Tigers' Rose misses practice; may miss game on Wednesday

Tigers' Rose misses practice; may miss game on Wednesday
By Dan Wolken
Originally published 06:27 p.m., February 25, 2008

University of Memphis freshman Derrick Rose missed Monday’s practice due to a stomach illness, and coach John Calipari isn’t sure whether his star point guard will be ready to play Wednesday against Tulsa.

Rose was given an IV on Monday to help him replace fluids, but his status will hinge on how much his condition improves between now and the game. Rose was the Tigers’ best player Saturday in their 66-62 loss to Tennessee, scoring 23 points on 9-of-16 from the field.

“We’ll see,” Calipari said. “Hopefully it’s a 24-hour bug.”

Meanwhile, junior guard Chris Douglas-Roberts practiced Monday and said he’ll play against Tulsa after suffering an ankle injury in the closing minutes against Tennessee. Douglas-Roberts hurt himself with 2:28 to go on a stepthrough move for a layup that gave the Tigers a 61-58 lead. He had to come out of the game at the next whistle and couldn’t come back in until 41.5 seconds were left.

The injury clearly affected his ability to make a move and score on the game’s most important possession, when he tried to drive at J.P. Prince but instead gave the ball up, leading to Antonio Anderson’s miss with nine seconds to go.

“I twisted my ankle when I was about to jump off my right leg right before I jumped,” Douglas-Roberts said. “It’s alright. It was pretty sore, but that’s not an excuse at all.”

Etc.: ESPN’s Michael Humes said Saturday’s telecast averaged a 31.4 rating in Memphis and a 30.9 in Knoxville, meaning nearly one out of three television sets in the two markets were tuned to the game. Humes said that was about double what the Oscars telecast got Sunday night in the respective markets…Roughly 200 tickets for Wednesday’s game were returned from corporate partners and put on sale to the public. All tickets are located on the terrace level and can be purchased for $12.