TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP)—Darius Washington said the plan for No. 12 Memphis was to play an uptempo game and beat No. 15 Alabama with speed and defense in an early showdown of ranked teams.
The plan worked.
“The tempo that was the difference and me running the ball the way the coach wanted me to,” Washington said.
The Memphis point guard had 23 points and six assists to lead the Tigers to an 87-76 win over the Crimson Tide in the second round of the Preseason NIT on Thursday night.
Washington said Memphis was able to run and press the Crimson Tide for 40 minutes partly thanks to a deep lineup as the Tigers used all 12 players in the first half.
“We can really go deep on our bench to give our guys a rest. That was the whole key—to press those guys to make them exhausted and make them go to their bench,” Washington said.
The Tigers (2-0) kept Alabama off balance all night with an aggressive full-court press and a fastbreak that beat the Crimson Tide down court much of the game.
Memphis advanced to the semifinals against UCLA on Wednesday in New York. The 18th-ranked Bruins beat Temple 54-47 Thursday night.
Memphis Coach John Calipari said it felt great to win a game on the road against a ranked team.
“We kind of wore them down because we had so many guys going into the game,” Calipari said. “We were agressive, but we only had 13 turnovers playing that fast.”
Alabama (1-1) trailed 48-32 at halftime and by as many as 20 in the second half before cutting the lead to eight late in the game, thanks mostly to the shooting of reserve Justin Jonus.
Jonus led the Tide with 18 points, including four 3-pointers. Jonus got all but two of his points in the second half. However, he said the difference was that the Crimson Tide defense couldn’t stop Memphis.
“We didn’t step up. We didn’t play defense,” Jonus said.
The game featured two highly regarded point guards, Washington and Alabama’s Ronald Steele. But Steele was held to just eight points and three assists, and couldn’t stop Washington who hit a key shot or started a fastbreak every time Alabama made a run.
Crimson Tide coach Mark Gottfried said his team has a lot of work to do.
“We had a lot of breakdowns defensively. On offense we have to learn what a good shot is,” he said.
Robert Dozier scored 11 points for Memphis and Rodney Carney had 10.
Jemario Davidson had 17 points and 19 rebounds for Alabama and Chuck Davis added 15.
The Tigers dominated the game from the opening tip, forcing a turnover in the opening minute. The Crimson Tide had nine first-half turnovers and 17 overall.
Dozier, a freshman reserve, scored nine points in the first half as the Tigers used 12 players before the break.
