Backups' 3-pointers deflate Golden Eagles - TW (3-18-06)

[ORUTerry]

Backups' 3-pointers deflate Golden Eagles

By BILL HAISTEN World Sports Writer

3/18/2006

Allen drained three treys in a 77-second span of the first half.

DALLAS -- During his last 16 games before the start of the NCAA Tournament, Memphis backup guard Andre Allen had a combined total of three 3-point field goals.

During a 77-second span of Friday's first half, the 5-foot-10 Allen connected on three 3-pointers. His improbable slew of big shots highlighted a 20-2 Tiger run, and top-seeded Memphis went on to beat Oral Roberts 94-78 in an Oakland Regional first-round game.

With 5:37 remaining in the first half, a Larry Owens layup gave the 16th-seeded Golden Eagles a four-point advantage (33-29). After Allen's three treys energized the Tigers, Chris Douglas-Roberts scored to give Memphis a 14-point cushion (49-35) with 1:16 left in the half.

"I was cheering my butt off on the bench," said Tiger forward Rodney Carney, who led his team with 19 points.

Allen's shooting deflated the Golden Eagles, who had rallied from an early 12-point deficit.

"We fought back and then took that lead, and then kind of collapsed (during) the last five minutes of the first half," ORU coach Scott Sutton said.

A homegrown player from Memphis' Booker T. Washington High School, Allen entered with a scoring average of 3.9 points. Against ORU, he totaled 11 points in 19 minutes.

"You're talking about a kid that has great confidence in his ability, and is a hard-nosed, mentally tough kid," Memphis coach John Calipari said.

Said Golden Eagle guard Ken Tutt: "(Allen) didn't shoot that many 3s this year, but tonight he stepped up. He's a good player, and he stepped up and hit the shots. We didn't adjust early enough to him."

Quality depth is what separates No. 1-seeded teams from most of the rest of the NCAA Tournament field. Memphis reserves Robert Dozier, Douglas-Roberts, Allen and Kareem Cooper finished with a combined total of 32 points on 13-of-21 shooting from the field.

Memphis shot 61 percent from the field overall and 50 percent on 3-pointers. The Tigers, 31-3 and champions of Conference USA, advance to Sunday's second-round contest with Bucknell.

"If (the Tigers) continue to shoot the ball like they did, it wouldn't shock me one bit if they won the national championship," Sutton said. "We haven't played a team like that maybe in the seven years that I've been at ORU. Every kid they bring off the bench can play. They're athletic, they're quick, they're strong."

Recounting Allen's first-half heroics, Sutton said, "We were really concentrating on trying to keep the ball out of the middle of our defense. So, we played off of (Allen) a little bit, and he hits his first one. We take a step up, close the gap a little bit, and he hits his second one. We go from (a four-point lead) to being down 14 points in a matter of minutes."