Friday's Shootaround: Memphis survives

No. 19 Memphis 70, Austin Peay 68 OT: The was a weird game. Memphis jumped out to a 24-14 lead on the Governors, but it was short live, as APSU went on a 21-0. That run was snapped by a four point play from Charles Carmouche (how often do you see a 21-0 run snapped with a four point play?), but the Govs responded with eight more in a row. When it was all said and done, the score was 43-28 with 13 minutes left to play, and the boos began to rain down. But Memphis had an answer, as Carmouche sparked a 19-4 rally as the Tigers were eventually able to force overtime thanks to an Antonio Barton runner with 8.5 seconds left. In the extra frame, Chris Crawford had six of his 18 points, and Memphis hung on. Barely.

For Memphis, there is good and bad to take from this. The good is that Josh Pastner may have found a leader in Carmouche. The good is that this young team might be learning how to deal with adversity.

But the bad is, well, bad. Memphis had 24 turnovers. They went 15-30 from the line. They once again were dominated on the glass. Will Barton and Joe Jackson continued to struggle, combining to go 5-19. Pastner, who has proven his recruiting chops but has yet to flex his coaching muscles, has a long way to go with this team.

No. 12 Missouri 81, Oral Roberts 62: Four Tigers reached double figures, led by 17 points from Laurence Bowers, and Phil Pressey had eight points and seven assists to just two turnovers starting for Michael Dixon at the point.

NC State 67, Youngstown State 50: The good news for the Wolfpack is that they outscored the Penguins 46-16 late. The bad news is that they needed that kind of performance after finding themselves down 31-13 with just under four minutes left in the first half. CJ Leslie had 14 points and 19 boards in the win.

Northwestern 78, American 62: The Wildcats got 28 points from John Shurna and 23 from Michael Thompson as they outlasted American to remain undefeated.

Arizona 63, Northern Arizona 58: The Wildcats came back from a seven point halftime deficit, needing a three point play from Kevin Parrom to break a 58-all tie with 57 seconds left in the game. Parrom had 14 points, 5 boards, and 4 assists, but unfortunately looked like the best point guard on Arizona's roster. He's not a point guard. That's worrisome.