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University of Louisville
MEMPHIS
Cardinals Win One For Crum
March 03, 2001 | Men's Basketball
March 3, 2001
Box Score?|? Quotes | Coach Crum's Postgame Audio Comments
By CHRIS DUNCAN
Associated Press Writer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville Cardinals won one for the coach on Saturday.
Reece Gaines scored 23 points and Marques Maybin had 16 and a game-sealing breakaway dunk as Louisville beat Memphis 65-56 in Denny Crum's final regular-season game. He will coach at least one more game at next week's Conference USA tournament in Louisville.
The Cardinals (12-18, 8-8 Conference USA) improved to 6-9 at home before a high-energy capacity crowd, the first at Freedom Hall since a two-point loss to Kentucky on Jan. 2.
Earl Barron scored 18 points to lead Memphis (16-13, 10-6), which missed a chance to clinch the league's National Division.
Crum, who announced his retirement Friday after 30 seasons, received a minute-long standing ovation when the Hall of Famer walked onto the floor about five minutes before tipoff.
Fueled by the frenetic fans, Louisville started the game with a 14-3 run. The Tigers answered with a 13-3 run, but Erik Brown's 3-pointer with 8:32 left in the first half put Louisville up 20-13.
The Cardinals led 28-19 at halftime and received a rare standing ovation as they ran off the floor.
Memphis' 19 first-half points were a season low for the Tigers and a Louisville opponent.
Louisville extended the lead to double digits early in the second half, and still led 44-36 at the 10-minuute mark. Shannon Forman scored inside to trim the lead to six, but Maybin hit two free throws with 8:24 left to restore the eight-point lead.
Forman scored inside again with 7:47 remaining and Wise made a free throw with 6:46 left to cut Louisville's lead to 46-41. But Bryant Northern hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key a minute later to restore the eight-point lead.
Barron's three-point play with 2:40 left drew the Tigers within 55-51. But Gaines made two free throws after a steal with 2:04 remaining and on Memphis' next possession, Maybin stole the ball from Marcus Moody near midcourt and raced in for a one-handed dunk to put Louisville up 60-51.
The Tigers got no closer than seven in the final minute as the crowd started chanting, "Denny! Denny!"
Louisville recorded a season-high 14 steals, while Memphis matched a season-high with 24 turnovers. The Tigers also went just 1-for-13 from 3-point range.
A three-minute video chronicling Crum's career was played on the scoreboard before Crum briefly addressed the crowd.
His voice cracked as he stood at midcourt and spoke, surrounded by a horde of cameramen.
"Thank you very much," he said. "It's been a wonderful ride and I don't know if I have the words to express how I feel right now. What I've always known is I've got the best group of fans in the world, there's no question about that."
Louisville's victory was Crum's 675th, which puts him 14th all-time among Division I coaches. Crum ended weeks of acrimony with athletic administrators by accepting a $7 million retirement package. He will stay on the school's staff as a consultant.
"The record is my record, but it's really a combination of all the players and all the coaches and all the fans," Crum said. "There's no way I could ever thank you, so I choose to stay a Cardinal."
