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 - Well, there go the Oregon cheer and dance teams back to Eugene. Little Rock is poorer for the loss. Mississippi State put together an outstanding second half to win this one, 76-69.

Rhodes led all scorers with 34 and Hairston had 22 for the Ducks.

. . . Jamont Gordon had nine assists for the Bulldogs, one off his career high. He laso had six turnovers.

. . . We'll be back with pre-game info for the night cap between Memphis and UTA.

Posted by David Scott at 09:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - With 1:14 left in the game, Mississippi State has the ball and a 68-63 lead.

Oregon is 1 of 16 from 3-point land in the second half, after hitting 7 of 17 in the first half. State is now 4 of 17 from beyond the arc (4 of 7) in the second half.

. . . This building will be electric on Sunday if Memphis and State meet in a border war. The teams have not met since 1984-85.

Posted by David Scott at 09:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - Oregon is struggling mightily form the field, as they have hit just 5of 21 in the second half while State is 12 of 19 in the second half. State leads 63-58 with 3: 46 left in the game.

Hairston is leading Oregon in scoring with 21, while Rhodes is trying to match McClinton's afternoon tally (38) - Rhodes has 33, a career high, surpassing the 30 he had against Auburn earlier this year.

. . . Foul trouble will be an issue down the stretch, meaning foul shooting will also come into play. Catron has already fouled out and six other players have three or more fouls on the two teams. State is 16 of 24 from the line in the game and Oregon is 12 of 14.

. . . Tajuan Porter is either shrinking as the game goes along or we're over-caffeinated. The Detroit-native is listed at 5-6, 150. He may be 5-5 in shoes and 140 with a wet parka on.

Posted by David Scott at 09:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - On the strength of a 29-16 second half run, State has taken the lead and brough tthe crowd with them as we have 7:42 left in the game and the Bulldogs leading 57-54. A monster Rhodes dunk with just under 10 minutes left in the game gave State a 53-52 lead.

Varnado has now picked up his fourth personal foul and will need to sit until after the final, under-4:00 media timeout.

A trey by Barry Stewart with 10:50 left cut the Oregon lead to three points. Stewart has six points in the game. The Dogs are now 3 of 16 from 3-point land and have connected on 3 of their last 4.

. . . Hansbrough picked up his third foul with 10:30 left in the game. Varnado picked up his third just two seconds later. Leunen has four for the Ducks (8:01 left in the game) and Catron also has four (picked up with 10:15 left). they are both on the bench.

. . . In other Hansbrough family news, UNC is up 40-plus in the final seconds of its first round game. Oklahoma and Siena also have comfortable leads, but no Hansbrough brothers.

Posted by David Scott at 09:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - The Bulldogs hit their first 3-pointer of the game with 13:10 left on a corner trey by Barry Stewart that cut the Ducks' lead to six. It was State's first make in 13 tries. With 11:44 left in the contest, Oregon clings to a 51-43 lead.

. . . Leunen picked up his third foul with 13:45 left. he hacked Varnado as he converted a lay-up. Ernie Kent decided to leave his heady senior in the game for a couple of trips up the court but then replaced him with just under 13 minutes to play.

. . . State is 6 of 10 from the field in the second half while Oregon is 1 of 8 from 3-point land (after hitting 7 of 17 in the first half).

Posted by David Scott at 08:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - The pro-Bulldog crowd is getting back into this one as they have started the half on an 8-3 run to cu the Ducks' lead to 41-36 with 15:15 left in the game. Rhodes now has 22 for State and 6 of its 8 in the half.

. . . Rhodes with back-to-back buckets to trim the Ducks' lead to 9 with 16-plus left in the half.

. . . Maarty Leunen had two fouls in the first half and only played 11 minutes but scored nine points in that limited action.

. . . Oregon's Joevan Catron picked up his third foul less than two minutes into the game. He was saddled with two in the first half and limited to 11 minutes.

. . . Alltel is filling up with a lot of Tiger blue for the second half of our double-header in le Petite Roche.

Posted by David Scott at 08:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - Charles Rhodes was 5 of 7 from the field, 6 of 8 from the free throw line, had three rebounds and an assist in a monster first half for State to kepe them in the game.

State shot 0 for 10 form 3-point land which Oregon got 21 of its 38 points (7 of 17) from beyond the arc.

Rebounds were fairly even with Oregon holding a 19-18 edge.

Oregon had 10 assists on its 14 field goals while State had 5 on its 10. Porter leads all dishers with four assists for the Ducks. Oregon also has four steals. Turnovers were 5 for Oregon and 6 for State.

Posted by David Scott at 08:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LITTLE ROCK - A 3-pointer by Porter with the shot-clock expiring and the half winding down gives Oregon a 38-28 lead going into the locker room.

Charles Rhodes led all scorers with 16 points and Porter had 12 for the Ducks.

We'll be back with halftime stats after we, ah, go Peay.

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

ATLANTA, Ga. - Just to put Georgia's 64-60 victory over Mississippi State into perspective.

Continue reading "More Unexpected Stuff" »

Posted by Josh Cooper at 12:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ATLANTA, Ga. - Sundiata Gaines fouled out with 7:18 to go.

Continue reading "Worse News For Georgia" »

Posted by Josh Cooper at 10:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ATLANTA, Ga. - The only good thing Georgia has going for it may be gone soon.

Continue reading "Bad News For Georgia" »

Posted by Josh Cooper at 10:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ATLANTA, Ga. - I don't know where Georgia would be.

Continue reading "If Not For Sundiata Gaines" »

Posted by Josh Cooper at 09:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ATLANTA, Ga. - Since my last post.

Continue reading "Not Much Has Happened" »

Posted by Josh Cooper at 09:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ATLANTA, Ga. - Still waiting for that big Mississippi State surge.

Continue reading "Tied Up" »

Posted by Josh Cooper at 09:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ATLANTA, Ga. - We knew coming into this game that point guard play would be at its best.

Continue reading "Eight Minutes In And Where Is Jamont?" »

Posted by Josh Cooper at 09:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ATLANTA, Ga. - Georgia jumped out to a 10-12 lead in the first four minutes.

Continue reading "Who Saw This Coming?" »

Posted by Josh Cooper at 08:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ATLANTA, Ga. - I'm back! Did you miss me?

Continue reading "After A Brief Delay" »

Posted by Josh Cooper at 08:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ATLANTA, Ga. - Just in case you didn't know, a powerful storm hit outside the Georgia Dome. The Kentucky, Georgia game has been delayed.

Continue reading "Wrapping Up" »

Posted by Josh Cooper at 01:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ATLANTA, Ga. - It has been almost an hour and the officials are back on the court.

Continue reading "Ready To Resume Play?" »

Posted by Josh Cooper at 10:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ATLANTA, Ga. - Ok, so with about 2:11 remaining in the Alabama, Mississippi State game, we are a loud rumbling noise.

Continue reading "A Bit Of A Disturbance" »

Posted by Josh Cooper at 09:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ATLANTA, Ga. - Alabama hasn't made a field goal in the last four minutes

Continue reading "Tide Missin', State Makin'" »

Posted by Josh Cooper at 09:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ATLANTA, Ga. - Remember how often I write about how good he is shooting 3-point baskets?

Continue reading "Interesting Sidenote On Mykal Riley" »

Posted by Josh Cooper at 08:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ATLANTA, Ga. - Gotta give the Alabama band credit for the "not your brother" cheer to Mississippi State's Ben Hansbrough.

Continue reading "Not Your Brother?" »

Posted by Josh Cooper at 08:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ATLANTA, Ga. - The loudest cheers of the night just came from the Kentucky fans...

Continue reading "C-A-T-S" »

Posted by Josh Cooper at 08:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ATLANTA, Ga. - As Alabama's most dependable low post scorer, it's never a good thing for the Tide when Richard Hendrix gets in foul trouble.

Continue reading "Hendrix In Foul Trouble" »

Posted by Josh Cooper at 08:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ATLANTA, Ga. - It took Alabama's Mykal Riley until the 11:58 mark, but he finally hit a 3-point basket.

Continue reading "Riley Gets Going" »

Posted by Josh Cooper at 08:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ATLANTA, Ga. - One night ago, Florida's Billy Donovan called a timeout after Alabama's first four points to settle his team down.

Continue reading "And A Quick Timeout" »

Posted by Josh Cooper at 07:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)