Brandan Wright All-Stars: Memphis

Last night was a great game. Despite what some consider to be a subpar performance from Memphis, they were with the Vols for the entire game, and neither Memphis' Derrick nor Tennnessee's J.P. Prince would let their teams lose. However, no one can deny that Memphis's free throw shooting was terrible.

There had been concerns about The Tigers' free throw shooting all season (4th worst in the NCAA), and experts believed it would eventually cost them a game. Last night, the Tigers were just 8-17 from the stripe, and 1-6 down the stretch. Many times, misses were the front end of one-and-ones. Robert Dozier was the only player to hit both of his free throws, and the only Memphis starter who shoots above 70% from the stripe, so he is exempt from ridicule. By contrast, Prince, a normally 46.7% free throw shooter, sunk both of his shots when the Vols absolutely needed him to do so.

The average free throw shooting percentage in the NCAA was 69.12% in 2006. If all that Memphis did was match that percentage for the 17 free throws we know they would have taken (minus the back end of one-and-ones), the Tigers would have hit four more free throws. Tennessee's margin of victory Saturday night? Four points. Certainly there are many other ways in which Memphis could have won this game (better rebounding, the three pointers not going cold, etc.), but free throws are the one aspect of basketball of which a team has complete control.

So in honor of the most talented and most free throw-challenged team in the nation, all of the Memphis Tigers (except Dozier) will be given honorary first team Brandan Wright All-Star status.