| Memphis 65, Texas A&M 64
SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Visualize this: The Memphis Tigers are one win away from the NCAA Final Four.
Forget those season-long struggles from the free throw line. The Tigers are making them when it counts, with Antonio Anderson hitting two with 3.1 seconds left Thursday night for a 65-64 victory over Texas A&M in the NCAA South Regional semifinal.
Anderson came in shooting 64 percent from the free throw line and was 1-for-4 when he went to the line after being fouled at the end of a wild sequence in which the Tigers missed three quick shots.
The Tigers have been one of the nation's worst free throw-shooting teams all season. They were so bad that coach John Calipari quit having them shoot in postseason practice and told his players to visualize making them instead.
Memphis (33-3) stretched its winning streak to 25 games and advanced to a regional final for the second straight year. The Tigers, who last went to the Final Four in 1985, will play Ohio State or Tennessee on Saturday.
Texas A&M (27-7), three seasons with coach Billy Gillispie removed from an 0-16 record in the Big 12, had one final chance, but Dominique Kirk's shot from just inside half-court was woefully short.
Kirk took the final shot instead of "Captain Clutch," senior Acie Law, who had 13 points. He was only 6-of-17 from the field in his final game for the Aggies - and blew a layup with just under a minute left after he took a long inbound pass.
That was the last good shot the Aggies got.
Texas A&M was unable to take advantage of a partisan crowd, the stands in the Alamodome filled mostly with maroon-clad fans providing a football-like atmosphere and waiting to celebrate another big victory.
Instead, it was the small contingency of fans in blue behind the Memphis bench - including former Tigers star Penny Hardaway - who were cheering at the end.
After Law's blown layup, Jeremy Hunt missed a 3-pointer for the Tigers. But Anderson got the rebound and they called timeout with 26 seconds left.
Andre Allen missed a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left and Hunt and Robert Dozier missed follow-up attempts before Anderson grabbed another rebound - and was fouled by Donald Sloan while trying his own putback.
Texas A&M outrebounded the Tigers 36-31, but didn't get the ones at the end that mattered the most, and might have created a different outcome.
The Aggies then almost threw away the chance to get off another shot, when their initial inbound pass was knocked out of bounds with 2 seconds left.
Hunt, the Tigers' sixth man, had 19 points. Chris Douglas-Roberts, wearing a brace to support his sprained left ankle sustained last weekend, scored 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
Antanas Kavaliauskas had 17 points and eight rebounds for the Aggies, who played in their first regional semifinal since 1980. Joseph Jones scored 14 points.
Now there will be questions about if Gillispie remains at Texas A&M. The coach is already being mentioned as a possible replacement at Kentucky after Tubby Smith left the Wildcats to become Minnesota's coach.
The Aggies blew a 42-37 lead by hitting only three of their first 13 shots after halftime.
Willie Kemp, scoreless in the first two games of the NCAA tournament, and Hunt hit consecutive 3-pointers to start a 10-0 run while Texas A&M missed six straight shots. Memphis led 53-48 by time Douglas-Roberts hit two free throws after being fouled on a drive to the basket.
Texas A&M's drought finally ended when Kirk made an acrobatic shot with 11:06 left.
Kirk, coming off a career-high 21 points against Louisville last weekend, had only four points. But he had seven assists, including a nifty pass to Sloan cutting across the baseline for a basket that put the Aggies up 59-58 with 6:20 left.
Allen then missed the rim on a 3-pointer that went out of bounds and the Aggies got a long inbound pass to Jones. But Jones missed the breakaway layup and Allen was able to quickly make up for his mistake - driving for a layup and then making a free throw.
A&M's last field goal came with 3:26 left when Law, hearing the countdown of the shot clock from the crowd, missed a shot. But he grabbed his own rebound and scored for a 63-61 lead.
It was only the fourth game in Memphis' 25-game winning streak decided by less than 10 points.
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