University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
-135, 31 CUSA
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UTEP
-125, 31 CUSA
UTEP Outlasts Memphis, 72-67
Jan 20, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 20, 2010
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery 
Preston McClellan, Undergraduate Intern
All good things come to an end, and after an amazing run of 1,419 days and 64 games, the University of Memphis (13-5;3-1 C-USA) finally met its match in UTEP (12-5;3-1 C-USA), falling 72-67 Wednesday night at FedExForum.
"It was a tough loss and the guys took this hard, but you have to give all of the credit to UTEP," said Memphis head coach Josh Pastner. "They are good. (Derrick) Caracter is a load. Moultrie is a load. This is an SEC-type talent play. They have good guard play. We had some turnovers in key situations. Unfortunately, a couple of those turnovers were by some of our key ball handlers. That's part of the game. Sometimes those things happen."
Elliot Williams led Memphis with 23 points on 7-of-16 shooting and Wesley Witherspoon added 12, but it wasn’t enough as the Tigers lost their first Conference USA match up since losing to UAB on March 2, 2006.
Williams has now scored 20 or more points in 12 games this season. Witherspoon continued his hot play, notching double figures for the eighth time in the last 10 contests.
UTEP was led by a dominant homecoming for native Memphian Jeremy Williams who tallied 18 points and 12 boards for the Miners. Louisville transfer Derrick Caracter chipped in with 14 and Randy Culpepper added 13.
"Jeremy (Williams) can shoot," said UTEP head coach Tony Barbee. "He had 18 points and 12 rebounds and was aggressive from the start. That is the Jeremy Williams I thought I recruited."
The first half consisted of runs from both teams, with neither being able to pull away. Memphis extended its lead to 30-22 with 2:20 remaining, but UTEP closed the half on a 9-4 run to cut the lead to 34-31.
The Tigers seemed poised to pull away coming out of the half, extending their lead to 40-34 with senior Willie Kemp on the free throw line. Kemp, however, missed both free throws, and UTEP then went on a 9-0 run to retake the lead 43-40 with 14:13 remaining.
The Miners extended their lead to as many as seven late in the second half when a three point bucket by Jeremy Williams put them ahead 63-56.
Memphis came back once again and trailed by only three after a Sallie trifecta made the score 70-67 with just 49 seconds left. The Tigers stopped UTEP on the ensuing possession, giving them the ball down by three with 19 seconds remaining.
Memphis struggled to get any shooters open, though, and a Kemp turnover with 4.3 seconds left sealed the Tigers’ fate.
UTEP turned in an impressive offensive performance in the second half, shooting 66.7 percent on 12-of-18 shooting and knocking down 4-of-5 from beyond the arc.
The Miners’ D also gave the Tigers fits, forcing them into 14 turnovers. Memphis turned the ball over on five of its last seven possessions.
The Tigers also struggled offensively in the second half, making just 9-of-24 shots (37.5 percent) and 11-of-18 from the charity stripe. UTEP’s bench outscored Memphis’ 33-10.
Memphis will try to rebound on Saturday when they host Houston at 7 p.m. (CT) at FedExForum.
