Last night the Memphis Tigers played basketball the way it was meant to be played -- to the fullest.
The Tiger team (19-14) destroyed The University of Texas-El Paso(23-9) by a score of 90-65. The National Invitation Tournament game was played in front of over 14,000 fans at the Pyramid.
The UTEP Miners came into the match up averaging 80.8 points on the season. That didn't seem to phase the Tigers.
"We really defended tonight," senior guard Marcus Moody said. "We wanted to take them out of everything they wanted to do on the offensive end and I think we did a good job of it."
Along with stifling the Miners scoring, the Tigers' outstanding defensive play helped to create 20 turnovers for the Miner team.
The Tigers held UTEP's leading scorer, Brandon Wolfram, to 16 points which is six points lower then his average.
In the first minutes of the contest, the game looked to be a close one. Half way through the first period, the Tigers began to pull away. By the end of the half, U of M was leading 42 to 29.
"I think it was vital that we became the aggressor," Head Coach John Calipari said.
Aggressiveness was definitely the mindset of the Tigers when they returned to the court for the second period. The Tiger team scored 11 unanswered points.
During that run, Moody scored a three-point shot that broke the school record of 153 treys scored by one player in a career.
By the games end, Moody would up the record to 155, while scoring a game-leading 17 points.
"Marcus has never played better in his life," Calipari said. "When you play more for the team you'll break records for yourself."
The Tigers put forth a total team effort with five players scoring in double figures.
They also displayed their ability to play unselfishly by recording a team total of 21 assists.
Junior Kelly Wise scored 16 points. Freshman Scooter McFadgon scored 13 points, nine of which came from three-point shots. Senior Shyrone Chatman and sophomore Earl Barron recorded double-doubles.
Chatman scored 12 points and had 10 assists. Barron pulled down 10 boards and scored 10 points.
He gave individual credit to Barron for his betterment during this season.
"Of all the players I've ever coached," Calipari said. "I don't think anyone has improved in one year more than Earl has."
The New Mexico Lobos team is the only thing standing between the Tigers and an NIT final four appearance at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The Tigers host the Lobos at the Pyramid Thursday night.
