• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Rose helps Memphis outlast gritty Richmond

Nov 7, 2007 - 6:01 AM MEMPHIS, Tennessee (Ticker) -- Memphis had little trouble extending the nation's longest home winning streak on Monday. One day later, they received a bit of a scare.

Freshman Derrick Rose scored 21 points to lead the third-ranked Tigers to an 80-63 victory over Richmond on Tuesday.

Memphis ran its home winning streak to 34 games and also advanced to the semifinals of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer in New York on November 15. They have not lost at home since January 2, 2006.

"(The city of) Memphis is great, and it's a heck of a team that they have," Richmond coach Chris Mooney said.

The Tigers will meet the winner of the Norman (Oklahoma) Regional, which begins Thursday.

With 10:59 remaining and the contest tied at 48-48, Rose sparked a 32-15 game-ending run with 11 of his 13 second-half points to turn away the upset-minded Spiders.

"He's great," Mooney said. "His fundamentals are so good. He's a great athlete and just excellent at every phase (of the game)."

"I came out in the second half and said 'we are throwing it in (the post) every chance we can, enough of this'," Memphis coach John Calipari said.

Junior guard and preseason Conference USA player of the Year Chris Douglas-Roberts had 19 points and seven rebounds.

The Tigers have already shown a propensity to wear down their opponents through two games. In Monday's 102-71 victory over Tennessee-Martin, Memphis used a 43-8 run that bridged halftime to pull away from the Skyhawks.

By comparison, it took a while for the Tigers to pull away on Tuesday.

Memphis was unable to build upon an early 15-5 lead less than seven minutes into the game, instead falling behind, 29-22, over the next seven-minute stretch.

The Spiders were sparked by 10 points over that time by guard David Gonzalvez, one of three sophomore starters on the team.

Memphis stormed back over the last 5:15 of the first half and even took a one-point lead, 40-39, at the break, led by eight points from sophomore guard Willie Kemp over a 71-second stretch.

Gonzalvez finished with a career-high 25 for the Spiders.

"We defended well and then had an opportunity to play against the third-ranked team in the nation and maybe even the best team in the country," Mooney said. "I think that we hung in there. We played with some confidence, and we played with grit. We hung in there and played tough.

"We wish that it could've gone a little bit longer, but I thought that we got a good account of ourselves."