Tigers roll in exhibition opener at FedExForum

By Adam Douglas

Sports Editor

David Minkin

Senior forward Wesley Witherspoon adds a pair of first-half points with authority against LeMoyne-Owen College in an exhibition matchup at FedExForum on Wednesday.

 

They set the tone early with rebounding and a stifling full court defense, creating turnovers that led to fast breaks in the Tigers dismantling of LeMoyne-Owen College, 119-67, in an Wednesday night exhibition match that opened Memphis' 2011-2012 basketball season.

Sophomore guard Will Barton led all scorers with 22 points, collecting five rebounds and dishing out four assists in only 18 minutes of playing time. His brother, Antonio, was a spark off the bench, hitting consecutive threes and shooting 5-for-8 from the field for 16 points as part of a 19-0 Memphis run midway through the first half.

"During the course of the offseason, I've been in the gym working on my shot all year round," Antonio said. "But the way me and my brother played tonight is credited to our mother. She tells us to go out every game and give your heart – there's no turning back."

The Tiger defense also looked improved, but despite holding the Magicians to just 67 points on the game, Memphis was unable to shut out the Magicians from the three-point line. Lemoyne-Owen shot better than 60 percent from beyond the arc in the first half. They finished the game shooting 32 percent from three.

"You guys know my number one thing is to take the three-point shot out of the game," said U of M head coach Josh Pastner. "How many times do you see teams that are lesser in talent beat teams because of the three-point shot? We have to take threes out of the game, but we couldn't because our hands were down and guys were shooting over us."

Junior forward Stan Simpson, making his Tigers debut, looked better than advertised, shooting 7-for-8 from the floor for 14 points. He also grabbed seven rebounds. His knack around the basket may be what the Tigers need to get over the hump this year.

"I thought Stan played well," Pastner said. "Credit goes to coach (Luke) Walton for that. Stan gets credit too – I think both guys deserve credit. Stan can help us because he plays hard; he played hard tonight."

Sophomores Chris Crawford and Tarik Black didn't have their best games. Black, who was not expected to play due to flu-like symptoms, had only four points in limited playing time. Crawford shot poorly from the field, but was stellar on defense.

"I just got to stay in the gym and take care of the ball more," Crawford said. "I missed a lot of shots tonight, but you live to shoot another day."

Memphis returns to action next Friday night at FedExForum to take on Christians Brothers University for another exhibition tune-up. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.