Kansas Jayhawks star Mario Chalmers has just struck a dagger in the hearts of Memphis Tiger fans and Memphians alike with a three-pointer to tie the 2008 NCAA Championship Game at 63-all, and send the game into overtime.
Roberto Allen, a sophomore economics and business major at the University of Memphis and lifelong Tiger fan, looks on in his seat in complete shock.
Who could blame him? Memphis just blew a nine-point lead with 2:12 left in the game partly due to red-hot shooting by Kansas, and Memphis’ Achilles heel of missing free throws biting them in the back at the worst possible time. In a matter of minutes, a title that appeared destined for Memphis was all in up in the air again.
“I remember it like it was yesterday, we tried to foul him and then he (Chalmers) hits that crazy three,” Allen said. “I couldn't believe what was happening. I could sense the momentum shifting. I didn't think the game was lost but it became a lot more difficult.”
Everyone knows how the game finished, Kansas started overtime on a 6-0 run, and ended up winning the game 75-68 and their second National Championship. Leaving the 2008 Memphis Tigers, a team that finished 38-2, wondering what could have been. Tuesday is the seventh anniversary of that championship game in San Antonio.
Allen said he was very confident Memphis would win the game, but now looking back isn’t as upset as he was that night except for his feelings toward Chalmers.
“It turned into complete, tragic and utter disappointment,” Allen said. “At first I was still upset, I hated Mario Chalmers. Now it doesn't really bother me, but I still don't like Chalmers.”
However, back in Memphis not everyone was all doom and gloom. Jim Loucks, lifelong Jayhawk fan, was the only person at Dan McGuiness in East Memphis wearing Jayhawks gear. He celebrated in elation when Chalmers sent the game in overtime.
Though there is one unique aspect about Loucks, he is not just a “Jayhawks” fan. When the Kansas native moved to Memphis he adopted the Tigers as his own, and before overtime began he was not trash talking the Tiger fans at Dan McGuiness, but encouraging them.
“I was telling the fans they hadn’t lost yet, but they were saying they couldn’t hit free throws,” he said. “I was even pulling for Memphis to win, because I had expected Kansas to lose by that point. But when Chalmers hit the shot I looked at my friend and his face just dropped when he saw the shot (go in).”
Although Memphis fans wish they had never seen the Kansas Jayhawks, Loucks said he hoped his two favorite teams would eventually meet one day long before their clash in 2008.
“I thought by that point it was not going to happen,” Loucks said. “But once I saw there was a chance I became optimistic it would happen. I wanted it to.”
As far as rooting interests were concerned, going into the game he said it was ultimately a win-win situation.
“I was hoping Kansas would win, but I would’ve been satisfied either way,” Loucks said.
Malcolm Wilson, a Memphis real estate agent and Tiger fan remembers when freshman point guard Derrick Rose would always have a “stomach ache” before the “big games.”
“I always heard he was eating gummy bears before the games,” Wilson said. “But once the game started he was able to get over it and play.”
Rose put on a quite the performance as despite his missed free throws late, he still put Memphis in position to win its first ever National Championship with a great performance in his final collegiate game. The future NBA MVP scored 18 points, dished out eight assists and grabbed six rebounds in the loss.
His backcourt teammate senior guard and Tiger fan favorite Chris Douglas Roberts led the Tigers with 22 points that night.
Once again, the missed free throws by the two also led to the Tigers blowing their nine-point lead. This was a Tigers team despite shooting 61 percent from the line on the season seemed to have figured it out. Memphis shot 81 percent from the free throw line in its previous three games. Wilson said what felt so secure again led to more disappointment.
“We were really doing well until the last two minutes until the free throws and we were like we’re going to win the national championship,” Wilson said. “Then they miss the free throws and we were like ‘man again!’”
The aftermath would only worsen the sting of the title loss as the NCAA in 2009 would vacate the Tigers 38 wins and their Final Four banner from the 2008 season.
Due to the fact Rose was ruled ineligible for the 2008 season because he had someone take his SAT test for him.
Regardless, one question that will always remain is if the Tigers had won would they’ve been forced to become the first National Champion to have their title vacated.
Loucks argues if Memphis had won they should’ve been able to keep it, and that Kansas wouldn’t have deserved it if Memphis was stripped of its’ title.
“I wouldn’t have considered Kansas a true champion,” Loucks said. “Even though plenty of my friends would’ve said otherwise, because if they had lost they wouldn’t earn it in my opinion.”
In the seven years since, the two teams combine for one national championship game appearence. Kansas being a runner up in 2012, losing to ex-Memphis coach John Calipari and his now Kentucky Wildcats.
Nevertheless, Loucks said he will always cherish 2008.
“It was a once in a lifetime experience for me,” Loucks said.
Former Tiger Chris Douglas-Roberts goes up for the layup in the 2008 NCAA Championship Game. He scored a team high 22 points in the loss. Photo by David Minkin
