Memphis 82, Ole Miss 70

No. 16 Tigers Roll Over Rebels

Chris Douglas-Roberts scores 17 points for Memphis.
Dec. 9, 2006

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 17 points and Jeremy Hunt added 16 to lead No. 16 Memphis to an 82-70 victory over Mississippi on Saturday.

The Tigers, coming off a poor shooting performance in a 76-58 loss at Tennessee on Wednesday, regrouped to shoot 47 percent. Memphis shot 28.6 percent against the Volunteers.

Antonio Anderson had 14 points for Memphis (7-2), while Joey Dorsey grabbed 10 rebounds.

Clarence Sanders had 18 points and Todd Abernathy added 16 for Ole Miss (7-2). Rebels leading scorer Bam Doyne, who entered the game averaging 17.6 points, was limited to seven on 1-for-12 shooting.

Rebels center Dwayne Curtis, who was the team's leading scorer last season, made his debut after sitting out since early in the preseason with a broken bone in his left foot. He played sparingly and had two points and six rebounds.

The Tigers broke away from a 32-29 halftime lead by attacking the offensive boards and consistently driving to the basket. Douglas-Roberts scored 10 points in the opening 10 minutes of the second half as Memphis went up 60-43. A 3-pointer by Hunt and a follow slam by Dorsey put the Tigers up 65-45.

Memphis built a 21-8 lead in the first half, getting key contributions from 6-foot-11 center Kareem Cooper, who was playing in his first game of the season. Cooper had missed the first month as a result of violating team rules.

But the Tigers were unable to capitalize on the run. Ole Miss gradually cut into the lead and used a 13-4 run late in the opening half to get within 30-27.

Ole Miss shot 47.8 percent in the first half to offset being outrebounded 20-15 and outscored 16-8 in the paint.

The Rebels' other loss was 77-59 to No. 19 Connecticut.