Opening Night for Tiger basketball remains a phenomenon. Two nights after our Grizzlies couldn’t draw 11,000 fans to see the home team play one of the best outfits in the NBA, the Tigers packed 17,792 into the same arena to see the U of M trample a team that will be playing in Division III a year from now.(Let’s hope tiny Centenary — enrollment: 904 — makes its athletic budget for the year with the check they get to deposit for making this trip from Shreveport. No player for the visiting club scored as many as seven points.)
Six players made their Tiger debuts tonight, one of them a bit later than originally planned. Sheffield High grad Chris Crawford was benched for the first half after missing a class, but proceeded to hit all six shots he took in the second half (including four three-pointers) for 16 points. Another rookie, junior transfer Charles Carmouche, added 13 points, while Antonio Barton — the less heralded of the freshmen Barton brothers — led the Tigers with 17 points, four assists, and five steals.
- Larry Kuzniewski
- Antonio Barton
The Bartons combined for the play of the game midway through the second half when Antonio received a breakaway pass from Crawford, then lobbed the ball to a high-flying Will, who dunked for a 71-30 Memphis lead. Still nursing a tender ankle, Will Barton was limited to 15 minutes on the floor and scored four points. Antonio was all smiles after the game in recounting the family alley-oop. “That brought me back to my high school games, playing with him,” said Antonio. “It felt so good.” Joe Jackson (seven points, four assists) and Tarik Black (nine points, five rebounds) also entered their names in the Memphis scorebook for the first time.
Though it will count in the Tigers’ season record, the contest was every bit as one-sided as the two exhibition games the U of M played earlier this month. The Tigers forced 28 turnovers and held the Gents to 26-percent shooting from the field. Memphis won the rebounding battle, 40-28.
