No. 3 Memphis struggling entering postseason play

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Memphis isn't exactly sprinting into thepostseason.

The No. 3 Tigers struggled for the third consecutive game Saturdaynight before finally turning back Houston, 69-62, and capturing theConference USA championship.

In those three games, Memphis has been taken to the wire by Tulsaand Houston and was handed its only conference loss of the seasonThursday night at Alabama-Birmingham.

Some of those feelings from the loss spilled over into the openingminutes Saturday night.

"We were awful for a while," Memphis Coach John Calipari said. "Inthat first half, oh my gosh. I'm looking at it, thinking, 'Can we bethis bad?' Yeah. And it was a little bit of being gun-shy from thatloss. That happens when you lose."

Senior forward Rodney Carney scored 17 points and grabbed sevenrebounds in his final home game to lead Memphis (27-3, 13-1), whichwon its first conference title outright since the 1994-95 GreatMidwest Conference crown.

The game came down to the final 4 minutes after both teams playedtough defense. It took one final surge from the Tigers to finallyovertake the Cougars down the stretch.

Memphis used a 9-2 run to extend a two-point lead to 67-58 with1:36 left on Darius Washington's free throws. Carney's rebound dunkwith 51 seconds remaining punctuated his career and the Tigers'championship season.

By that point, the Cougars had lost three players to fouls.

Houston Coach Tom Penders said he was "ready to start calling inthe cheerleaders."

"I thought we were in control of the game until we ran out ofbodies," Penders said. "I've been coaching for 32 years, and I'venever had a better defensive team than this."

Shawne Williams scored 13 points for Memphis, and, like Carney,had three blocks.

Washington added 12 points but was 3-for-12 from the field.

Jahmar Thorpe led Houston (19-8, 9-5) with 25 points and ninerebounds, while Chris Lawson and Ramon Dyer each scored 11. Dyer alsohad 10 rebounds.

Oliver Lafayette, who leads the Cougars with 16.1 points per game,was limited to only two points, missing six of his seven shots fromthe field, including all four outside the arc, before fouling outwith 3:37 left.

"He was in foul trouble," Penders said. "He got touch foulscalled. I had to take him out. It's tough to stay in the rhythm."

The teams traded leads through the middle of the second half andwere tied at 54 after Dyer's fast-break basket with just under 5minutes left.

Houston still was within two points after Lawson hit a pair offree throws with 3:47 left, and that's when Memphis went on its finalrun.

Houston dominated the first half with a swarming defense thatprevented Memphis from getting the ball inside.

The Tigers missed 12 of their first 16 shots and committed 14turnovers in the half, nine of those coming on steals by Houstondefenders swatting the ball away from Memphis big men inside.

The Cougars' tough interior defense forced the Tigers to take 10of their first 16 shots from outside the arc.

"Early, they came out with great intensity, and they really put usin the hole," Carney said. "I knew things would calm down, and wewould come back like we always do."

Houston built the lead to 11 midway through the first period andheld a 10-point lead on two other occasions.

But Memphis rallied with a 12-2 run in the final minutes of thehalf and tied the game at 28 before Houston carried a 32-30 lead intothe break.

It was Memphis' lowest scoring first half since its 69-58 loss toTexas on Jan. 2.

Thorpe had 14 points to lead Houston.

Carney said he did not believe there were any lingering effectsfrom the UAB loss, although Saturday's start was sluggish, as Memphisdidn't hit its first field goal until 6 minutes into the game.

"That game's completely behind us," Carney said. "What we tookfrom that game is that we're not invincible."

Calipari added that other top teams like Duke, Texas and Pitt arehaving the same struggles down the stretch.

"I told them, 'There are other players around the country feelinglike you do about their game,' " Calipari said. "Just keep working atit. You'll be fine. We may not be playing great right now. Don'tworry about that. We're winning the way we're playing, but they'regoing to have to start playing a little bit better."