Nov. 23, 2010

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By: Preston McClellan

MEMPHIS - Will Coleman scored a career-high 20 points and added seven rebounds off the bench to lead the Memphis Tigers (5-0) past the UT Martin Skyhawks 102-80 Tuesday night at FedExForum.

Coleman, who was held scoreless in 13 minutes of action Sunday against LSU, responded in a big way on Tuesday, scoring on an array of crowd-pleasing and emphatic dunks as he led the Tigers to their second 100-point plus performance of the season.

Will Barton, also coming off the bench, finished with 20 points, five rebounds, and six assists as the Tiger reserves racked up 60 points. Angel Garcia finished with 15 in relief to complement nine rebounds.

Joe Jackson (16) and Wesley Witherspoon (14) were the only other Tigers in double figures. Memphis outplayed UT Martin in nearly every facet of the game, leading from start to finish and assisting on 29 of 38 baskets. Memphis also took advantage of its superiority in size, accumulating a season-high 56 points in the paint.

Witherspoon started the scoring outbreak for Memphis on the first possession of the game as he controlled the ball at the top of the key before driving for an easy lefty lay-in.

Witherspoon scored seven of the first 11 points for Memphis, and the Tigers would continue to get easy looks throughout the contest, finishing 38-of-74 from the field (51.4 percent), and converting 19 Skyhawk turnovers into 31 points.

Reuben Clayton, a Memphis-native, led the way for UT Martin, scoring 20 points, 15 of which came in the opening half. Terence Smith (14) and Mike Liabo (10) were the only other Skyhawks in double figures, though they finished the game shooting 49.2 percent (29-of-59) from the floor, including 8-of-17 from beyond the arc.

Next up for Memphis is a tilt with Arkansas State on Dec. 1 at FedExForum with game time slated for 7 p.m.