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C-USA opener: Tigers ready for zone at ECU
 Memphis
coach John Calipari was worried his team would struggle during its
challenging non-conference schedule. As they open league play, the Tigers
have a new concern to deal with.
Memphis (13-2) looks to
continue its improvement against the zone defense when it visits East
Carolina (6-7) on Wednesday in the Conference USA opener for both teams.
Texas used a zone defense to
beat Memphis on Jan. 2, and the fifth-ranked Tigers know they will likely
see more of the same as the season progresses.
"Everybody saw the Texas game,
so everybody thinks we don't play well against a zone," Memphis guard Darius
Washington said. "It was one of those games with Texas that we weren't
hitting shots. They weren't falling our way.
"Now teams think they can just
play a zone. They don't know we have too many weapons and that game against
Texas was really a fluke. They really can't play us (man-to-man) because we
have too many weapons. They will just sit back in the zone and pray that
we're not making shots that day."
The Longhorns ended Memphis'
season-high eight-game winning streak by employing a zone defense that held
the Tigers to 29 percent shooting in a 69-58 victory at The Pyramid.
Memphis has rebounded with
consecutive wins, including Sunday's 73-63 victory over visiting Winthrop.
Rodney Carney scored 21 points
and Washington added seven of his 14 during a key stretch as the Tigers shot
48 percent in their third straight game against a team intent on keeping
them from getting man-to-man coverage.
"I'm just happy that it is
over," Calipari said of Memphis' non-conference schedule that included games
against four ranked opponents. "(Winthrop) is one of those games that you
schedule at the beginning of the year for one reason, and that is to help
our RPI. Now that we have won the game, it is a great game for us."
The Pirates have won three of
four since a season-high five-game losing streak, including an 80-74
come-from-behind victory over Division II St. Paul's College on Saturday.
The win, however, came at a cost.
Sophomore guard Tom Hammonds
sprained his left ankle and will join senior forward Mike Castro (foot) on
the sidelines. Castro hasn't played since Dec. 18 and is out indefinitely.
Corey Rouse had 22 points and
15 rebounds Saturday for East Carolina, which trailed by nine points at
halftime.
"(Saint Paul's) came out and
played very hard," Rouse said. "Division II teams are always coming out
against Division I teams to prove a point and get a win. "In the first half
we took them for granted and didn't play well, but in the second half we
really played our type of basketball and got the win."
Carney scored 19 points as the
Tigers beat East Carolina 72-66 in Memphis last February to take a 3-0 lead
in the all-time series.
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02/23/2007 10:42:41 AM |
