It was quite the scene at the FedEx Forum – #1 Memphis vs. #2 Tennessee. The Tigers were trying to continue the dream of an undefeated season while the Vols wanted to spoil the party. It was a back-and-forth affair, but the Vols triumphed, 66-62.
The game started with a flurry of three-pointers as the teams combined for nine made threes (six from the normally mediocre-shooting Tigers) in the first seven minutes. The shooting cooled off and the game was sloppy at times, but there was a ton of athleticism on display. The Tigers were down by as much as seven with under 12 minutes to go in the second half, but they worked their way back into the game by shutting down the Vols’ offense. But once Chris Douglas-Roberts extended the Tigers’ lead to three with 2:29 to go, the Vols went on an 8-1 run to close the game.
Freshman phenom Derrick Rose led all scorers with 23 points, and also posted five boards and five assists. Tyler Smith led the Vols with 16 points.
On a side note, it was fun to watch the Memphis Dance Team during the game. They were under one basket while the Memphis cheerleaders were under the other. The cheerleaders acted like normal cheerleaders, and got up to cheer anytime the Tigers did something good. Conversely, the members of the dance team were yelling at the refs, taunting the Tennessee players and generally making fools of themselves. They were even leaning in under the Vols’ basket in an attempt to distract Tennessee players while they were shooting free throws. It got so bad that even though I started watching the game as a neutral observer, I wanted to see Memphis lose just to spite the obnoxious dance team.
One of the girls got a hilarious taste of karma. When a Tennessee player drove in for a layup, she was leaning in waving her pom-pons, trying to get the player to miss the shot. A Memphis player collided with the Tennessee player at the rim and one of the players spilled off the court and right into her. She took a tumble to the ground.
Priceless.
Note to cheerleaders and dance team members around the country: You are there to cheer your team and to raise the spirits of your fans, not to berate the officials or taunt opposing players. I understand this is your whole life right now, but your every move is caught on camera so you should act accordingly.
