Let's Go Peay? No. 19 Memphis Wins 88-63

Let's Go Peay? No. 19 Memphis Wins 88-63
Associated Press 12.14.06, 11:18 PM ET

Chris Douglas-Roberts scored a career-high 28 points on 10-of-12 shooting to lead No. 19 Memphis to an 88-63 victory over Austin Peay on Thursday night.

Douglas-Roberts, a sophomore guard, also was 8-of-10 from the line and had five assists for Memphis (8-2). The Tigers shot 62 percent from the field.

Doneal Mack, Jeremy Hunt and Kareem Cooper added 11 points each, and Joey Dorsey finished with 11 rebounds. Cooper hit all five of his shots.

Derek Wright led Austin Peay (3-5) with 18 points, and Fernandez Lockett had 12.

Memphis scored the game's first 10 points and built a 22-2 lead.

Governors coach Dave Loos called three early timeouts to try to reverse the Tigers' momentum. It didn't help, and Austin Peay never threatened the rest of the way.

With its taller frontline clogging the middle and controlling the boards, Memphis outrebounded Austin Peay 43-21 and outscored the Governors in the paint 58-20. At times, the difference was so evident, Memphis coach John Calipari had to coax his team to continue playing with intensity.

Memphis caused turnovers off the press and controlled the middle with three early blocks. That led to the Governors missing eight of their first nine shots, while the Tigers scored 13 points off Austin Peay's first seven turnovers.

The Governors shot 27 percent for the first half, including 1-of-10 from 3-point range, while Memphis connected on 63 percent. The biggest problem for the Tigers was after building an early lead, they got sloppy handling the basketball, committing eight turnovers in the half.

The Tigers closed the half with the last six points to rebuild the lead to 47-25.

Douglas-Roberts led Memphis in the first half with 17 points, hitting seven of his eight first-half shots. Wright led the Governors with six points in the half.

Memphis maintained a double-digit lead throughout the second half, despite calling off the pressure defense and committing 10 turnovers in the first 9 minutes.