A touch of 'Memphis Magic' and home court advantage were not enough for the Tigers Friday night, as they fell short in their season opener against Temple 62-67.
With all the excitement, the loss didn't seem to matter to fans, the Tigers gave their best.
But it did matter to the Tigers, who were playing for pride and in front of over 20,000 screaming fans.
The Calipari era has just begun, but expectations were still high.
"For a first game, that kind of game is so hard to play. We were diving for the ball, taking charges," head coach John Calipari said. "I thought our defense was tremendous. We'll win our share of games."
Known for its stingy defense, Temple was under the spell of the Memphis Magic in the first half. Memphis made Temple play their game. The Tigers were doing everything right. Calls were going their way, shots were going down, they were hitting the board offensively and defensively.
"People thought we were going to be the underdog, but I think we played our hearts out," sophomore center Earl Barron said. He finished with 12 on the night.
In fact, Memphis collected 17 rebounds, just one better than Temple and went 13-of-29 from the field. The Tigers went into the locker room pumped by a 33-24 lead.
But the tide turned in the second. The magic wore off.
"In the first half we attacked them," junior forward John Grice said. "In the second they attacked us. There was a breakdown. We have to execute offensively and defensively."
Lynn Greer was virtually unstoppable, scoring 12 second half points to finish with 22.
Grice said Greer just caught on fire in the second.
"Greer was making some big shots," he said. "We had a hand in his face, but his shots were still going down."
Senior Marcus Moody tried to rally back late in second when he was fouled by Greer and went to the line to shoot three shots, making two out of three, and going 5-of-7 from the three-point line.
Other high scorers for the Owls were Quincy Wadley with 15 and David Hawkins with 11.
The Tigers will depart for Puerto Rico today to play in the Puerto Rico Shootout, which will be televised on UPN 30, Nov. 23.
