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Tigers Tear Apart Terrapins

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The Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 22, 2009

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - His teammates weren't going to let Roburt Sallie have all the fun in this NCAA Tournament.

Bouncing back from a first-round malaise that might have sunk them if not for Sallie's record-setting shooting, Memphis hit a sizzling 70 percent in the first half Saturday and rolled past Maryland 89-70 in the second round of the West Region.

All of a sudden the Tigers looked and felt like the team that rode a 25-game winning streak into the tournament they nearly won a year ago.

"Everybody was hitting out there," said Shawn Taggart, who had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds in the start-to-finish domination of the 10th-seeded Terps. "I mean everybody. We were out there shooting the ball very well, and defense was on point today."

Sallie, the surprise hero of Thursday's hard-fought victory over No. 15 seed Cal State Northridge, came off the bench and kept up his 3-point onslaught by hitting his first three, making him 13-for-19 for the tourney.

But in the meantime, Tyreke Evans scored 19 points and was one of five Tigers with at least 13.

"For me, watching college basketball all my life and now I'm actually here," said the freshman point guard. "But we've still got business to do in trying to win a championship."

Next up for the Tigers will be the winner of today's Missouri-Marquette game.

The second-seeded Tigers (33-3) knocked the Terps (21-14) on the ropes with a 9-0 run in the opening minutes and led by as many as 23 while mounting a 53-33 halftime lead.

The Associated Press

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