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Evans, Memphis blow past Gonzaga

Feb 8, 2009 - 5:32 AM SPOKANE, Washington (Ticker) -- In a matchup of two of the nation's hottest teams, Memphis turned Gonzaga ice-cold.

Freshman Tyreke Evans scored 22 points and Robert Dozier had 18 and 10 rebounds as the 15th-ranked Tigers built up a big lead and cruised past the 18th-ranked Bulldogs, 68-50, on Saturday.

The win extended Memphis' (20-3) winning streak to 14 games, while Gonzaga (17-5) had its nine-game run come to an end. Utah State owns the nation's longest winning streak at 18 games.

"I told (Gonzaga coach) Mark (Few), that's as good as we can play," Memphis coach John Calipari said. "We were inspired tonight. I don't know what it is that Gonzaga does to my team but we again stepped up and played like it was our Super Bowl.

"We can't play much better than we did tonight, on both sides of the ball."

Evans and Willie Kemp each made a 3-pointer as Memphis went on an 11-2 run to take a 17-10 lead with 11:45 left in the first half.

Gonzaga had turnovers on seven of eight possessions at one point midway through the first half and Memphis finished the session strong, taking the crowd completely out of the game.

Evans made a pair of 3-pointers and Shawn Taggart knocked down a jumper as the Tigers used a 12-3 run to take a 40-23 bulge into the locker rooms. Evans made a shot from well beyond the arc to beat the halftime buzzer.

"They dominated us in every phase of the game tonight," Few said. "We need to play harder. You can't go against an exceptional team and play less hard than a team like that."

It was not much better for the Bulldogs in the second half as the Tigers continued to use their quickness to their advantage.

Gonzaga went without a field goal for a five-minute stretch and Dozier's 3-pointer extended Memphis' lead to 53-31 with 13:40 to play.

The Bulldogs tried to make a game of it, using a 13-0 run to cut the deficit to 60-47 with 3:35 left, but it was much too late by then.

"I'm disappointed in how we finished off the game tonight but we played very well in the game," Calipari said.

The late flurry boosted Gonzaga's shooting percentage to 37 percent (18-of-49). The Bulldogs committed 15 turnovers and were outrebounded, 39-25.

"They did a great job of attacking off the dribble and then went to work on the glass," Few said.

Micah Downs scored 13 points to lead Gonzaga, which was held to its lowest offensive output of the season. The Bulldogs came into the game averaging 79 points per contest.

It was the Bulldogs' worst home loss since an 80-56 setback to Pepperdine in 1991.