Memphis wins, but Calipari remains unhappy with team's play

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Tyreke Evans scored 20 points and four other Tigers finished in double figures as Memphis (No. 24 ESPN/USA Today) pulled away early and easily defeated Drexel 87-49 Monday.

Evans was 8-of-14 from the field as Memphis rebounded from Saturday's loss to Syracuse (No. 14, No. 17 AP), although the Memphis performance was far from flawless.

Robert Dozier had 14 points for Memphis on 6-of-9 shooting including both 3-pointers, while Shawn Taggart finished with 13 points and seven rebounds. Roburt Sallie added 11 for Memphis, while Doneal Mack had 10.

Tramayne Hawthorne led the Dragons (2-6) with 26 points.

Memphis struggled over the last four games and despite overmatching the Dragons, the early lead wasn't enough to avoid the screaming of Memphis coach John Calipari in an effort to get some enthusiasm from his team.

Memphis was ranked No. 23 by the AP before Saturday's 72-65 loss to the Orange, and played like a team about to drop out of the polls later Monday. When the Tigers did, they snapped a string of 64 weeks in the Top 25, leaving UCLA with the longest successive run in the polls. Memphis was last unranked at the end of the 2004-05 season.

The Dragons were under the direction of Mike Connors while head coach Bruiser Flint was serving a one-game suspension after receiving two technicals in the Dragons' 81-75 loss at Bucknell on Saturday night. Under Colonial Athletic Association rules, the ejection comes with a one-game suspension.

That meant Flint, a former assistant to Calipari, would not face his former boss, but Connors, Drexel's associate head coach, also worked under Calipari for three years at Massachusetts.

The Tigers' uninspired play drew the wrath of Calipari, who was screaming at his players throughout the half. Calipari chastised them about one-handed rebounds, bellowed about his team not playing hard and pleaded with them to communicate on defense.

Making Calipari's displeasure even more evident was that his voice echoed among the smaller than usual midday crowd that also seemed quiet. At times, Calipari's antics drew snickers from fans who could hear his instructions clearly.

When things got really bad, he just went with wholesale substitutions to see if the next group would be any better. Most of the time, that unit didn't please Calipari either.

Despite all the displeasure, Drexel still shot 21 percent in the half, missed five of its six 3-pointers and committed 11 turnovers. That contributed to Memphis building a double-digit lead early, fueled by 14 unanswered points as the Dragons went more than 7 minutes without a field goal.

The second half proved better for Memphis, particularly from outside the arc, where they opened 6-of-9 from 3-point range while continuing to extend the lead, eventually reaching 44 late in the game.

Memphis shot 56 percent after halftime, including 67 percent outside the arc.

Drexel finished the game shooting 28 percent, while committing 18 turnovers.