Memphis

Memphis Grizzlies rookie O.J. Mayo had done more scoring than losing at every level of play until he reached the NBA. Last night, he used his ability to score to help the Grizzlies end a 12-game losing streak, matching his career high with 33 points in a 113-97 win over the host Washington Wizards. "We got the monkey off our back, definitely," Mayo said. "Twelve-game losing streak, I've never experienced anything like that before in my life." Rudy Gay (Archbishop Spalding) scored 23, and Marc Gasol added 22 points and 11 rebounds for Memphis (12-35)

If Joey Dorsey feels a sudden urge to stroll the River Walk in San Antonio, Memphis coach John Calipari will be a happy man. The Tigers meet Texas A&M in the South Regional semifinals tonight at the Alamodome. Sunday in New Orleans, as he made the rounds before his game against Nevada, Calipari bumped into Dorsey in the lobby of the Tigers' hotel and got a good feeling. "I knew we were going to be OK when I saw Joey in the lobby," Calipari said. "He said, `I just went for a walk.' He was excited about playing Nevada, and he played that way."

SAN ANTONIO -- So, Ohio State can win without digging a double-digit hole and climbing out. And Greg Oden really is a game-changing difference maker. Consecutive lackluster performances by the Buckeyes and their 7-foot center in the NCAA tournament had raised questions about both, but they made believers out of the doubters yesterday in a 92-76 victory over Memphis in the South Regional final at the Alamodome. Ohio State grabbed control early and Oden carried the team late as the Buckeyes (34-3)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- As Monica Thomas and Saprena Smith dug into the fried catfish lunch special at Cupboard Too, a downtown restaurant, their conversation turned to the 9-year-old boy whom many people here feel they know on a first-name basis, even though most have never seen him.His name is Travis."

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Let's talk playoffs.What the heck, this chance might not come again.A win today, and the Ravens will improve to 3-1.A win today, and they'll double their all-time road victory total.A win today, and they can finish 9-7 by playing .500 the rest of the season.Quick, consult the tiebreaking formulas!Is a first-round bye possible?Seriously, it's difficult to conceive of the Ravens winning at Tennessee. But then, it was difficult to conceive of them losing to the New York Giants last week, and it almost happened.

What if Elvis Presley had stayed Elvis Presley and never become Elvis, the Vegas headliner who frittered away gobs of talent to become a kitsch icon? That's the question asked in "Heartbreak Hotel" (noon-2 p.m., USA), a surprisingly effective little film that's purely, and unabashedly, a fantasy.David Keith plays Elvis, and the plot has him kidnapped by high-schooler Johnny Wolfe (Charlie Schlatter), who's convinced a real-life encounter with Elvis is the only thing that will shake his mom (Tuesday Weld)

Pepper Rodgers is no stranger to the hard sell and Memphis, Tenn.Once, as coach of the U.S. Football League's Showboats in the mid-1980s, he sold springtime football as a viable alternative to the NFL. A decade later in a similar role, he pitched Mad Dogs and the Canadian Football League to the discerning populace in western Tennessee.Now, though, comes the most chilling and challenging sales job of Rodgers' football life.He is trying to promote the Tennessee Oilers in the city the NFL spurned four years ago in expansion.

HONOLULU -- In the opening round of the Rainbow Classic, Memphis used a shot in the final minute to upset unbeaten and fourth-ranked Michigan, the tournament favorite.But the Tigers had the table turned on them last night. Georgia sophomore forward Michael Chadwick, who had a field goal nullified seconds earlier by an offensive interference call, scored on a breakaway layup with 13 seconds left to give the Bulldogs a 70-68 victory.Georgia (10-1) advanced to the tournament final against the winner of the Maryland-Hawaii game.

Seed; No 9Record: 22-7Conference: Great Midwest, 2nd placeLast NCAA appearance: 1994, lost to Maryland, 74-66, in 1st roundNCAA history: 1-5Rank: UnrankedHighest rank: UnrankedPlayers to watchErwin ClaggettPosition: GuardHeight: 6-1Weight: 185Strengths: A scorer, Claggett can create his own shots and gets great elevation. Can penetrate the defense to score or give the ball up. Launches trademark rainbow jumpers when he's on.H WaldmanPosition: GuardHeight: 6-3Weight: 195Strengths: Protects the ball very well (48 turnovers in 28 games)

I told a friend I was going to Memphis."Memphis?" he said. "Isn't that where the ducks march?"It certainly is. Twice a day, in fact. But there's more to Memphis than the Peabody ducks marching down a red carpet in the venerable hotel's lobby -- although that is a most charming feature of this Tennessee town.Perched on a bluff with the Mississippi River as its front yard, this city of nearly 700,000 is a kick-back place where friendliness oozes out of its citizens like honey from a comb, and where you can spend several days discovering its curiosities.

Lake Clifton forward Will Barton, The Baltimore Sun All-Metro Player of the Year, and his brother, Antonio, the Lakers' starting point guard, have made oral commitments to play college basketball at Memphis. The Bartons chose Memphis over Xavier, Miami, Virginia and Syracuse, which all recruited both brothers. "It was always our plan to go to school together, but we were ready for anything, [even] if it was to split up and go to different schools," said Antonio Barton, who was in Memphis along with his brother for an elite camp.

Men's college basketball Alleged violations could cost Memphis its 2007-08 wins Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson defended the men's basketball program Thursday, saying the school checks out all potential players. He would not confirm that Derrick Rose, who led Memphis to the 2008 national title game, is at the center of an NCAA investigation of major violations during that season. In a letter to the school the NCAA says an unknown person took the SAT for a player, with his knowledge, and then the player used that test to get into Memphis.

Levance Fields pointed Pittsburgh in the right direction just in time - as usual. For the second straight game, the orchestrator of the offense took the big shots himself, hitting a three-pointer with 50.9 seconds left, then scoring off his steal as the top-seeded Panthers reached a regional final for the first time in 35 years with a 60-55 win over No. 4 seed Xavier on Thursday night in the East Regional in Boston. One more win and they will be headed to Detroit for the Final Four. "We came in expecting to win two games," Fields said.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -Maryland's NCAA tournament run became the Greivis Vasquez reality show yesterday. The excitable junior guard is expected to be the focus of the Memphis defense today when the Tigers (32-3), who have won 26 games in a row, play the Terrapins (21-13) in a second-round game. Memphis coach John Calipari yesterday called the 6-foot-6 Vasquez "crafty" and "multidimensional" and named four Tigers - including 6-9 forward Robert Dozier - who might guard him. But the attention the Tigers devote to Vasquez will pale in comparison to the interest he drew from the media after Maryland's closed practice at Sprint Center.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -Like his Maryland teammates, Greivis Vasquez never thought about the NCAA tournament in terms of just one game. "We're on a mission," the junior guard said before it began. Yesterday, the overachieving Terps launched their mission with an 84-71 victory over California that - as usual for Maryland - was sparked largely by defense. The Terps (21-13) barely celebrated at the end of the game at Sprint Center. It was clear the team, a No. 10 seed in the West Regional, had higher aspirations than a first-round win. Tomorrow, Maryland plays No. 2 seed Memphis (32-3)

Memphis Grizzlies rookie O.J. Mayo had done more scoring than losing at every level of play until he reached the NBA. Last night, he used his ability to score to help the Grizzlies end a 12-game losing streak, matching his career high with 33 points in a 113-97 win over the host Washington Wizards. "We got the monkey off our back, definitely," Mayo said. "Twelve-game losing streak, I've never experienced anything like that before in my life." Rudy Gay (Archbishop Spalding) scored 23, and Marc Gasol added 22 points and 11 rebounds for Memphis (12-35)

SAN ANTONIO -- Sometimes a tie isn't a tie, but a loss. Thus it was at the Alamodome last night, when the first overtime in the national championship game in 11 years tipped off. The score was 63-63. But Memphis had lost. Kansas had already won, and the only question remaining in the final five minutes was how much the final margin would be. And whether this was as much of a miracle, as much an astoundingly unexpected event for the program than its last national title 20 years earlier.

No. 1 Tennessee @No. 18 Vanderbilt 9 P.M. [ESPN] The Volunteers (25-2, 11-1 Southeastern Conference) just clawed to No. 1 by beating rival Memphis and now have to play at Vanderbilt (23-4, 8-4). In January, Tennessee beat the Commodores by 20, but Vanderbilt has a six-game winning streak.

Alumni Report Joey Dorsey can never relax as long as Memphis basketball coach John Calipari is around to keep driving the powerful 6-foot-9, 265-pound senior forward. "Coach keeps pushing me to focus on what I do best, and that is to rebound the ball and blocking shots," said Dorsey, a Douglass alumnus who had a career-high 22 rebounds against Houston on Jan. 30 for the No. 1-ranked Tigers, who entered last night 21-0. Said Calipari: "The biggest thing we need for Joey is for him to be an absolute monster on the boards, and we have seen that in some games this year, Tulsa [19 rebounds]

Memphis (7-5) vs. Florida Atlantic (7-5) Site -- New Orleans Time, TV -- 8, ESPN2 Line -- Florida Atlantic by 2 1/2 Outlook -- Memphis has won five of its past six games. The Tigers have held only one opponent under 21 points this season. Florida Atlantic, coached by Howard Schnellenberger, upset Troy in its season finale to earn its first bowl appearance. The Bur rowing Owls' offense is hot, averag ing 36 points after midseason in 2007.