No. 2 Memphis beats No. 24 USC
Beasley scores 19 points in Memphis’ 62-58 overtime thriller
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 10:46 AM PST
NEW YORK (AP) — It wasn’t as if Madison Square Garden became a kiddie park for the day. All people were talking about as the Jimmy V Classic approached were the freshmen who would be on display in the doubleheader.
None of the three — Michael Beasley of Kansas State, O.J. Mayo of Southern California or Derrick Rose of Memphis — had a spectacular outing. They all looked like, well, freshmen.
‘‘I think what you saw tonight was maturity, decision-making in the flow of the game, when to go and when to stop,’’ Memphis coach John Calipari said after his second-ranked Tigers beat No. 24 Southern California 62-58 in overtime Tuesday night. ‘‘They both did the same things, took bad shots. That’s freshmen stuff.’’
Rose had nine points and 10 rebounds but the 6-foot-3 guard was 3-for-9 from the field and had five turnovers.
‘‘The hype sometimes you want to be that person but that comes with the territory,’’ Rose said. ‘‘You want all the hype. You just go out and play hard and you’ll get it but you’ve got to make sure you don’t get too bigheaded when you get it.’’
Mayo was 6-for-20 from the field — including missing seven straight shots over the last 14 minutes of regulation and the first 4:45 of overtime.
‘‘I’m just trying to get better as a player,’’ Mayo said. ‘‘I’m not perfect, but I strive to be perfect.” Nobody plays perfect, but I just try to get better.’’
Beasley, the leading scorer (26.7) and rebounder (15.0) in the country, had 19 points and 13 rebounds — his eighth double-double.
