#18 Memphis loses the "Battle of the Cats", falls to #9 'Zona in desert, 79-71

Memphis falls to 8-3 on the season

CUSA-fans.com has a new staff of team correspondents this season to help bring you, the fan, more detailed Conference USA sports coverage. Today, our head sports writer Bubba Rosenbaum brings a recap of the Memphis @ Arizona basketball game.

John Calipari took his 18 th ranked Memphis Tigers to Tuscon, AZ on Wednesday night to face Lute Olson’s 9 th ranked Arizona Wildcats in the Fiesta Bowl Classic. The Wildcats (9-1) took control of the game in the second half and hung on to win 79-71. The victory was Zona’s ninth straight since losing its season opener at Virginia.

The Tigers (8-3) knocked down 6-of-11 shots from behind the arc in the first half and held a five-point edge, 38-33, at the break.

Arizona came out red hot to start the second half, outscoring Memphis 22-8 over the first 6:47 to take a 55-46 lead with just over 13 minutes remaining.

Chase Budinger and Ivan Radenovic sparked the Wildcats’ run, scoring 15 and 12 points, respectively, after halftime. The duo finished the game with 18 apiece.

Mustafa Shakur led Arizona with 23 points. He also pulled down six boards and dished out five assists.

Memphis missed its first ten three-point attempts of the second half and found itself down by 11 at 66-55 with 7:41 left.

Kareem Cooper’s old-fashioned three-point play pulled the Tigers within four at 75-71 with 2:05 remaining, but that is as close as they would get.

Arizona shot 24 free throws compared to only ten for Memphis. This was the result of the Tigers settling for the three too often.

Jeremy Hunt led the Memphis’ attack with 21 points, which included a 4-of-9 performance from long range. Andre Allen tallied 15 points and Joey Dorsey finished with a team-high 11 rebounds.

Memphis is young team that is still trying to find itself and Coach “Cal” touched on this following the loss.

"This is what we are - a young team that's still learning, that I'm learning about," Calipari said. "Over the long haul, this team can be a good team. We're just OK right now."

The Tigers return to the Fed Ex Forum on Saturday night for a match-up with in-state and Sun Belt Conference foe Middle Tennessee State.