Memphis Stays Unbeaten With Win Over Gonzaga

Jan 26, 05:15 PM

Memphis, TN (Sports Network) - Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 21 points and grabbed six rebounds, and No. 1 Memphis stayed unbeaten with an 81-73 win over a tough Gonzaga squad.

Derrick Rose finished with 19 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds for Memphis (19-0), which has won 38 straight regular season games, and 43 straight games at home. Antonio Anderson had 12 points, and Joey Dorsey raked in 13 rebounds to go along with nine points for the Tigers.

Jeremy Pargo poured in 25 points and tallied seven assists for Gonzaga (15-5), which had won six straight. Josh Heytvelt scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and Micah Downs added 11 points for the Bulldogs.

"I'm proud of the guys," said Tigers head coach John Calipari. "Joey Dorsey was unbelievable. Shawn Taggart came in when Robert Dozier was shaky in the first half. Chris Douglas-Roberts did what he does."

Memphis pulled away early in the second half, and held off the Bulldogs down the stretch to keep its perfect season intact. After a Pargo layup pulled Gonzaga within 37-34 in the first minute of the second half, Memphis scored seven straight to take a 10-point lead.

The lead hovered around 10 for much of the second half, except for a 9-3 push midway through that boosted Memphis' edge to 62-46 with 10:27 remaining. Gonzaga quickly ran off nine straight to pull within seven, but the Tigers pushed their lead back into double figures.

Pargo capped the final Gonzaga surge with a layup with 21.9 ticks left, cutting the deficit to 79-73, but Douglas-Roberts sank two free throws with 18.3 seconds left to seal the win.

"By and large I thought we battled pretty good," said Gonzaga head coach Mark Few. "We took care of the ball and shot a good enough percentage to win. We didn't quite secure enough rebounds and get enough stops down the stretch. Memphis is terrific, really terrific, and they are worthy of No. 1."

The nation's top team played like it early, threatening to run the Bulldogs off the court. Early threes by Douglas-Roberts and Anderson fueled a 10-0 run to start the game.

A 9-0 Gonzaga run, capped by a Micah Downs jumper, pulled the Bulldogs within 25-24 with 6:43 left in the first half. Downs later drained a three to put Gonzaga on top 32-30 with 2:17 left, but the Tigers scored the last five points before intermission, capped by a Rose putback dunk, and took a 35-32 lead into the break.

Game Notes

This was just the fourth all-time meeting between the two schools. Gonzaga won the initial matchup, but the Tigers have won the last three...Memphis entered the game shooting 58.5 percent at the free throw line, fifth-worst in the country. The Tigers made 19-of-32 (59.4 percent) on Saturday...Calipari won his 200th game at Memphis, joining Larry Finch as the only coach in school history to reach the 200-win plateau.

01/26 16:46:33 ET

Memphis Stays Unbeaten With Win Over Gonzaga
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