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Douglas-Roberts, No. 3 Memphis cruise past Tennessee-Martin

Nov 6, 2007 - 3:55 AM MEMPHIS, Tennessee (Ticker) -- After a slow start, the Memphis Tigers had an easy time in extending the nation's longest active home winning streak to 33 games.

Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 28 points as No. 3 Memphis used a decisive run bridging the halves to blow past Tennessee-Martin, 102-71, in the season opener on Monday.

Memphis also advances to the second round of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer, where they will play Richmond, which posted a 44-42 victory over Maine earlier on Monday.

"There were good things," Memphis coach John Calipari said. "(This is) typically what we're going to face this year. Teams are going to come out playing for their lives, and they're going to take shots and some of them they are going to make."

Highly-touted freshman Derrick Rose contributed 17 points, six rebounds and five assists for the Tigers, who haven't lost at home since January 2, 2006

Memphis has reached the Elite Eight each of the last two seasons, but was trailing, 28-21, midway through the first half. Douglas-Roberts scored 10 points during an 18-1 spurt that gave Memphis a 10-point lead with 5:36 remaining in the first half.

"They came out and made three or four unbelievable shots in a row, and all of a sudden they're up," Calipari said. "That's going to happen to us this year. What bothered me is, again, I thought we got pushed around a little bit. For us to be something special, that can't happen."

The Tigers quickly turned a 13-point halftime lead into a 64-36 advantage just 4:15 into the second half with a 15-0 spurt. The Memphis run in total was 43-8 and Tennessee-Martin missed 28 of its 30 shots during the spurt.

"We had some cold spells tonight, and you can't have cold spells against a team of this caliber because it is a lot easier to start a fast break when the ball is not going through the net," Tennessee-Martin coach Bret Campbell said.

The Tigers, who return all five starters from last season's 33-win team, were without their leading rebounder from last season, Joey Dorsey.

The 6-9 senior did not play after spraining his right shoulder during a scrimmage on October 27 and had his 94 consecutive-game streak snapped.

"You saw without Joey out there, we didn't have that presence - that physical toughness that we normally have," Calipari said.

Lester Hudson led all scorers for the Skyhawks with 35 points, making 7-of-12 shots from the arc.