University of Connecticut Athletics
Men's Basketball Falls To No. 3 Memphis, 81-70
11/16/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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NEW YORK (November 16, 2007) – Tournament Most Valuable Player Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 33 points and freshman Derrick Rose added 24 more as third-ranked Memphis defeated the University of Connecticut men’s basketball team, 81-70, Friday evening in the championship game of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic before a crowd of 8,895 at Madison Square Garden.
The Huskies took their first loss of the season to drop to 3-1, while the Tigers improve to 4-0 with the win.
The well-played contest had the feel of an NCAA tournament game as the two squads battled to a 60-60 tie with 9:17 to play before Memphis seized control. After sophomore center Hasheem Thabeet (Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania) hit two free throws to tie the game, Douglas-Roberts made two free throws, and Rose followed with a three-point play to put Memphis up 65-60.
Jerome Dyson (Rockville, Md.) answered with a fast-break lay-up to inch the Huskies within three, but Rose answered with another good jumper and Memphis regained a five-point advantage. Junior forward Jeff Adrien (Brookline, Mass.) made one of two free throws to get UConn back to within four, but that was as close as the Huskies could get as Robert Dozier tipped-in a missed shot and Douglas-Roberts made a jumper and two free throws to put Memphis comfortably ahead, 74-63.
The Huskies were led in scoring once again by junior point guard A.J. Price (Amityville, N.Y.), who netted 23 points, including 16 before intermission. Price, who scored 18 in the Huskies semifinal win over Gardner-Webb, was named to the All-Tournament team. Dyson added 17 points for the Huskies, with 14 coming in the second half.
Also in double-figures for the Huskies was Thabeet, who scored a season-best 11 points while yanking down a team-best nine rebounds. Sophomore Stanley Robinson (Birmingham, Ala.) chipped in with nine points and he amassed a pair of blocked shots.
Memphis broke impressively from the gate, storming out to an 18-3 lead just over five minutes into the contest as Douglas-Roberts scored eight straight points. Slowly but surely the Huskies chipped away and eventually came all the way back to take a 41-40 lead at halftime as Adrien made two late first-half free throws.
Dyson made a three-point play right out of halftime, but Price picked up his third foul 26 seconds into the second half and had to go to the bench. Memphis responded with an 11-2 run to take a 51-46 lead setting up the back-and-forth play of the second half.
The Huskies will return to the hardwood on Tuesday, Nov. 20 against the Runnin’ Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb play for the second time in six days. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Hartford Civic Center and the contest will be televised locally by MyTV9.
