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Memphis Tigers keep their cool amid heat

احدث اجدد واروع واجمل واشيك Memphis Tigers keep their cool amid heat

Memphis' Tarik Black is restrained by assistant coaches Willis Wilson (left)  and Glynn Cyprien while teammates get into a shoving match with Tennessee State players on Sunday.

A day later, University of Memphis players were still talking about the brawl that wasn't.

While the Tigers dodged one bullet in the form of a Tennessee State upset bid Sunday at FedExForum, they averted further disaster by not allowing a heated shoving match with TSU players to escalate into all-out fisticuffs late in the 91-86 win.

Had Memphis' assistant coaches not grabbed freshman forward Tarik Black as he left the bench and had coach Josh Pastner not pinned Will Barton against the cushion beneath the basket while trying to control his players, the Tigers could have been without two or more key contributors going into Wednesday's road contest against rival Tennessee.

Instead, the Tigers (11-2), who remained No. 21 in The Associated Press poll and No. 22 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll Monday, were able to look back humorously on Sunday's near-melee and even poked fun at Pastner, who sprinted onto the court after TSU guard Wil Peters' hard foul on freshman Antonio Barton ignited the skirmish.

"I went flying after (Antonio's brother) Will Barton because I could see him get escalated. Who knows? If he got involved in the scuffle, he could have been ejected and not been able to play (Wednesday). I pinned him up, and then it was just a little pandemonium," said Pastner, who also picked up his first technical foul in 47 games as Memphis' coach earlier in the second half. "But, hey, it was Sunday afternoon. It was a little boring day. What the heck? It was a beautiful day outside so we wanted a little action inside.

"I was pretty animated, but it was all G-rated. I can assure you that."

Senior forward Will Coleman found it amusing that Pastner, who prides himself on not cursing, had not done so as he feverishly attempted to break up the players and gather them off the court.

"It was crazy. I think I even got into a little trouble because I was laughing on the court just because of the energy. It was exciting," Coleman said. "I think it's hilarious when coach Pastner gets mad and he doesn't cuss. Like, he's probably the only person I've seen do that. He makes up his own words and I think it's great. It probably shouldn't be funny, but when he gets frustrated it tickles me a bit because he's a good man. He doesn't cuss, doesn't drink soda. All of that stuff.

"Coach Pastner, what is he, 5-8 maybe? Will's like 6-7. The fact that he was hemming Will up, it was pretty funny. Just the fact that everybody really stuck together. If we would have got to brawling, hey, at least we would have known that everybody was ready. We're brothers. We're a family, and it felt good to know that everybody would have been there, especially Tarik, because he sprinted off the bench. It was great. I love my team."

Pastner had been assessed a technical foul earlier in the game for leaving the coach's box after junior forward Wesley Witherspoon was called for his fourth foul. Coleman said Pastner told them he had done it purposefully in an attempt to spark them.

"The fact that he did get his first tech was great," Coleman said. "After he got his tech, he was just like, 'We're OK. We're OK. We're OK. I just got us a tech to bring us some energy.' I was like, 'I see that,' and I almost laughed in his face."

Pastner held a closed practice Monday at the Finch Center in preparation for Tennessee (9-4), which has dropped four of its last six since a 7-0 start that included victories over No. 5 Pittsburgh and No. 7 Villanova. The Vols are 7-3 against the Tigers in Knoxville, although Memphis came out a 54-52 winner the last time it traveled to Thompson-Boling Arena in 2009.

Pastner said he expected junior guard Charles Carmouche to be available Wednesday, but added that he didn't know how effective Carmouche will be after missing the last two games with the flu. He said freshman forward Hippolyte Tsafack, whose kneecap was knocked out of place in practice Dec. 27 and was expected to miss a week, likely won't play Wednesday.

"Tennessee, we know, is going to be a tough opponent," Pastner said. "There's no doubt about that. Throw out all the numbers the last couple games. We all know they're going to play a great game against us. More than that, us having a true road test before we enter conference play, will be really, really important for us to see how we handle that."

Tigers' next game

Who: Tennessee

When, where: 8 p.m. Wednesday, Thompson-Boling Arena, Knoxville

TV, radio: ESPN2, WREC-AM 600


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