Missouri Gives Memphis the Run-Around

Missouri 102, Memphis 91

GLENDALE, Ariz., March 26 -- The heads of the 20,101 fans inside University of Phoenix Stadium swayed left to right and right to left all night, as if they were watching a tennis match played out on 94 feet of hardwood.

Memphis and Missouri staged a regional semifinal in which there was no speed limit. Third-seeded Missouri sped up a Memphis team that already liked to play at a feverish pace, and the result was an entertaining, end-to-end game that advanced Missouri to its first region final since 2002.

Missouri, which beat second-seeded Memphis, 102-91, on Thursday night, will play top-seeded Connecticut at 4:40 p.m. Saturday for the right to go to its first Final Four.

"You want an up-tempo game?" Missouri Coach Mike Anderson said. "That was an up-tempo game."

Because of the victory over Memphis (33-4), college basketball fans will become more familiar with Anderson's frenetic style, which is reminiscent of Arkansas's famed "40 minutes of hell" in the 1990s. Anderson, a longtime assistant for former Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson, has implemented what he calls the "fastest 40 minutes in basketball."

Missouri (31-6) relentlessly flustered Memphis with man-to-man pressure and traps, jumping into passing lanes to deflect passes and disrupt the Memphis offense.

At one point in the first half, Memphis Coach John Calipari put both hands on his head and walked to the end of his bench in frustration. Memphis freshman guard Tyreke Evans, who scored a career-high 33 points, attempted to carry his team offensively, penetrating and scoring in what was a wide-open game from the start.

Calipari noted that his team shot 50.7 percent, committed just 14 turnovers and outrebounded Missouri by three -- and still lost.

"They beat us at our own game," Calipari said.

Memphis whittled Missouri's 24-point lead to six with one minute to play, but Missouri kept penetrating and scoring, as it did all night. Guard J.T. Tiller led Missouri with a career-high 23 points and established the tone offensively by relentlessly driving to the basket.

"J.T. set the tone the way he attacked the basket," Missouri guard Zaire Taylor said. "He showed you can drive on them. That set the tone for the whole team."

In the game's final seven minutes, Evans made two free throws, and Robert Dozier followed with a jumper that brought Memphis to within seven points. But Taylor answered with a layup on the other end. Moments later, Taylor drove to the basket and tossed in another layup that pushed his team's advantage back to double digits.