Rose, Memphis Rout Texas

By Associated Press
March 31, 2008

HOUSTON — John Calipari has a good reason for calling his Memphis Tigers a "Dream Team" — a kid from Chicago who wears N o . 2 3 and makes plays that bring fans out of their seats.

With freshman Derrick Rose soaring and scoring, Memphis ended two years of regional final failure and routed Texas 85-67 Sunday to reach the Final Four. The victory backed up the Tigers' season-long reign near the top of the poll and made them the third No. 1 seed headed to San Antonio. Rose had 21 points, nine assists and six rebounds, outplaying Texas star D.J. Augustin and leading the Tigers (37–1) into a national semifinal Saturday against a UCLA team making its third straight Final Four appearance. Memphis and UCLA met in the regional finals two years ago and in the 1973 title game, with the Bruins winning both.

"I'm living a dream right now," Rose said.

Rose took the doubt out of this one in the first half, making a Michael Jordanesque layup as part of his 4-for-4 start, blocking an open-court layup by Augustin and throwing a long pass for a thunderous dunk by Joey Dorsey among his four early assists.

The Tigers were up 29–13 after 12 minutes, with Rose accounting for more points than Texas (31–7) scored.

The Longhorns slowed Rose for only about a minute — when he got poked on the cut above his right eye, forcing him to the bench for a new tape and glue job. No stitches, though; despite all his tattoos, needles creep him out.

Rose finished 7-of-10 and was voted the most outstanding player of the South Regional. The game ended with him getting one last assist of sorts — generously bouncing the ball to a Texas player for the final seconds.

When the horn went off, Rose tugged at the Memphis on his jersey and gestured to the few Tigers fans. They soon were chanting "One more year!," in hopes that he might not turn pro.

Chris Douglas-Roberts, a Naismith Award finalist, led Memphis with 25 points, with 14 coming on free throws. Joey Dorsey provided 11 points and 12 rebounds, and Shawn Taggart added 12 points. Antonio Anderson had nine points and four assists.

Rose and his teammates already are in elite company. Their 37th win matched an NCAA Division I record held by four other teams, and it was their 103rd victory over the last three seasons, the second-best run by any program.

If the Tigers can win it all, they'll hold both marks. That would take a lot of the sting off the last two years, when Memphis was knocked out a game shy of the Final Four.

Memphis has only been back to the Final Four once, with Keith Lee leading the way in 1985. But that trip was vacated according to the NCAA record book because of rules violations. Ditto for the only other time Calipari coached a team to the Final Four, UMass in 1996.

Despite being labeled the top seed most likely to lose, Memphis has hardly been tested in the tournament. There was a three-point win in the second round, but that was only because of a late flourish by Mississippi State in the second round. This was the closest of the other games — and, of course, it wasn't really close.