J.T. Tiller scored a career-high 23 points to lead the 3rd-seeded Missouri Tigers to a 102-91 win over the 2nd-seeded Memphis Tigers in the semifinals of the West Regional on Thursday night.
Missouri’s victory moved them into the Elite Eight where they will face Connecticut on Saturday for the chance to earn the school’s first Final Four berth.
Mizzou ended Memphis’ 27-game winning streak and also put an end to the Tigers run of Elite Eight appearances. This will mark the first time Memphis has failed to make Regional Finals since 2006.
Missouri (31-6) led by 24 points four minutes into the second half, then saw Memphis close within six with 2:14 to play.
Tiller, the co-defensive player of the year in the Big 12, made 10-of-16 shots and had three steals. All five Missouri starters reached double figures. DeMarre Carroll scored 17 and Leo Lyons had 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Lyons was 11-for-18 from the foul line but made four straight in the final 1:30. Missouri finished making 30-of-45 from the charity stripe.
“We came out and kind of took the fight to Memphis early on, and before you know it, our guys had a little confidence,” Missouri coach Mike Anderson said.
Freshman phenom Tyreke Evans scored 33 to lead Memphis (33-4). Robert Dozier added 19 points and 16 rebounds while fellow senior Antonio Anderson tossed in 18 points in their final game wearing Tiger uniforms.
Along with senior Chance McGrady, Dozier and Anderson will depart Memphis with the most wins of any four-year players in the history of NCAA basketball. The trio won 136 games, made four Sweet 16 appearances, three Elite Eight appearances and one national championship game appearance.
The Tigers had a dismal night from 3-point range, hitting only 3-of-16. Even worse was the Tigers free throw shooting, as Memphis shot only 18-for-32 from the foul line. Last year, poor showing at the foul line cost them dearly in an overtime championship game loss to Kansas.
Missouri is among the last eight teams left in the NCAA tournament in just its third season under Anderson, a Nolan Richardson disciple who coached the last Conference USA team to beat John Calipari’s Memphis team — that was for UAB 62 games ago.
After Memphis took a 25-21 lead with 9:33 left to play in the first half, Missouri grabbed control of the game for good with a 28-11 run to close out the half.
Mizzou wasn’t done adding to their lead, starting the second half with a 15-4 run that put the Tigers up 64-40 with 15:58 remaining.
“I was trying everything, different combinations, anything to try to get the tide going our way,” Calipari said. “We may have been stunned because all they did is run it up our backs.”
After a furious Memphis comeback, Shawn Taggart’s rebound dunk cut it to 89-83 with 2:14 left, but that was as close as the Tigers would get.
Missouri’s Zaire Taylor sank two free throws to make it 91-83 with 2:04 remaining. Lyons made two free throws with 1:30 left, then two more with 1:21 to go, icing the game.
