University of Memphis head coach John Calipari was upset with his team's rebounding effort in Monday's game against Lamar.
In last night's 97-70 win against Jackson State, the Tigers dominated the rebounding category, as well as all the others.
"(Calipari) made us pay for it," said freshman forward Robert Dozier. "We went after every ball with two hands."
Memphis (5-1) was physically bigger, longer and more athletic than Jackson State (1-4), and it showed early.
With a surprise start from sophomore point guard Darius Washington Jr. and a strong effort from back-up guard Andre Allen, the Memphis offense was stuck on overdrive, jumping out to a 17-4 lead in the first six and a half minutes.
Early on, the Tigers did anything they wanted. Allen and Washington were able to get the ball down low to sophomore forward Joey Dorsey, who was 3-of-4 from the field and grabbed five rebounds in the first half.
Senior Rodney Carney said he knew Washington was going to play earlier in the day, but was surprised by the way he played with a sore thigh.
"I was surprised he had the speed back," he said.
While Washington provided the speed, Dozier and Joey Dorsey provided the muscle.
One player who benefited from going up against the smaller Jackson State team was Dozier, who ripped down nine rebounds and blocked three shots in the first half. At one point JSU's tallest player on the floor was 6-6.
Although Dozier's defensive effort certainly helped the team, his offensive game suffered. He finished just 1-for-9 from the field.
"I need to get in the flow of the offense," Dozier said. "That's what I need to do."
The first half featured many crowd-pleasing moments as Memphis was either dunking from two feet or shooting from more than 20.
On the night Memphis shot 30 three-pointers, making 14 and scored 30 points in the paint.
"(Calipari) doesn't like the mid-range (shot) too much, but threes and lay-ups he feels like we can shoot," said freshman forward Shawne Williams. "And on good nights if we're hitting like that he wants us to take them and we can."
Williams was a threat from everywhere on the court, hitting seven of his 11 shots and totaled 17 points.
Williams was trumped scoring wise by Carney, the game's leading scorer with 25 points, which included a thunderous right-handed tomahawk dunk in the first half and six three-pointers in the game.
Memphis slowly extended the lead in the second half but couldn't get beyond a 30-point lead as the team turned the ball over 11 times in the last 20 minutes.
Although the Tigers won by 27 points, Calipari said after the game that his team didn't dominate like they should, citing they only outscored Jackson State by seven points in the second half.
Calipari said he has yet to see his team play a complete game this year, but with two tough road games on the schedule for Memphis, a complete game is what they need.
Memphis takes on old C-USA rival Cincinnati this Saturday at 2 p.m., then next Saturday battles Providence.
