It's all over in North Little Rock. Memphis maintained its lead at a cruise-control 18-19-20 until the final 3-4 minutes, building to as much as a 26-point cushion.
Anthony Vereen, a junior from Houston, led the Mavericks in their history-making NCAA foray with 20 points. Senior Jermaine Griffin had 11 and sophomore Rog'er Guignard 10.
Chris Douglas-Roberts led five Memphis players in double figures with 23 points.
-- Vince Langford
The Mavericks' bid to hang with the top-seeded Memphis Tigers in a South Region first-round game has come up against a Big Rock in North Little Rock. Memphis opened up a 70-51 lead with 10:44 to play.
Jermaine Griffin had a brief flurry of points to keep the Mavericks within shouting distance and respectability after a 14-point first-half deficit. But Memphis has so many weapons and shot blockers, and that darn press.
Chris Douglas-Roberts and Antonio Anderson each had 17 points, and Derrick Rose is at 14. Anthony Vereen had 16 points and Jermaine Griffin nine to lead UTA.
And now Rod Epps has fouled out. And what gives with Memphis and free throws. A team shooting 59.6 percent for the season is at 65 percent (17 of 26).
-- Vince Langford
The Mavericks had cut this baby to a nine-point Memphis lead after Southland tournament MVP Anthony Vereen came alive and completed a three-point play with 2:20 left in the half. And an alley-oop pass to Trey Parker brought the UTA fans all over the Metroplex to their feet and kept the margin at nine for a while.
But Memphis, which had been up by as much as 15, regrouped from that body blow to rebuild the margin, with Derrick Rose, the super scintillating freshman, scoring in the final seconds.
Memphis is shooting 57 percent to UTA's 52 and has taken five more shots.
The Mavericks, in their first half of NCAA Tournament play ever, have broken the Mississippi Valley State barrier easily on offense and are representing well. And did we say that a 16 seed has never beaten a 1 seed?
-- Vince Langford
Memphis leads 35-21 with 4:18 left in the half. Chris Douglas-Roberts, all three of them, has combined for 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting. He's good. Memphis is shooting 59 percent from the field. That's good.
Tommy Moffitt leads the Mavericks with seven points on 3-of-3 shooting.
Former Maverick (Dallas variety) Jim Spanarkel is the color analyst, and you know whom he's rooting for.
-- Vince Langford
The early UTA euphoria has given way to a long, hard campaign. After UTA led 4-0, Memphis quickly took the lead and was ahead 27-15 at the 7 1/2-minute mark of the first half.
Anthony Vereen is a little stoked up after his huge Southland Conference game, bulling his way to a see-that-train-coming charge and missing two free throws.
Memphis was 11-of-19 shooting (58 percent) and 3-of-5 from 3-point land.
-- Vince Langford
UT-Arlington is under way in North Little Rock, Ark., and is blowing Memphis out 4-0 in the early, early going.
-- Vince Langford
An ESPN.com poll asked which was the best game on Friday, but UT-Arlington vs. Memphis wasn't among the five choices.
Not since they let an employee walk out with a box full of tapes of Chris Berman's off-the-air antics have the folks at ESPN made such a huge oversight.
-- Scott McCoy
The nation has completely bought into the UT-Arlington hype machine.
A cbssportsline poll asked which No. 1 seed would lose first. With more than 200,000 votes cast, an overwhelming 49 percent chose the Memphis Tigers. It's a landslide. We're still waiting on the caucus results. A hastily conducted statistical analysis of these figures suggests that nearly half of all Americans have UTA in their brackets.
Kansas (25%), UCLA (17%) and North Carolina (10%) were all no doubt relieved not to draw the Mavericks in the first round.
-- Scott McCoy
What is your best pick ever in an NCAA bracket, when you researched and scoped out an NCAA Tournament field so well, nailed the sucker, that you won an office pool?
And what was your worst moment, the pick you have regretted ever since, that makes you grit your teeth and throw things to this day, inside information from some barfly that turned out to be bogus?
Give us your bracket memories in the Comment box. Click on the headline and move down to the Comment section.
And if you're a Texas alum and/or fan, how far will ride you ride the Longhorns? Can this Texas team go to the Elite Eight, as in 2006, or the Final Four, as in 2003?
Aggies fans, can A&M get past BYU and then knock off a somewhat-hobbled UCLA team? Is that A&M's destiny after an angst-ridden season?
Can Baylor, a 3-point underdog to Purdue, celebrate the 20th anniversary of its last NCAA appearance with a victory, or are the Bears just teasing us?
Is Kansas State, and super freshman Michael Beasley, one and done, or can Beasley go Austin Carr and carry the Wildcats to the Sweet 16?
Will UT-Arlington beat the point spread? Will UTA build a monument to this team, like a new arena?
The blogosphere is yours.
No, you don't need courage to pick Memphis to win its opening-round game against NCAA first-timer UT-Arlington (8:55 p.m. Friday in Little Rock pod). But do you have a strong enough stomach to pick the Tigers to win it all with their 59.6 percent free throw shooting?
Think of that. When the game is close and Memphis steps to the line, it's almost like having Shaquille O'Neal (52.4 percent for his career) step to the line. Memphis, however, has raised its free throw percentage one point in their last few games.
But maybe the Tigers have a complete meltdown, UTA keeps running foul-carrying players in and out, and you have the greatest upset ever. And the Mavericks' nimble-footed big men, Anthony Vereen and Larry Posey, are invited to compete on Dancing With the Stars.
Check out Your Vaunted Hoops Expert, Wendell Barnhouse, in today's Star-Telegram before filling out your bracket.
-- Vince Langford
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