The new slogan, "Memphis basketball is back," is not true just yet. However, the Tigers are in a better position now than when they started last season.
Last night's 77-61 win over the Universal All-Stars turned out to be a lesson in disguise rather than a showcase of Tiger talent.
"We made some bad decisions," said head coach John Calipari. "The effort all-in-all was pretty good, the defense wasn't bad. I thought we showed more structure."
At the start, the Universal All-Stars, led by former U of M center Jermaine Ousley, took the lead early.
But after a forced turnover by sophomore center Earl Barron, Memphis went up 18-17 with 10:05 left to play in the half and didn't look back.
Junior forward Kelly Wise lit it up early in the first half and shined throughout the entire game.
Wise finished up with 20 points, 8-of-11 shooting and 10 boards, four of those resulting from hitting the boards on offense.
Freshman guard Scooter McFadgon had a good night, scoring 17 and snagging six rebounds.
"I don't want to start him, but he's going to force me to," Calipari said.
The half ended with a three-pointer from Universal's Tony Mayfield, and The U of M holding a 37-28 lead.
In the second, freshman Modibo Diarra provided the defense, while Barron cleaned up the offensive glass. And when Ousley fouled out with 2:06 left, Tiger fans gave him a standing ovation.
Although Memphis won, Calipari said there were too many mistakes made.
"The game was in the balance 3 or 4 different times," he said. "Later in the second half we played smarter."
With that in mind, mistakes could be costly, considering the Tigers will face Temple in their season opener.
"We need to work on offense a little bit more," said Senior Shyrone Chatman. "We did a lot of things right on defense, but Temple plays zone a lot, and we will have to work on beating that."
