New York ? John Calipari didn’t call out Chris Douglas-Roberts by name after an off night in the semifinals of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic. But the Memphis coach did single out the guy wearing No. 14.
“I think he got the message,” he said.
Douglas-Roberts answered with a career-high 33 points, and the No. 3 Tigers, after racing out to a big early lead, held on to beat Connecticut, 81-70, on Friday night in the championship game of the tournament benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer.
“He was so lackadaisical” against Oklahoma, Calipari said of Douglas-Roberts. “But it’s so early in the season.”
Freshman sensation Derrick Rose added a career-high 24 points for the Tigers, who opened an early 15-point lead but found themselves trailing by one at the half. Rose looked every bit the first-year player running the point, though, turning the ball over five times without an assist.
“I called a timeout and went right at him,” said Calipari, who threatened to bench Rose if he put up another circus shot. “But he’s going to be a pretty good player – pretty good right now.”
Douglas-Roberts, the tournament MVP, broke open a close game during a decisive second-half run, hitting a pair of free throws with the game knotted at 60 and less than nine minutes to play. That set off a 16-5 spurt capped by his jumper with 3:55 left.
“We knew Connecticut is a good team and they were going to make a run,” Douglas-Roberts said.
No. 7 Tennessee 89, Prairie View A&M 75
Knoxville, Tenn. – Tyler Smith scored 15 points, and Chris Lofton added 14 as No. 7 Tennessee beat Prairie View A&M in the second round of the StubHub Legends Classic tournament.
Ramar Smith added 10 points for Tennessee, which advanced to the semifinals against West Virginia on Nov. 23.
The Vols are now 32-4 under third-year coach Bruce Pearl when scoring more than 80 points and have won 19 straight at home. Aaron Smith led the Panthers with 21 points, hitting 5-of-9 from 3-point range.
No. 9 Washington State 74, Idaho 43
Pullman, Wash. – Aron Baynes had 12 points and eight rebounds to lead Washington State. Derrick Low scored 12 points and Robbie Cowgill, Taylor Rochestie, Kyle Weaver and Daven Harmeling each had 10 for the Cougars (3-0), who jumped out to an 8-0 lead and never trailed.
WSU took a 36-24 lead at the half and hit 24 of 47 shots from the field in the game. Idaho shot 35.2 percent from the floor (19-for-54) and was successful on just 1 of 6 free-throw tries.
Providence, 66, No. 18 Arkansas 51
San Juan, Puerto Rico – Brian McKenzie scored 18 points, and Geoffrey McDermott added 15, leading Providence over No. 18 Arkansas at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.
Providence led by 10 points late in the first half, but Arkansas closed the gap to 32-28 at halftime.