HOUSTON (AP) -John Calipari has a good reason for calling his Memphis Tigers a “Dream Team” – a kid from Chicago who wears No. 23 and makes plays that bring fans out of their seats.
With freshman Derrick Rose soaring and scoring, Memphis ended two years of regional final failure and routed Texas 85-67 Sunday to reach the Final Four. The victory backed up the Tigers’ season-long reign near the top of the poll and made them the third No. 1 seed headed to San Antonio.
Rose had 21 points, nine assists and six rebounds, outplaying Texas star D.J. Augustin and leading the Tigers (37-1) into a national semifinal Saturday against a UCLA team making its third straight Final Four appearance.
Memphis and UCLA met in the regional finals two years ago and in the 1973 title game, with the Bruins winning both.
Rose took the doubt out of this one in the first half, making a Michael Jordanesque layup as part of his 4-for-4 start, blocking an open-court layup by Augustin and throwing a long pass for a thunderous dunk by Joey Dorsey among his four early assists.
The Tigers were up 29-13 after 12 minutes, with Rose accounting for more points than Texas (31-7) scored.
Rose finished 7-of-10 and was voted the most outstanding player of the South Regional.
Chris Douglas-Roberts led Memphis with 25 points, with 14 coming on free throws. Dorsey provided 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Memphis’ 37th win matched an NCAA Division I record held by four other teams, and it was their 103rd victory over the last three seasons, the second-best run by any program.
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