In Memphis' 78-67 win against Tulsa Saturday night, the Tigers learned a lot about themselves.
They learned when it counts, they can make free throws. They learned Darius Washington and Shawne Williams are the go-to guys down the stretch. And they learned if they play their remaining opponents like they did against the Golden Hurricane, they will be on the short side of the scoreboard.
The third-ranked Tigers (26-2 overall, 12-0 in Conference USA) used strong play down the stretch from freshman forward Shawne Williams and clutch free throws to beat Tulsa (10-15, 5-7) in a game that was much closer than the final score indicated.
Memphis first struggled against Tulsa's defense, unable to build a lead of more than four for most of the half.
"I have to give Doug (Wojcik, Tulsa coach) credit," said coach John Calipari. "They seemed to want it more than we did."
Aside from a lack of intensity, free throws helped Tulsa stay close to Memphis, who has yet to lose a conference game this season. The Tigers were 9 of 15 from the line at the end of the first 20 minutes.
A major difference in this game from Memphis' previous 84-61 win in Tulsa was turnovers. In the Feb. 1 game, Memphis turned Tulsa over 24 times, leading to 34 points compared to only 11 turnovers by Tulsa contributing to nine Memphis points Saturday.
"We didn't turn them over," said Calipari.
A three-pointer by senior Rodney Carney gave the Tigers a five-point lead going into halftime.
In the first 10 minutes of the second half neither team could get anything going. The largest lead for either team in an eight-minute stretch in the second half was four.
Memphis finally made their free throws: 11 of 11. In a perfect example of the value of free shots, these points extended Memphis' lead to double digits in the last minute of the game.
Shawne Williams, lead scorer with 21 points and eight rebounds, carried the Tigers in the end, scoring seven points in the last six minutes.
Also helping down the stretch was sophomore center Joey Dorsey, who tallied four rebounds, an assist and a steal in the last five minutes of the game on his way to a game-high 10 rebounds.
