NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts put up the fancy stats and grab most of the attention.
When Memphis needs to get down and dirty, though, it’s Joey Dorsey who gets it done.
The Tigers’ burly forward made his presence known on both ends of the court Sunday, finishing with 13 points, 12 rebounds, a season-high six blocks and an untold number of bumps and bruises as top-seeded Memphis outscrapped Mississippi State 77-74 in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Three other Tigers finished in double figures, including 17 each from Rose and Douglas-Roberts.
It was the ninth straight win for Memphis (35-1), which advanced to the round of 16 for a third straight year. The Tigers will play fifth-seeded Michigan State (27-8) in the semifinals of the South Region on Friday in Houston.
Jamont Gordon had 21 points and Ben Hansbrough 19 for eighth-seeded Mississippi State, which hasn’t made it out of the first weekend since the 1996 team that went to the Final Four.
But the Bulldogs came close.
Gordon made a 3-pointer with about 19 seconds left to cut Memphis’ lead to 75-70. Antonio Anderson missed a pair of free throws, and Charles Rhodes slammed home a rebound. Rose was quickly fouled, but he could only make one of two. Gordon then made a layup to cut it to 76-74 with 4.2 seconds left.
But Douglas-Roberts made a free throw, and Gordon’s long jumper at the buzzer wasn’t close.
That this game wasn’t going to be a thing of beauty was a given. Mississippi State and Memphis came into the tournament with two of the best defenses in the country, with the Bulldogs ranking second in the nation in both opponents’ field-goal percentage (36.8) and blocks (7.9).
Mississippi State (23-11) also had the nation’s leading shot blocker in Jarvis Varnado.
And the teams didn’t disappoint. There was so much bumping and banging going on the players should have been wearing sponsor decals and fire suits, and anyone who entered the lane did so at his own risk. Diminutive Andre Allen — 5-foot-10 and 205 pounds — got hammered so hard when he took on the 6-8, 245-pound Rhodes late in the first half that the refs had Douglas-Roberts shoot the free throws so Allen could get checked out. He was fine.
But it was Dorsey who dictated the game. He had his hand in what seemed like every shot, and he was always around the basket scooping up rebounds. When the Tigers needed a big bucket, he was there, shooting 6-of-8 from the floor. The large contingent of Memphis fans serenaded him with chants of “Jo-ey! Jo-ey!” when he fouled out with 24 seconds left.
The victory avenged — somewhat — Memphis’ only loss of the season. Another Southeastern Conference team, Tennessee, beat the Tigers on Feb. 23 and knocked them out of the No. 1 spot in the polls.
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