NEW YORK CITY- With St. Mary’s trying to mount a second-half comeback Thursday night, the Memphis men’s basketball team’s Rodney Carney did what he had been doing all night: He made a play and led the Tigers.

With a little more than eight minutes to play in the game, Carney intercepted a pass at midcourt, raced down the floor and finished off the play with a one-handed dunk. It not only put Memphis up by 11, it all but finished St. Mary’s.

Memphis went on to defeat St. Mary’s of California, 81-66, Thursday night at Madison Square Garden in the evening’s first semifinal of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.

Carney’s fast-break dunk was just one of many plays the junior made all night. Carney led the Tigers with 33 points, falling just two short of the tournament record, held by Penn State’s Pete Lisicky in 1995.

Most importantly, Carney excelled during the game’s most important times. Twenty of his points came in the first half, including 10 during a 27-8 run that helped bring the Tigers from down, 14-11, to leading, 38-22.

‘Rodney played well,’ Memphis head coach John Calipari said. ‘At the end of the half, they got physical with Rodney and he missed a couple of plays.’

Carney made 13 of 20 shots from the floor, including all three 3-pointers he attempted. He collected nine rebounds to go along with four steals and one block in 35 minutes of action.

‘When I saw him warming up,’ Memphis freshman point guard Darius Washington said, ‘I said it was going to be a long night.’

Memphis’ first-half run was the only time either team took control of the game. For most of the night, the two teams traded baskets. Memphis held a 42-29 lead at half and extended it to 15 points in the first two minutes of the second half.

But for most of the second half, the Gaels couldn’t make a substantial run. St. Mary’s closed to within seven, but that was as close as it got, thanks in large part to Carney.

Still, it was cause for concern for Calipari, who has a freshman point guard running the team.

‘I am usually thinking, ‘How are we going to win this?” Calipari said. ‘(St. Mary’s) played well. They didn’t go away. They had a chance to beat us. They could have easily have hit some 3s to beat us.’

Daniel Kickert led the Gaels with 24 points, including 15 in the first half. The Australian-born forward showed off his versatile game, hitting a 3-pointer on one play and then posting up on another.

But as the game wore on, Kickert’s presence was negated and Carney’s wore on.

‘We played decent,’ St. Mary’s head coach Randy Bennett said. ‘We could have played better. Memphis had a lot to do with that. They are difficult to defend. Carney played really well tonight. He was the key to the game.’

Published on November 18, 2004 at 12:00 pm