SECOND HALF SURGE LEADS MEMPHIS PAST FURMAN 72-55
Memphis, Tenn. -- Antonio Burks scored all eight of his points in a strong second half rally to lead Memphis to a 72-55 win over Furman in basketball action Saturday night in front of 14,991 fans at the Pyramid.
Leading 34-29 at halftime, Memphis got its first three baskets of the second half from Burks to ignite a 23-4 run over the first 11 minutes and take a 57-33 lead following a Clyde Wade steal and layup at the 9:08 mark.
“We competed well for a half, but they got on us pretty good early in the second half and we couldn’t counter, and the turnovers hurt” said Furman head coach Larry Davis, whose squad was forced to deal with the loss of senior point guard Guilherme Da Luz with a sprained left wrist and thumb sustained in Friday’s practice. He could possibly miss two weeks of action according to Davis.
In Da Luz’s absence, the Paladins started true freshman Tony Carter and redshirt freshman Jason Patterson at the wing guard slot in place of Karim Souchu. Carter responded with eight points while Patterson tallied a team high 12 points and six steals.
“I must say that without Guilherme I thought Tony Carter competed extremely well, as did Jason Patterson,” added Davis. We just didn’t have a sub for Tony, so when he had to come out, we struggled. If we can keep them playing at the level they played tonight, and we get Guilherme back, we could be a very good basketball team.”
“I was disappointed with our effort, especially in the first half. We just didn’t have any fire,” said Memphis head coach John Calipari. “Furman was playing without their starting point guard (Da Luz), a 6-foot-3 senior who has the ability to control the play and post up, but I thought their new guy (Carter) played well and helped get them going. I was impressed with him and with their other guy (Patterson).”
Mermphis placed four players in double figures led by John Grice’s 16 points. Rodney Carney added 15 points followed by Earl Barron’s 14 points, and Clyde Wade’s 10 points. The Tigers shot 50.8 percent from the field for the game.
Furman, meanwhile, shot 47.2 percent from the field, but the Paladins committed 23 turnovers and were outrebounded by the taller Tigers, 36-26.
Furman played well in the first half and led 24-23 following a layup by Kenny Zeigler with 4:30 left in the first half. Memphis, however, regained the lead shortly thereafter, getting a 3-pointer and two layups from Wade in the span of 54 seconds to take a 30-24 advantage before a Karim Souchu layup and free throw with 3:06 to go made it 30-27. But that was as close as the Paladins would get prior to the Tigers’ decisive early second half run.
Furman returns to action next Friday when it hosts Methodist at Timmons Arena in a 7:00 p.m. game.