SAN ANTONIO — John Calipari can stop screaming now. We get it, OK?
It really didn’t take an NCAA-record 38th win and a Final Four victory over the most storied program in college basketball history for all of us to respect you, to think you can win this thing.
But for anyone who called the Calipari-coached Memphis Tigers the Clampetts in a Final Four full of college basketball royalty, the Tigers’ 78-63 win over UCLA on Saturday at the Alamodome made you feel almost as silly as the Bruins.
That’s saying something. After all, Russell Westbrook’s Pac-10 defensive player of the year award looked as valuable as a Cracker Jack prize after Chris Douglas-Roberts torched him for 10 of Memphis’ first 22 points.
UCLA’s icy NCAA Tournament shooting never warmed up, with Memphis holding it to 37 percent, including 4-of-13 from 3-point range.
The Tigers were too quick, too sure-handed, too aggressive on loose balls, too in control. In a game that matched as contrasting styles as the lifestyles of their respective states, Memphis played fast and scored, and played slow and scored. Often.
“I walked out of the game and I was feeling it was just the next game,” Calipari said. “I told the guys before the game, ‘Does anybody else feel like this is just the next game?’
“We played kind of like we played all year.”
Excuse Calipari if he’s sounding cocky. All year the Tigers have fought the perception that they’re just a bunch of one-on-one stars who can’t shoot free throws and built a gaudy record only because Conference USA is one step above Division II. After the game, Calipari was asked about a column in Saturday’s Los Angeles Times saying UCLA-Memphis was a coaching mismatch between him and Ben Howland, coaching in his third consecutive Final Four.
“I don’t think Ben is that bad,” Calipari joked. “I respect Ben. He’s a heck of a coach.”
The Tigers laughed. In fact, they’ve been laughing all season.
“The negativity has been silly the whole year,” said Douglas-Roberts, who scored a game-high 28 points and hit 9-of-17 shots. “We believe in ourselves. All that stuff — when we hear it, we laugh.”
No one can laugh at Memphis’ defense. The backcourt of freshman Derrick Rose and Douglas-Roberts not only combined for 53 points but held UCLA’s Darren Collison to 1-for-9 shooting. Joey Dorsey, Memphis’ hulking center, scored zip but had a game-high 15 rebounds and held Kevin Love, the Pac-10 player of the year, to 12 points, including one basket in the second half.
Memphis (38-1) was never out of control. Even when UCLA got back on defense, Memphis’ patented slash-and-pitch offense diced the Bruins into a seven-point deficit in the first half. Douglas-Roberts scored off the break and on a jump hook to make it 48-37 some 3 1/2 minutes into the second half.
“We play off each other real well,” said Douglas-Roberts. “Whoever has it going has it going. We carried over from the Michigan State and Texas games. We’re playing real well.”
UCLA (35-4) got within 59-52 with 7:20 left, but in a sequence that epitomized Memphis’ season, Douglas-Roberts dunked on a backdoor pass and Dorsey blocked Westbrook’s layup, leading to a Rose layup and an insurmountable 63-52 lead.
Don’t look now, folks, but that program you refuse to accept — the one that supposedly didn’t quite fit here — is one win from its first national championship.
“Someone told me 38 is the most wins,” Calipari said. “I didn’t know. The players said, ‘Is it? Is it the most wins?’ I said, ‘No. You’ve got to get to 39 to get the most wins.’ ”
John Henderson: 303-954-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com
