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Memphis tops Tennessee in 2-OT

Nov 23, 2011 - 3:50 AM Maui, HI (Sports Network) - Antonio Barton posted 21 points, including the deciding bucket with 1:15 to play in double overtime, as No. 8 Memphis outlasted Tennessee, 99-97, at the Maui Invitational.

Will Barton totaled 25 points with 11 rebounds for the Tigers (2-1), who recovered from a loss to Michigan on Monday and who next face Georgetown in the fifth-place game on Wednesday.

Adonis Thomas added 19 points and four boards.

"What happened is Tennessee's a good team. It's not like we were playing our exhibition games where, hey, you're just about to blow them out and win by 30 or 40," said Memphis head coach Josh Pastner. "Tennessee is in the SEC. They've got really good players. That's normal. (It's) something for us to learn when we have a team down, we can't let them creep back in."

I thought both teams played well. I thought both teams were scoring. It was just I didn't feel we were playing bad at any time. I felt we were playing well and Tennessee was, like I said, they're a really good basketball team.

Jeronne Maymon had game-highs of 32 points and 20 rebounds for the Volunteers (2-2), who lost to Duke on Tuesday to find themselves in the losers bracket.

"Jeronne played a great game. He played hard and he plays well on both ends of the floor," said Vols head coach Cuonzo Martin of Maymon's herculean effort. "He competes at a high level, plays with energy and he plays with passion. I think when you have those ingredients you have a chance to be successful."

Trae Golden notched 14 points, seven assists and five boards, while Kenny Hall scored 11 points in a losing cause.

A close game was decided with some controversy. Tennessee's Josh Richardson had the ball taken away by Wesley Witherspoon as time wound down in the second OT. He then carried the ball up court to waste away the remaining seconds, However, after the buzzer sounded, officials reviewed the play and ruled that he traveled, putting eight-tenths of a second back on the board.

Tennessee had possession on the left sideline, but Maymon's fade-away jumper fell short to end the marathon contest.

A 16-0 first-half run gave Memphis control in the early stages.

Will Barton snapped a 24-24 deadlock with a free throw then Antonio Barton followed with a trey. Thomas added another from long distance during the run, which ended on Antonio Barton's second trey for a 40-24 game with 7:42 left.

The high-tempo action continued but the Vols were only able to shrink their deficit to as low as eight, 48-40 with 2:13 left on a Maymon layup, before the Tigers extended their edge to 55-42 on a Charles Carmouche deuce.

Tennessee went to the break down by 10.

Memphis kept its foe at arm's length for most of the second half, but the final 6:45 belonged to Tennessee, which chipped away at a 10-point deficit to force overtime.

Down 77-67, Maymon started the comeback with two from the line, then a jumper from Dwight Miller, two free throws by Golden and a trey by Cameron Tatum trimmed the margin to 77-76 with 3:38 left.

Will Barton's shot from long distance on the next possession opened up a four- point edge, then a free throw by Chris Crawford with 1:46 to play made it 83-78 for the Tigers.

But Maymon hit a deuce, Hall made 1-of-2 from the line and Maymon added another shot with five ticks left to forge an 83-83 deadlock. In between, Witherspoon missed a pair from in close and Barton also failed to hit an easy jumper.

Crawford's bucket with 27 seconds left in OT tied the game at 91-91.

Game Notes

Memphis shot 51 percent from the floor and Tennessee connected on 41 percent...Thanks to Maymon's domination, the Vols recorded a 49-34 edge on the glass...The Tigers made 6-of-9 shots from beyond the arc, while the Volunteers connected on only 7-of-21...Tennessee had won four of the five previous meetings since 2006.