No. 2 Memphis Remains Undefeated

No. 2 Memphis Remains Undefeated
AP

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 19 points and Derrick Rose added 13 to help No. 2 Memphis stake its claim to the nation's top spot with an 83-47 victory over Southern Mississippi on Saturday night.

Douglas-Roberts, the Tigers' leading scorer with a 16.3 average, connected on 7-of-10, including both shots outside the arc, as Memphis (17-0, 4-0 Conference USA) won its 42nd straight home game and extended its streak of consecutive league wins to 27. Doneal Mack added 12 points, missing only one of his five shots from 3-point range.

Southern Mississippi (9-9, 1-3) lost its second straight and has dropped six of its last seven.

With top-ranked North Carolina's 82-80 loss to Maryland earlier Saturday, Memphis is poised to move into the No. 1 spot next week. The only time the Tigers were previously ranked No. 1 was in 1983. They moved into the top spot on Jan. 10, but lost at Virginia Tech that same night and dropped to No. 6 the next week.

With about 3 minutes left on Saturday night, the Memphis crowd began chanting, "We're No. 1. We're No. 1" as the Tigers built the lead to 39 points. Even Memphis coach John Calipari stood and clapped with the crowd adding a little hip-shake dance.
Memphis and Kansas are the only undefeated teams left in the country.

Jeremy Wise and R.L. Horton led Southern Miss with 9 points apiece. Andre Stephens had 10 rebounds for the Golden Eagles.
The Tigers held Southern Miss to 26 percent shooting for the game, including 0-for-14 on 3-pointers. Meanwhile, Memphis shot 52 percent and had only five turnovers.