Douglas-Roberts helps Memphis get over hump 

Douglas-Roberts scored 25 points as top-seeded Memphis booked a long-awaited trip to the Final Four with an 85-67 victory over Texas in the South Regional final on Sunday.

Freshman Derrick Rose had 21 points, nine assists and six rebounds for the Tigers (37-1), who claimed their first appearance in the national semifinals since 1985.

"We are a pretty good team. I just keep saying it," said Memphis coach John Calipari, who also went to the Final Four with Massachusetts in 1996. "I believe in these guys, I trust them.

"And I'm just proud of these players. They are just performing and they want this, but they don't feel like they have to have it. This has been a wonderful year and we want to win a couple more if we can."

Memphis had been in a regional final each of the previous two seasons, losing both times to the eventual national runner-up in UCLA and Ohio State.

The Tigers had a serious chance to win each of those previous matchups in the "Elite Eight" but struggled in key moments.

In the loss to the Bruins in 2006, Memphis missed 14 straight 3-pointers en route to absorbing a 50-45 loss. A year later, the Tigers had a late five-point lead against the Greg Oden-led Buckeyes but could not hold on.

Although they led throughout in this one, the Tigers did face some pivotal moments against the Longhorns and shook them off in fine fashion.

Holding a 39-28 lead at the half, Memphis saw Texas make a charge out of the intermission, scoring the first six points to slice its deficit to five points. The Tigers, however, answered with an 18-4 run over the next eight minutes.

"When teams make runs, we talk and say it's our turn to make a run," Douglas-Roberts said. "This is the tournament. Everybody's going to make a run."

After Damion James' jumper made it 39-34 with just 1:40 expired, Shawn Taggart sank a jumper, Rose threw down a double-pump dunk in transition and Antonio Anderson banked in a 3-pointer to put together a 7-0 run for Memphis, making it 46-34 with 15:01 left.

James then tipped in his own missed layup before Rose answered back with a jumper. Despite finishing 4-of-18 from the field, Longhorns leading scorer D.J. Augustin got a layup, but Joey Dorsey came back with a three-point play to start a 9-0 burst for the Tigers.

After it made its first three shots of the second half, Texas went on to miss its next six shots to enable Memphis to undergo its decisive run.

"They've always played hard, but against Michigan State and against us their defense was outstanding," Texas coach Rick Barnes said. "I don't think we've seen as good a defense as we saw today.

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