In Role Reversal, Memphis Tops A& M

Tigers Clutch at Line, Aggies Stumble Late: Memphis 65, Texas A& M 64

Memphis forward Joey Dorsey slams the ball over Texas A& M's Antanas Kavaliauskas. Antonio Anderson made two free throws with 3.1 seconds left for the winning margin. (By Eric Gay -- Associated Press)

SAN ANTONIO, March 22 -- Texas A&M has excelled in late-game situations with the score close this season, so much that its best player, Acie Law, earned the nickname "Mr. Clutch." But the Aggies, led by Law, failed to live up to that label Thursday night in a South Region semifinal, and Memphis willed its way to a 65-64 victory, making the plays it needed to make after Texas A&M frittered away opportunities to win the game.

In the final 10 seconds, the Aggies had three chances to secure a rebound that would have sealed a victory, but a series of Memphis offensive rebounds led to Antonio Anderson, a 64 percent free throw shooter this season, sinking two foul shots with 3.1 seconds remaining. All the Aggies could muster was a bumbled inbounds pass and then a heave from just inside half court by Josh Carter that fell well short of the rim.

The air ball sealed second-seeded Memphis' second consecutive trip to a region final. It will play the winner of Thursday's Ohio State-Tennessee game on Saturday, a game that marks an impressive accomplishment for a team from lightly regarded Conference USA.

"We all play will a chip on our shoulder," Memphis guard Chris Doulgas-Roberts said. "We heard everything we could hear about how bad our conference is, how we had a cakewalk. But now we're playing the elite of the elite. And we're still winning."

Billy Gillispie, the coach who stewarded third-seeded Texas A&M from a team that went 0-16 in the Big 12 three seasons ago to the round of 16 this year, walked off the floor alone after quickly shaking hands with Memphis Coach John Calipari, stealing one final glance at his empty bench. The slow walk was preceded by a stunning collapse by a team known for its late-game proficiency.

With the Aggies leading 64-63, Law had an opportunity to live up to his nickname. Texas A&M took the ball out of bounds under Memphis's basket, and Law broke free down the center of the floor like a wide receiver bolting behind a safety. The ball floated over his shoulder and into his hands, and he took two dribbles before laying the ball toward the basket.

When he released the layup, Law thought it was going in. But it rolled off the front of the rim, and Memphis received a chance to win the game.

"Little plays like that cost you the ballgame," said Law, who scored 13 points on 6-of-17 shooting. "I'm just disappointed in the way I performed."

Jeremy Hunt, a Memphis reserve who led all players with 19 points, launched a three-point attempt on the ensuing possession. It missed, but the Tigers rebounded and Calipari called a timeout. He set his final play, which ended up being a three-pointer from the left wing by Andre Allen.

It missed, but the Tigers rebounded again. Then another miss and another rebound. Then again. Finally, Anderson leaped and corralled the fourth miss, this time drawing a foul from Carter as he tried to shoot the ball in one motion off the rebound. Before that sequence, the Aggies had outrebounded Memphis, 36-27.

Anderson strode to the line, having made 1 of 4 free throws in the game to that point. Memphis, a dreadful free throw shooting team in the regular season, hired a sports psychologist before the tournament. His message: Don't think about the consequences of foul shots; just shoot them.

And so Anderson swished the first. Gillispie called time out, the score tied at 64, an arena twitching with anticipation. Anderson went to the line and arced another perfect parabola that went cleanly through the net.

"I knew I was going to make it," Anderson said. "I just knew I wasn't going to let my teammates down."

The early signs pointed against Memphis. Douglas-Roberts walked with a slight limp from the bench to midcourt during pregame introductions, and wore a bulky brace around the sprained left ankle that threatened to keep him from playing. But he played 37 minutes and scored 15 points.

Another bad harbinger: Texas A&M fans overtook the Alamodome, filling three-quarters of the arena. Aggies fans started swaying arm-in-arm and chanting even before the opening tip and never stopped screaming, turning the contest into a virtual home game about a 3 1/2 -hour drive from the College Station campus.

But Memphis overcame both obstacles, and all those fans, like Gillispie, were left to walk away with lingering memories of a fine season that ended in a painful manner.

"This is what we wanted," said Calipari, who had to brush aside questions about his possible departure to coach another team after the game. "To come to Texas and play in front of 30,000 and prove ourselves. Now I just have a question: Can we get one more? I don't know. But we're gonna try."