Tennessee upsets Memphis
Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl lit a fire under his underachieving Volunteers basketball team. On the heels of losing four of his team's previous six games, Tobias Harris had 17 points and 12 rebounds as the Vols (10-4) upset No. 21 Memphis, 104-84, last night.
Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl lit a fire under his underachieving Volunteers basketball team.
On the heels of losing four of his team's previous six games, Tobias Harris had 17 points and 12 rebounds as the Vols (10-4) upset No. 21 Memphis, 104-84, last night.
"We made it worse on ourselves by losing confidence in ourselves and each other," Pearl said earlier in the week. "You put it all together and you put yourself in a bit of a spin."
Will Coleman led the Tigers (11-3) with 17 points.
Now, as Tennessee opens play in the Southeastern Conference Saturday at Arkansas, Pearl will begin serving an eight-game suspension for lying to NCAA investigators during an ongoing probe into recruiting practices by the Tennessee coaching staff.
Pearl will be allowed to coach the Vols between contests, but in-game coaching and substitution will be handled by associate head coach Tony Jones.
In other games:
* At Duke, Nolan Smith scored a career-high 33 points to help the No. 1 Blue Devils beat Alabama-Birmingham, 85-64. Kyle Singler added 15 points and scored his 2,000th career point for Duke (14-0).
* At Kansas, Josh Selby had 16 points to lead six players in double figures and the No. 3 Jayhawks (14-0) defeated Missouri-Kansas City, 99-52.
* At Texas Christian, Malcolm Thomas had 18 points and 10 rebounds and sixth-ranked San Diego State stretched its season-opening winning streak to 16 in a row with a 66-53 victory.
* At Missouri, Kim English scored a season-high 20 points, all in the first half, as the No. 9 Tigers (14-1) romped over Division II North Alabama, 98-58.
* At Central Florida, Marcus Jordan had 26 points and five assists and the No. 19 Knights (14-0, 1-0 Conference USA) beat Marshall, 65-58.
* At Penn State, Ryne Smith had 20 points and JaJuan Johnson had 15 points and 15 rebounds as No. 11 Purdue (14-1, 3-0 Big Ten) won, 83-68. Talor Battle had 18 points for the Nittany Lions (8-6, 1-2).
* At UNLV, Jimmer Fredette had 39 points as No. 15 BYU (15-1) beat the No. 25 Runnin' Rebels, 89-77. Anthony Marshall's 26 poinst led UNLV (12-3).
Noteworthy
* Saint Louis coach Rick Majerus will miss the next three games with an infected leg. Majerus, 62, missed most of the second half of Saint Louis' loss to Bowling Green on Saturday after he crashed into the scorer's table.
* Washington point guard Abdul Gaddy will miss the rest of the regular season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
* Minnesota guard Devoe Joseph was granted a release from his scholarship after he deciding to transfer. He sat out the first six games this season for breaking team rules.
* Injured New Mexico State forward Wendell McKines says he will redshirt this season. Although he was cleared to practice last week, McKines said he wants to earn a degree and play an entire season, something he hasn't done since his sophomore year in 2008-09. He needed surgery after breaking a bone in his left foot during an October practice. He missed much of his junior season because of academic issues.
* California freshman guard Gary Franklin is transferring to another school. *