Tigers Replay

As the game turned

Unlike its previous game against SMU on Wednesday, when it blew an 11-point lead with less than 10 minutes to play, the University of Memphis was able to close the door on Marshall in the second half. After junior guard Damier Pitts ' 3-point play cut what had been a 20-point Tigers lead to 51-41, Memphis sophomore D.J. Stephens hammered down a putback dunk to bring the Tigers and the FedExForum crowd back to life. A minute later, junior Charles Carmouche buried a 3-pointer and senior Will Coleman followed with a bucket inside to push the lead back to 17. Marshall never got closer than 11 points the rest of the way.

Rim gems

Stephens' monster dunk at the 14:06 mark of the second half was a thing of beauty, but more importantly helped swing momentum back in Memphis' favor. But the Tigers' prettiest offensive sequence came with 7:27 left to play in the first half when freshman Will Barton started a fast break by getting the ball ahead to freshman Joe Jackson . Jackson fed the ball back to Barton, who quickly left it for a charging Coleman, who then finished off the play with a dunk. For a Memphis team that's squandered too many fast-break opportunities this season, this one was arguably its best of the year.

Hide your eyes

Barton, sophomore Drew Barham and freshman Chris Crawford combined to go 0-of-5 from 3-point range. Carmouche accounted for all of Memphis' 3-point field goals, going 3-of-4. Memphis is shooting 35.4 percent from behind the arc on the season, which ranks 10th in Conference USA. Crawford's 1-of-6 effort from the field overall dropped his shooting percentage over Memphis' last five games to 25 percent (9-of-36).

Scorer's table

Coleman and Barton combined to go 15-of-23 from the field, helping Memphis shoot 50.9 percent overall, including a season-high 63 percent (17-of-27) in the first half. The Tigers had 20 assists on 29 baskets, out-rebounded Marshall, 39-29, and outscored the Thundering Herd, 48-26, in the paint. Although Marshall shot 46.4 percent in the second half, a 26.9-percent effort in the first half proved too much to overcome as the Herd went more than six minutes without scoring, allowing Memphis to build a 35-15 advantage.

Locker room chatter

"Everybody had an epiphany. It's time to go, man. It's time to get that engine started. It's time to get rolling, and tonight was a very good start." - Coleman on the Tigers bouncing back from the loss at SMU

Odds and ends

Memphis coach Josh Pastner used his 11th t starting lineup of the season, going with Jackson, Carmouche, Barton, Black and sophomore guard/forward Barham. Of 346 Division 1 teams, only Pepperdine has used more different starting lineups (13). Barham's start was his first this season. Although he finished with zero points, Barham played good, physical defense that included taking a charge from 6- 10, 220-pound Marshall senior Nigel Spikes early in the second half. "I thought Drew Barham came in and gave us a big spark as a starter," Pastner said. "In both halves, he came in and did a good job."

Memphis improved to 5-0 on the season when tallying 20 or more assists. The Tigers made a concerted effort to get the ball inside in the first half with 20 of their 27 first-half shot attempts coming from inside the paint. Memphis' nine 3-point attempts were its fewest in a game this season.