memphis continues to lead 55-42 with 7:31 left in the game. USM is up to 30 percent form the field and has now hit 11 field goals (of 36 attempts).

Three Golden Eagles have scored 10 points each (Wise, Stone and Horton) and Rose continues to lead Memphis with 17.

. . . The UTEP Miners were sitting behind the Posting Up perch watching the action. The Miners just headed to their locker room. They face Tulsa in the night cap which should tip at 6 p.m. CDT (not to be confused with CDR).

. . . If you're watching along at home, you'll notice the new graphics package and logoing that is being used by the CBS College Sports Network. We spoke briefly with Carter Blackburn prior to tip and he was exciting to have the CBS Eye microphone falg on the wireless unit he used for pre-game. The new CBS College Sports Network logo is also adorning banner signage in the arena.

Posted by David Scott at 06:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - The FedExForum has become the Whistle Stop Arena as the zebras are blowing a whistle just about every possession and the crowd is getting restless, not to mention Calipari and Eustachy. Meanwhile, the Tigers continue to lead 49-34.

. . .Andre Allen has given Memphis a huge boost with his scrappiness. An airball rebound he grabbed in the lane was immediately kicked out to Doneal Mack for a 3-pointer to pu the lead at 15.

. . . For the second day in a row, CDR has had an offensive foul called him as he drives the lane and scores. in both cases, the basket was good. It was CDR's third foul of the game.

. . . A battle for a rebound between Shawn Taggart and Demar Dotson resulted in a double technical on Sai'Quon Stone and Taggart. Don't ask. This officiating crew is struggling today, to say the least.

. . . Robert Dozier picked up his fourth personal foul with 15:28 left in the game. He was replaced by Dorsey.

. . . USM is up to 24 percent from the field and has seven total field goals in 28 minutes of play.

. . . Rose leads all scoreres with 17 points and USM has three players with eight points. Memphis is outscoring USM 20-10 in the paint. USM has 17 turnovers to just nine for Memphis.

Posted by David Scott at 06:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - Pat Riley should've stayed another day. Derrick Rose is in the midst of an impressive performance as the Tigers freshmen has helped his team to re-assume control with a 42-29 lead at the under-16:00 media timeout.

Rose is 5 of 8 from the field (2 of 4 from 3-point land) and has 15 points, two rebounds and an assist.

USM has made just five field goals to this point is shooting 21 percent form the field (5 of 24). The Golden Eagles remain perfect form the free throw line (18 of 18).

. . . A loose ball by Southern Miss led to some confusion as to who the ball went out on. The two officials closest to the play were ready to go the possession arrow but the far official came in and gave the ball to Southern Miss. Both Calipari and Eustachy shared a laugh about it while facing each other. the tow are friendly and Eustachy and his assistant Steve Barnes attended Calipari's annual coaches' retreat this past summer and the prior two as well.

. . . The officiating crew is so far behind in make-up calls at this point, that they can't catch up and continue to create phantom calls through the first four minutes of the half.

. . . Dozier picked up his third personal foul with 17:07 left. Stone also has three now for USM, as does Joey Dorsey who picked his up with 16:41 left in the game.

. . . That's a nice win by Arkansas over Vandy to help the Hogs' resume. Finally, a team that wants to go The Dance.

. . . Worldwide Wes is once again in the building. He'll likely be with the Tigers for the duration of the post-season.

Posted by David Scott at 05:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - Southern Miss shot a putrid 18 percent for the half (4 of 22) but only trails by nine at the break, 32-23.

Rose leads all scorers with nine points and both Stone and Horton have six each for USM. Robert Dozier grabbed a team-high seven rebounds for Memphis and Stone hauled in 8 for the Golden Eagles.

Memphis was 3 of 13 from 3-point land; USm was 1 of 6. Memphis was 5 of 7 from the free throw line and USM was 14 of 14 from the stripe, which effectively kept them in the game.

. . . Pretty much everyone - including your Posting Up Poster - had two fouls in the first half. A total of eight players had two PFs. No one has three.

. . . Andre Allen hit a big 3-pointer to get the crowd back into the game with 20 seconds left in the half.

. . . Here come the Southern Misses - all five of 'em - for their attitudinal half time performance. I must go watch as part of my civic duty.

Posted by David Scott at 05:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - Give Larry Eustachy's bunch a ton of credit. Whereas last night's opponent for Memphis (Tulane) never recovered from the early Tigers' run, USM has remained composed and now trail by just eight, 27-19, with 3:35 left in the half.

USM trimmed lead to six with just over five minutes left.

. . .Dozier and Dorsey have combined for just two points thus far for Memphis. Dorsey has two fouls and is on the bench and with 5:52 left in the half, Derrick Rose joined him. Andre Allen checks in to play the point, balky ankle and all. Antonio Anderson also has two PFs for Memphis and is on the bench for the final five of the half.

. . . Allen seems to be moving okay and was quick enough to pick up an offensive on RL Horton by sliding into defensive position and taking the charge.

. . . Eighteen combined fouls through 16:25 of play. That's a lot of "tweets."

. . USM continues to shoot miserably form the field, just 3 of 16, but they are 12 of 12 form the free throw line.

Posted by David Scott at 05:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - USM has settled down a bit and are playing better, but Memphis still leads 23-9 with 7:49 left in the half.

The Golden Eagles are 2 of 12 from the field (17 percent) and Memphis is 9 of 17 (53 percent).

. . .No Andre Allen yet for Memphis, we're guesisng Calipari doesn't use him today and lets him get another day or two of rest for his sprained right ankle.

USM cut the lead to 20-7 with 10:33 left, prompting a Memphis timeout. Jeremy Wise only sat for a minute and continues to play with two fouls.

Posted by David Scott at 05:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - As one wise-acre opined with 12 minutes left and Memphis up 17, "If this were a boxing match, it would be stopped right now." With 11:48 left in the half, Memphis leads 20-3.

Derrick Rose has nine points, CDR has eight and the Tigers are out-rebounding USM 8 to 1. USM is 1 of 12 form the field (13 percent). Memphis is 8 of 11 (73 percent).

. . . Jeremy Wise, USM's leading scorer at 19 ppg, picked up his second personal foul with 13:40 left in the half. Larry Eustachy pretty much had to leave him in the game, but wound up subbing for him a minute later.

. . . USM have seven turnovers through eight minutes of the game.

Posted by David Scott at 04:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - Memphis leads 8-3 with 4:05 gone in the first half. The Tigers defense is giving Southern Miss some agita on the offensive end as all but one possession has seen the shot clock go under five seconds.

. . . Derrick Rose had four of the Tigers' first six points.

. . . Larry Eustachy, incensed at Gijo Bain for a defensive lapse, pulled his big man and inserted Sai'Quon Stone.

. . . Southern Miss in a 2-3 zone as John Calipari predicted last night. The Golden Eagles are challenging the Tigers to make outside shots.

. . . A Jeremy Wise 3-pointer gave USM a 3-2 lead, the Tigers first time trailing in the tournament.

. . . Memphis opens up by full court pressing Southern Miss, which had trouble with UCF's press last night.

. . . Sneaker battle is between adidas (Memphis) and Nike (Southern Miss).

. . . Another day of Southern Miss playing means another halftime performance by the Southern Miss dance squad, which brings all new levels of meaning to the term "dancing with attitude."

Posted by David Scott at 04:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - Our content management system just ate a pre-game entry that was simply spectacular. Sorry you missed it!

. . . Officials are Duke Edsal, Rick Randall and Kevin Mathis.

. . . Starters for Memphis will be Dozier, Dorsey, Anderson, Douglas-Roberts and Rose. For Southern Miss it's Beasley, Wise, Horton, Stephens and Bain.

. . . Dick Enberg and Bob Wenzel, who will call tomorrow's championship game on CBS (11:30 a.m. Eastern) are in the house. No sign of Pat Riley today. He was here last night watching Derrick Rose quite closely.

Posted by David Scott at 04:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - We're courtside at the FedExForum for today's semifinals doubleheader. The first game, tipping at 3:30 CDT wil feature 31-1 Memphis vs. 19-13 Southern Miss in a 1-5 seeding match-up. Our second game will see 19-12 UTEP vs. 19-12 Tulsa in a surprising 6-7 match-up. Both games will be broadcast on the CBS College Sports Network (formerly CSTV) with Carter Blackburn and Pete Gillen.

We were just able to watch the end of the Tennessee/South Carolina in the Memphis players' lounge. What a finish for the Vols. Tough way for Dave Odom to finish up. Watching the game in the lounge was injured Memphis guard Andre Allen. He had his sprained right ankle in a heavy wrap, but word is he could give it a go today. Ideally, the Tigers would like to get out quick like they did last night against Tulane and then be able to rest some players, especially Allen.

. . . Both teams are shooting around currently. Larry Brown is once again in the house and spent some time speaking with Southern Miss assistant Steve Barnes. Brown said to us that this game is a "tough one" for him because of his relationships with both coaches and their staffs.

. . . We're going to hit the pre-game spread and then be back with you just before tip.

Posted by David Scott at 03:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - UCF didn't go quietly, but they did go and USM advances to play Memphis in the first semifinal tomorrow afternoon (3:30 CDT). Final Score: USM 68, UCF 62.

In the teams' prior meetings this season, Memphis won at home 83-47 and won a tough one in Hattiesburg, 76-67.

UTEP and Tulsa split during the regular season with each holding court.

. . . USM had four players in double figures scoring, led by RL Horton with 18. UCF was led by Jermaine Taylor's 25 points and David Noel's 20. USM wins the borad battle, 31-24 and shoots 53 percent from the field (21 of 40 and 3 of 7 from 3-point land). UCF shot 41 percent (21 of 51 and 7 of 25 from 3-point land).

. . . BC beat Maryland by three and Ole Miss has come back to take a lead on Georgia.

. . . That'll do it from here until tomorrow. Thanks for joining us throughout the day and drive safely. Or go to bed soundly. Whichever you prefer.

Posted by David Scott at 11:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - USM Leads 62-58 with 1:30 left in the game and has the ball.

. . . Memphis will play in the first semi-final on Friday against the winner of this one (3:30 CDT). UTEP and Tulsa play in the second (6 p.m. CDT).

Posted by David Scott at 11:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - Southern Miss has really stepped up on the boards in the latter part of the game and now lead the rebounding battle 28-19. The Golden Eagles lead 60-55 with 2:04 left in the game.

. . . Interesting scores around the country as BC leads Maryland in the ACC and Georgia is up on Ole Miss, which desparately needs a win.

Posted by David Scott at 11:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - USM's Jeremy Wise has fouled out with 11 points and USM leading 59-52 with 2:18 left in the game. he is one of four Golden Eagles in double-figures scoring.

Posted by David Scott at 11:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - USM holds a 56-50 edge, but this one still has 3:35 to go and UCF has at least another run in them.

Posted by David Scott at 11:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - UCF is hanging tough and won't allow the Golden Eagles to pull away entirely. Every time the Golden Eagles get up 8 or 9, UCF hits a three or gets an and-one to bring them back.

USM leads 50-44 with 7:34 left.

. . . Former UMass players Derek Kellogg and Tyrone Weeks (not to mention yours truly) are hitting refresh often as we check the alma mater's score with Charlotte in the A-10 Tourney. Both DK and Weeks are on John Calipari's Memphis staff and are scouting this game for their next opponent.

Oh, and ex-UMass AD Bob Marcum (now at Marshall) is alongside Hang Time following the action as well. We could possibly have more UMass fans in this 20 foot section of the FedExForum than there are in all of Amherst these days (bitter alum speaking, sorry).

Minutemen lose 69-65. BIG bubble team, they are.

Posted by David Scott at 11:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - The UCF press just led to a turnover and a lay-in for the Knights as they now trail 42-36 with 12:43 left in the game.

A very even contest with similar numbers for each side. Rebounding is 19-15 in favor of USM; Paint points are 16-16; and team fouls are near even with 14 for UCF and 13 for USM.

Posted by David Scott at 10:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - USM has built a seven point lead at the first media timeout of the second half, 37-30.

UCF is showing a full court press now that USM beats with relative ease.

The Forum has emptied out after the Memphis game and we're back to what looks like yesterday's first-game crowd of friends, families and stragglers.

. . . UCF has attempted 15 3-pointers (hitting 3), USM has tried just 7 but also has hit three.

Posted by David Scott at 10:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - Sorry about the delay - we had some technical issues. Southern Miss leads 27-24 at the half over UCF.

Pretty even first half with UCF hitting 46 percent from the field (10 of 22) and USM going for 48 percent (11 of 23).

UCF was led in scoring by David Noel's eight points while RL Horton paced USM with 10.

Posted by David Scott at 10:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - The Tigers win it 75-56 in a game that was never in doubt after the first few minutes.

Memphis place three scorers in double figures with CDR (17), Dozier (14) and Doneal Mack (11). Gomez (18) and Louisme (13) led Tulane.

Rebounding went to Memphis 43-28 but a full 40 of Tulane's 56 points came in the paint (they were 2 of 14 from 3-point land).

Memphis will play the winner of the next contest between the black and gold of Southern Miss and the balck and gold and UCF. We'll back in a bit.

Posted by David Scott at 08:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - With 1:22 left, Memphis is on way to the semifinals as they hold a 73-54 lead.

. . . CDR got T'ed up after some bumpin' and shovin' between Donnavan Stith and Antonio Anderson. Not sure what that was all about. Looked like maybe Anderson should have go the tech for jawing. No matter.

. . . Derrick Rose has a game high six assists. he also has six rebounds and seven points. I think Pat Riley likes what he sees, but I'm just speculatin'.

. . . David Gomez leads all scorers with 18 for Tulane.

. . . Pat Riley has the George Hamilton constant-tan in case you were wondering.

. . . Andre Allen didn't play tonight for the Tigers - he was nursing an ankle injury.

. . . Kevin Sims hit Tulane's first 3-pointer of the game with just under 10 minutes left in the game. It was the team's 11th attempt.

Posted by David Scott at 08:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - The Tigers have extended their lead to 57-34 with 11:26 left. If ever a game had garbage time from the second media timeout onward, this is the one.

Of course the Alabama jump out on Florida (40-14 at one point) may also qualify.

. . Doneal Mack is 3 of 5 from 3-point land and the lefty is simply stroking it form beyond the arc. The rest of the Tigers are 3 of 9. Tulane has not hit a trey.

Posted by David Scott at 08:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - The Tigers have built an 18 point lead and now sit comfortably at 44-26 with 14:42 left in the contest.

As our tablemate points out, the foul differential is 18 for Green Wave and 4 for Memphis. And the thing is, it's all legit calls. Tulane just can't match the size and speed of the Tigers. Few in the conference can and maybe none that remain in the field.

. . . The Riley appearance has been confirmed. He is center court, two rows behind the TV broadcast position. Hope he like what he sees from Derrick Rose.

. . . Joey Dorsey, he of the 36 percent FT average, has hit 4 of 6 from the stripe tonight and the crowd has loved every make.

Posted by David Scott at 08:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - The Tigers use an early spurt and controlled play the rest of the half to lead 36-22 going into the break.

. . . First Half Stats: Memphis is 10 of 26 from the field (39 percent); Tulane is 10 of 28 (36 percent); Tigers are 2 of 10 from 3-point land, Green Wave is 0 of 6; Rebounding edge to Memphis 22-15; Paint point edge to Tulane 20-14; Second chance points are 15-7 in favor of Memphis.

. . . Rumors that Pat Riley of the Miami Heat is in the house. he's been on the college hoops tour as of late so this would be a logical stop.

. . . World Wide Wes is, as you'd expect, in the house.

. . . 500 local schoolchildren took the court at halftime as part of a Nike program supoprting youths. They have ringed the court and are waving to the crowd. Very cute. Kindergarten through fifth graders I'm told.

Posted by David Scott at 08:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - The Tigers use an early spurt and controlled play the rest of the half to lead 36-22 going into the break.

. . . First Half Stats: Memphis is 10 of 26 from the field (39 percent); Tulane is 10 of 28 (36 percent); Tigers are 2 of 10 from 3-point land, Green Wave is 0 of 6; Rebounding edge to Memphis 22-15; Paint point edge to Tulane 20-14; Second chance points are 15-7 in favor of Memphis.

. . . Rumors that Pat Riley of the Miami Heat is in the house. he's been on the college hoops tour as of late so this would be a logical stop.

. . . World Wide Wes is, as you'd expect, in the house.

. . . 500 local schoolchildren took the court at halftime as part of a Nike program supoprting youths. They have ringed the court and are waving to the crowd. Very cute. Kindergarten through fifth graders I'm told.

Posted by David Scott at 08:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - Sorry about that folks - the food spread was closing quickly so I to load up on chopped salad and cold garlic bread. Yummy, actually.

Memphis still in control here with a 36-22 lead with 1:11 left in the half. Gomez leads all scorers with 12 and Memphis holds a 21-13 rebounding edge.

Posted by David Scott at 07:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - Tigers lead 20-8 with 10:49 left in the half. CDR leads all scorers with eight points and Gomex lead Tulane with 6.

We need to go grab some nourishment but we'll be back before you know it!

. . . Willie Kemp and Doneal Mack each have a 3-pointer made in the early going for Memphis.

. . . The rare offensive foul cal on the dunk by CDR with 13:03 left - count the hoop to give Memphis a 20-4 lead.

. . . Robert Dozier picked up his second fould of the game with 14:54 left in the half on a hack on David Gomez. Dozier will sit the rest of the half and Shwan Taggart is in for Memphis.

Posted by David Scott at 07:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS - Tulane center Robinson Louisme picked up three personal fouls in less than four minutes of play as Memphis bound out to a 10-3 lead at the first media timeout.

The Tigers already hold an 8-2 rebounding edge over the Green Wave, with at least halfof those boards ocming on the offensive end.

. . . CDR with four of Memphis's first seven points and six of its first 10.

. . . It's a blue-out in the Forum with all the Tiger fans.

. . . Dorsey with a monster dunk on an alley-oop to put Memphis up 9-0.

. . . Tulane coach Dave Dickerson called a timeout 50 seconds into the game to stop the Tigers momentum after a leak out dunk by Robert Dozier gave Memphis a 5-0 lead.

Posted by David Scott at 07:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Little bit different atmopshere in the FedExForum tonight as the homestanding No. 1 seed Memphis Tigers (30-1) prepare for battle with 17-14 Tulane, which defeated Marshall last night in the 8-9 game to advance.

We scooted over from the Flying Saucer where we spent the bulk of day live-blogging at a bar. What a gig!

Surprisingly, the arena is NOT full for this one, but it is loud.

. . . Chris Douglas Roberts starts off the game with a baseline drive, drawing the fould and hitting the free throw to make it 3-0 Memphis early.

Posted by David Scott at 07:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

USM survives 59-50 and will face UCF tomorrow night at 8:30 p.m.CDT. Action tips off on Thursday at Noon with UAB and Tulsa, followed by Houston and UTEP.

The night session features Memphis and Tulane at 6 p.m. followed by the USM game.

We'll be with you from Beale Street beginning at about 11:30 a.m. CDT to give a bit of flavor of the C-USA Tourney from outside the building. We've got some special friends that will join us and it should be a quite a hoot.

We'll still closely follow the C-USA action, but we'll mix in action from other tourneys as well and give a true March Madness midday feel to the proceedings. Hope you'll join us and bring your friends.

Posted by David Scott at 11:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One minute left and USM is up five with the ball. The Golden Eagles will survive, but give Rice a ton of credit.

This is what John Calipari was talking about this morning (soooooo long ago) when he said that Willis Wilson did a great job in keeping his team focused and together through a 3-26 (soon to be 3-27) season.

It's 55-48 with 33.1 seconds left and Rice going to the free throw line.

Posted by David Scott at 11:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Both teams are shooting 37 percent fomr the field; USM holds a 31-29 rebounding edge; USM has missed 9 free throws (8 of 17) and Rice has missed 6 (15 of 21); Rice has 11 turnovers to just 6 for USM.

Score: USM 50, Rice 46. Rice with the ball and 3;03 left.

Posted by David Scott at 11:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

USM is up just two 48-46.

Shocking. Didn't our boy Matt from Marshall predict a huge upset? This would be that and more.

Posted by David Scott at 11:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Rice is down four with 5 minutes left in this game, 46-42. I have no idea how this is happening excpet to say that it's C-USA and there's a lot of mediocre teams finishing out mediocre seasons.

. . . Give Coach Larry Brown some serious credit. In town to watch his good friend, John Calipari's team and spend time with Calipari in the run-up to the Tourney, Brown has been here all day long for all four games. We should have given him a computer and he could have live-blogged for us. he'd certainly be better than me at this point where I'm so punch drunk I think UTEP is still playing.

Posted by David Scott at 11:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Posting Up jinx is once again in full effect for a team in the lead. . .Rice has trimmed the lead to five and now it's back to seven and down to five.

Stay tuned, folks, this one isn't as over as we thought.

Posted by David Scott at 11:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)