Boxscore Tech junior forward
Paul Millsap recorded his 51st career double-double with 27 points and 12 rebounds against No. 4 nationally-ranked Memphis.
But the Tigers? athleticism and depth on the bench proved too much, as Memphis (9-1) defeated the Bulldogs 76-58 before a crowd of 13,761 at the FedEx Forum tonight.
The Bulldogs (6-5) scored the first six points of the game before Memphis? senior forward Rodney Carney and freshman forward Shawne Williams entered the game.
Carney and Williams then sparked an 18-2 run to give the Tigers an 18-8 lead until Tech junior guard
Marcus Elliott stopped the run with a three-pointer.
Tech maintained the 10-point deficit as both the Bulldogs and Tigers scored 22 points throughout the remainder of the first half, as the teams entered the locker rooms with Memphis up 40-30.
Carney and Williams combined for 33 of Memphis? 40 first half points, but Tech?s bright spot was 10 assists on 11 made field goals with Haskins having four of them.
The Bulldogs then opened the second half by scoring the first four points again, as Millsap made two lay-ups under the basket.
The two teams traded buckets and the scored stood at 44-36 in favor of Memphis before the Tigers went on a 6-0 run. Tech retaliated with senior guard
Corey Dean scoring Tech?s next five points to cut the lead to 50-41, but Carney scored 12 of Memphis? next 16 points as the Tigers pushed their lead to a game-high 20-point lead at 68-48.
The Tigers entered the contest ranked fifth in the NCAA in scoring offense with 87.3 points per game, but the Bulldogs' scrappy defense held Memphis to 76 points, which was the Tigers' third lowest total in a game this season.
Tech committed a season-high 27 turnovers, which led to 27 Memphis points, and was out-rebounded 45-36 - the biggest margin against the Bulldogs this season - and Tech head coach Keith Richard said those were two keys to the game.
"Two things we knew we couldn't do was turn the ball over and allow offensive rebounds, and we did both," Richard said. "You can't beat the No. 4 team in the country with mistakes in those two categories. Memphis is very talented and perhaps the best team we've played in eight years. They bring tremendous energy from the start of the game, and that is something we can learn from."
Haskins finished with eight six points and nine assists, and Richard said Haskins was the only player to play hard and well the entire game.
"Some of our players were a little star struck with the arena, crowd and type of team we were up against, but I thought Daeveon (Haskins) was the only one playing well early. We have to bring the type of energy Memphis had to beat really good teams."
Millsap passed Karl Malone on Tech?s all-time career rebounding list, as he had 12 rebounds and pushed his career total to 870. Malone finished his three-year career with 43 double-doubles and 859 career boards.
The Tigers extended their winning streak to six games. Memphis had already defeated Alabama and No. 16 UCLA this season, and the Tigers? only loss came to No. 1 Duke by a score of 67-70.
Carney finished with a career-high 37 points by making 14-of-25 from the field, and Williams finished with 17 points.
Tech's next contest will be against Tougaloo in the Thomas Assembly Center Thursday night at 7 p.m.
