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National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Memphis 77, Western Kentucky 61
When: 8:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 4, 2010
Where: FedExForum, Memphis, Tennessee
Officials: # Gerry Pollard, # Steven Pyatt, # Raymond Styons
Attendance: 17171

Joe Jackson led a balanced scoring attack with 15 points and No. 15 Memphis rolled over visiting Western Kentucky 77-61 Saturday night.

The Tigers finished the first half on a 14-4 run and led by 20 points early in the second half. The Hilltoppers cut the deficit in half with a 10-0 run to close the gap to 53-43 with 12 minutes to play.

But Memphis (7-0) weathered the storm, and D.J. Stephens’ dunk keyed an 11-5 run as the Tigers cruised the rest of the way.

After surviving an overtime scare earlier in the week from one-win Arkansas State in which Memphis coach Josh Pastner blasted his team for settling for 3-pointers, Memphis took the ball to the rim and shot 48 percent for the game.

Highly touted freshman Will Barton (eight points) made his first start of the season but struggled from the field. The only shot he made in the first half was a dunk, but the rest of the Tigers were deadly in building a 47-31 lead.

Meanwhile, Western Kentucky (3-5) was woeful from the field. It hit only 9 of its first 37 shots, and finished at 31 percent.

Sergio Kerusch led the Hilltoppers with 16 points.
Top Game Performances
 
Western Kentucky   Memphis
Sergio Kerusch 16 Scoring Joe Jackson 15
Ken Brown 1 Assists Joe Jackson 6
Juan Pattillo 12 Rebounds D.J. Stephens 11
Stephone Drane 4 Free Throws Made Joe Jackson 5
Cliff Dixon 3 Steals Will Barton 2
Cliff Dixon 1 Blocks Tarik Black 4
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Western Kentucky 61 31.4 4-18 13-22 7 39 2 9
Memphis 77 48.3 4-13 17-26 17 39 12 11