Feb. 2, 2008
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Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 24 points, and top-ranked Memphis shot 31 free throws in the second half in remaining unbeaten with a 70-64 win over UTEP on Saturday at the FedExForum.
The Tigers (21-0, 7-0 C-USA) extended their home winning streak to 44 games, but they had to sweat it out until the very end. The Miners (13-7, 4-3 C-USA) led 60-58 with 3:45 remaining, and were down by just one point (63-62) with 1:18 to go.
But Memphis, which has struggled to hit free throws all season long, went 5-for-6 from the charity stripe in the final 30 seconds to ward off UTEP's major upset bid.
"I told our guys that I'm very proud of them," UTEP coach Tony Barbee said. "We felt like we should've won the game. The last thing I told them is that in life, when an opportunity comes your way, it's one thing to see it and another to take advantage of it. We saw the opportunity and we took advantage of it. We just couldn't finish it off."
The Tigers were 21-for-41 from the line on the day, including 18-for-31 in the second half. The Miners shot 21 free throws, making 12.
UTEP shot 38.7 percent from the field to Memphis' 36.4 percent. The Tigers made just one of 17 three point attempts, but outrebounded the Miners 52-42.
"The biggest things that we had to do - and there are many things you have to do against this team - is to eliminate their 15-2 and 26-3 runs and get back in defensive transition. For the most part I thought we did that," Barbee said.
Stefon Jackson led UTEP with 27 points, including 16 in the second half. Marvin Kilgore scored eight of his 10 points in the first half.
UTEP had its biggest lead of four points twice in the first half, and didn't trail by more than seven the entire game. It marked only the third time this season that Memphis won a game by fewer than 10 points.
"There are no moral victories," Barbee said. "We played well and we expected to win."
UTEP will host Tulane on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. MST.
"We have to hold each other accountable, because what we've shown since the UCF game [a 109-80 loss on Jan. 23] is that when we commit to each other and work this hard, we're as good as anybody in the conference and could be as good as anybody in the nation," Barbee said.
