Vols New #1 in College Hoops
Tennessee has taken over the top spot in college hoops after a big time win this weekend over Memphis, who fell from the ranks of the unbeaten. Memphis has fallen to the 3rd spot behind North Carolina, but remained ahead of Ucla and Texas who round out the top 5.
In one of the best college games of the year, Memphis just went cold down the stretch missing 15 of their last 16 3 point shots and a dismal 8-17 from the foul line to assist in the loss. Memphis, who had been the #1 team for a while now, was the last remaining unbeaten in division I basketball. The loss creates some major question marks about how Memphis will play in close games during the NCAA tournament with the most apparent being the Tigers inability to shoot foul shots. Tourney teams consistently foul and Memphis can’t trust the inside presence of Joey Dorsey to get the ball in case he is immediately fouled. The puts more pressure on Douglas-Roberts and Rose.
On a side note, I was very impressed with Derrick Rose again. The kid scored 23 points on his first really big stage and he shined. He handled the pressure well and plays at a different speed than most. He is a little out of control at times but he’s a shot maker and you can’t teach that.
The player of the night, in my opinion, was JP Prince. He had a 5 minute stretch in the second half that gave Tennessee a little breathing room and made up for the fact that Chris Lofton couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn. It was amazing to me that Tennessee could win at Memphis with Lofton only scoring 7 and having Derrick Rose go for 23. I never thought that would happen. I never though Joey Dorsey would only score 1 point and that point would come on a free throw. When he shoots the foul shot and it hits the rim they should give him a point. Dorsey makes this face when he releases a foul shot like a kid trying to win a prize on the hoop shoot at the carnival. Problem is he has the equivalent of spending 25 dollars there and never winning the prize for his girl.
Memphis also lost out on the nation’s longest home court winning streak which now, i believe, falls to BYU. I’d like to see Memphis play Byu at home in Provo instead the patsies they usually do there but that’s another article.
