University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
DePaul
Tigers Edged By DePaul
Mar 09, 2000 | Men's Basketball
March 9, 2000
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Quentin Richardson scored 21 points and grabbed 8 rebounds Thursday night as DePaul held off a furious second half rally and defeated Memphis 80-76.
DePaul (20-10) led by 24 points, 63-39 with 11:18 left, but Memphis began hitting long-range bombs to get as close as 3 points on two occasions in the final 66 seconds.
The Blue Demons, the tournament's No. 3 seed, improved their chances for an NCAA bid by reaching 20 wins. It marked the first 20-win season for DePaul since the 1991-92 season, which was also the last year DePaul went to the NCAA tournament.
DePaul will face the winner of the Louisville-UNC-Charlotte game, played late Thursday night.
Richardson hit 8-of-18 from the field to lead the DePaul attack. Paul McPherson added 18, while Bobby Simmons and Rashon Bruno finished with 12 and 11 points respectively.
Marcus Moody, who led the second-half comeback for No. 11 seed Memphis (15-16), led the Tigers with 20 points, while Kelly Wise contributed 14.
The Blue Demons led 38-26 at the half, and opened the period with a 10-4 run to lead by 18.
But the Tigers responded with a 21-6 run to cut the advantage to 69-60 with just under six minutes left.
It was during the run that the Tigers got hot from the outside. Moody would score nine in the sequence, including a pair of 3-pointers.
The Tigers would eventually get within three on two occasions, the final time when Keiron Shine hit the first of two free throws with 14.1 seconds left to cut the DePaul lead to 79-76.
Shine missed the second, but the Tigers rebounded the shot and had several attempts, including two by Shine, but none would fall.
Richardson hit a free throw with less than a second left for the final 4-point margin.
