SAN ANTONIO – When he glanced around the cavernous Alamodome, Antonio Anderson was able to locate the small contingent of fans who made the trip from Memphis. He felt comforted . . . for a moment.
“A saw that little piece of blue,” Anderson said, “and then I saw just a squad of maroon. It was a tough atmosphere.”
Sure enough, this was a road game for Memphis and, as the evening wore on, it became an endurance test as well. The Tigers were locked in a tight, fierce battle with Texas A&M and the only guarantee that victory would bring relief and defeat would prompt intense disappointment.
“Really a hard-fought game by two teams playing out of desperation at the end,” Memphis coach John Calipari said.
At the frantic finish, it was Texas A&M that could not secure three defensive rebounds during the key sequence of the game and Anderson who made two free throws to provide Memphis with a stirring 65-64 victory last night in an NCAA tournament South Region semifinal game.
It was a bitter defeat for the Aggies, done in when star guard Acie Law IV failed to live up to his “Mr. Clutch” moniker with a downbeat performance to end a brilliant career.
“I’m disappointed in myself, the way I came out and played,” said Law after a quiet 13-point, one assist outing on dismal 6 of 17 shooting.
Second-seeded Memphis (33-3), riding a 25-game winning streak, faces the winner of last night’s Ohio State-Tennessee game tomorrow in the regional final for the right to go to the Final Four.
To advance, Memphis survived in a game in which neither team led by more than five points. The Aggies (26-8) led 64-63 when Josh Carter made one of two free throws with 1:50 remaining. Incredibly, A&M didn’t score again, failing to ride the emotional wave created from the Aggie-heavy support in the crowd of 26,060.
In the final minute Law broke ahead of the pack, took a long inbounds pass and went in on a breakaway, with Anderson trailing the play. Anderson smartly did not foul Law, who came up short on the layup.
“I thought I made it,” Law said. “Little plays like that cost us the ballgame.”
Jeremy Hunt missed on a 3-point attempt for Memphis and Calipari quickly called a timeout with 25.8 seconds left. That’s when the Tigers’ relentless pursuit of the ball off the glass saved the day. Andre Allen tried a trey, missed. Hunt chased down the rebound, shot, missed. Robert Dozier leaped for the follow, grabbed the ball, shot from five-feet away and missed. Finally, Anderson rose from the weak side, controlled the rebound and as he shot was fouled by Donald Sloan with 3.1 seconds to go.
Anderson, a 64.6 percent foul shooter, made both from the line to put the Tigers up by a point.
“I got to the line knowing my teammates were tired, all beat down, so was the other team,” said Anderson, who prior to that missed three of his four foul shots. “I said, ‘Lets get this game over with.’ ”
The Aggies couldn’t get the ball inbounds cleanly and it was deflected out of bounds off a Memphis player, although no time ran off the clock. After the officials checked the replay monitor and huddled, the block was put at 2.0 seconds.
“When you look at the monitor the [Memphis] kid catches the ball,” referee Karl Hess said. “The ball hits the court and then went out of bounds. I put my stopwatch on it and it comes out to 1.1 (seconds).”
It wasn’t time for much and the Aggies got a desperation heave from Dominique Kirk that ended their season.
SOUTH REGION Memphis 65 Texas A&M 64