University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
Louisville
Tigers Fall To Louisville, 74-59
Feb 05, 2000 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 5, 2000
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Louisville coach Denny Crum understands the importance of good guard play.
And the difference in the guard play of Louisville (12-9, 4-5 Conference USA), coupled with the poor backcourt play of Memphis (9-12, 2-6) Saturday night was a major factor in the Cardinals' 74-59 victory.
While Louisville guards Reece Gaines and Maquis Maybin combined for 24 points, the Memphis starting tandem of Marcus Moody and Courtney Trask were 1-of-16 from the field and scored only 2 points each.
"I think that (Memphis is) going to play like their backcourt does, and they've got some good players," Crum said. "We've had the same problems. When our guards don't play good, we don't play good. Any time the guards are playing well, you're playing well because they set the tone and change the defensive balance."
Memphis interim coach Johnny Jones could find little good from the performance. Nothing seemed to work offensively for the Tigers and poor shooting doomed any attempts to overcome the Cardinals. Memphis hit only 19-of-63 shots from the field for 30.2 percent, including 4-of-23 from 3-point range.
"The shots we took are usually shots that we knock down, and we just couldn't shoot the ball real well," Jones said. "We didn't play with a great deal of poise. ....They did a tremendous job of shooting the ball from the perimeter. They knocked down some key shots that made sure they would sustain their run."
In addition to the Cardinal guard play, forward Tony Williams added to the outside performance, leading the Cardinal attack with 24 points and 9 rebounds. Williams was 8-of-15 from the field, including 3-of-8 from long-range.
The win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Cardinals.
Louisville jumped out to an 11-0 lead as the Tigers missed their first eight shots before Kelly Wise broke the slump with 14:33 left in the first half.
Despite the Cardinals leading by 13 and 15 points in the final five minutes of the half, Memphis cut it to 9, trailing by 31-22 at halftime.
Wise opened the second half with 8 straight points for Memphis, and the Tigers eventually would cut the Louisville lead to 3, 36-33, when Shyrone Chatman hit a 3-pointer with 15:15 left.
But Williams got hot and put the game out of reach, scoring 8 points over the next 3 1/2 minutes to stretch the lead to 14.
The Cardinals eventually would lead by as many as 22, and held a double-digit lead for the game's final 12 minutes.
Maybin finished with 14 for the Cardinals, while Quintin Bailey and Gaines scored 11 and 10 points respectively.
Wise led Memphis with 25 points and 12 rebounds, while Shannon Forman finished with 16.
