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Balanced effort allows Memphis to pound SMU again

Feb 19, 2009 - 6:26 AM MEMPHIS, Tennessee (Ticker) -- Shawn Taggart scored 19 points to lead five players in double figures as sixth-ranked Memphis rolled to a 90-47 victory over Southern Methodist on Wednesday.

Doneal Mack scored 15 points, Robert Dozier and freshman Tyreke Evans and Antonio Anderson chipped in 13 each for the Tigers (23-3, 11-0 C-USA), who extended the nation's longest active winning streak to 17 games.

Memphis, which topped SMU by 13 points earlier in the month, also claimed its 53rd consecutive win in Conference USA play.

The 53-game run in the league is apart of the legacy of seniors Dozier, Anderson and Chance McGrady, who set the school record for the most wins by a four-year class with 127, edging the prior class (Joey Dorsey) by a win.

"It's not about me," Memphis coach John Calipari said. "I have never stepped a foot on that court. I never grabbed a rebound, although I would if I was in there. What's great about those guys is that all three of them will graduate on time in May in four years.

"Robert Dozier and Antonio Anderson have over 1,000 points. They both also have over 500 rebounds, and Antonio has a chance at getting 500 assists. Both of them will be professional. Wow, and have their degrees, wow, and win all these games, wow."

Unlike the previous matchup when they used a big second half to sink Mustangs, the Tigers decisively took control prior to halftime, shooting 15-of-30 (50 percent) with six 3-pointers to build a 19-point lead.

Mack led the charge, sinking 5-of-8 shots and 4-of-7 3-pointers to score all of his points prior to the intermission.

The junior guard had four points on a 16-2 run that closed the first half, turning Memphis' 36-31 lead with 3:50 remaining into the 19-point cushion at the break.

"Well, obviously, they're a very good team and they can make a lot of people look bad," SMU coach Matt Doherty said. "And, we were able to fight that for a while, but like you said, the last five or six minutes of the first half, they just took it to another level, and we just weren't able to respond."

The Tigers continued to pull away following halftime, scoring nine of the first 11 points in the second half.

Along with its great shooting, Memphis shined at the line, converting 36-of-40 free throws.

It was an impressive showing from a team that went 61.4 percent from the stripe last season in falling a win shy of a national title.

"We're fine. What we're doing is shooting volume free throws," Calipari said. "We're still shooting them now and we're still charting them. My thing is that if a guy is taking 3,000 free throws and making 90 percent, how in the world can you go in the game and go 1-for-7.

"I'm talking to Willie (Kemp) right now. I said Willie, you're working out, you're spending the extra time, you're making the shots in practice, then he gets in the game and doesn't hit the rim. It's all mental. You can't be afraid to miss, just go in there and shoot the ball."

Paul McCoy had 17 points and Derek Williams added 11 for SMU (7-17, 1-10), which dropped its eighth straight league game.