The Memphis Tigers have been one of the most heavily scrutinized one seeds in recent tournament history. Sunday afternoon they proved they belonged by beating championship darkhorse Texas 85-67 in front of a partisan crowd in Houston and punching its ticket to the final four in San Antonio.
Critics have questioned whether or not Memphis, coming out of Conference USA, would be able to compete on a national stage and against consistent elite opponents. Memphis has answered its critics by thriving. Chris Douglas-Roberts and Derrick Rose, once know only to fanatics, have exploded onto the national scene. The Tigers also have three blowouts in their four games, the only scare coming in the second round to Mississippi State 77-74.
“They are just as athletic as anybody else,” said Texas’ A.J. Abrams. “I think they spread the court a little bit more than those other teams as far as driving the ball, and they use every position.”
The Tigers will play western bracket champion UCLA in their final four game and for a spot in the national championship.
“I’m not sure if we’ll get the respect we deserve, but if we don’t, it doesn’t matter,” Douglas-Robert said. “It’s four teams left now.”
The game came down to players. Memphis stars Chris Douglas-Roberts and freshman sensation Derrick Rose outplayed Texas stars DJ Augustin and Abrams. Douglas-Roberts led all players with 25 points. Rose notched 21 points, nine rebounds, six assists, and a steal as he rose up to get Memphis to it’s first final four since 1985 and coach John Calipari to his first final four since he took UMass their in 1996.
Augustin missed 14 shots and had more turnovers than assists. AJ Abrams scored 17 points but no other Longhorn reached double digits. That play proved simply not good enough to stop the Tigers and Rose who was named south regional MVP.
“I’m just living the dream right now,” said Rose. “Everybody back home is happy for me and our fans back in Memphis are happy, so we’re just living it up.”