Anderson's FT advances Tigers

Memphis edged Texas A & amp;M 65-64 for its 25th straight win.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Antonio Anderson isn't the player Memphis would have picked to go the line with a chance to advance to another NCAA regional final.
But there Anderson was, shooting free throws with 3.1 seconds left in a game in which he had already blown two open layups and missed three straight free throws.
"I wanted to choke him at halftime," Memphis coach John Calipari said.
Calipari and the rest of the Tigers felt drastically different after Anderson made both free throws to beat Texas A & amp;M 65-64 Thursday night and put Memphis in a regional final for the second year in a row.
Anderson went to line after being fouled at the end of a wild sequence in which the Tigers (33-3) missed three quick shots. And he knew what was about to happen.
"When I got to the line I could see we were tired and deep down so was the other team. I just wanted to get the game over with," said Anderson, who finished with five points. "I missed free throws earlier, but I had the confidence I could knock them down."
Poor foul shooters
Those visualization drills must really work.
The Tigers have been one of the nation's worst free throw shooting teams all season. They were so bad that Calipari quit having them shoot in postseason practice and told his players to visualize making them instead.
And now the Tigers, who have won 25 straight games, see a chance to get to the NCAA Final Four for the first time since 1985. They will play Tennessee or Ohio State Saturday in the South Regional final.
Texas A & amp;M (27-7), three seasons with coach Billy Gillispie removed from an 0-16 record in the Big 12, had one final chance after Anderson's free throws, but Dominique Kirk's shot from just inside half-court was woefully short.
Kirk took the final shot instead of "Captain Clutch," senior Acie Law, who had 13 points. He was only 6-of-17 from the field in his final game for the Aggies -- and blew a layup with just under a minute left after he took a long inbound pass.
That was the last good shot the Aggies got.
"I was disappointed in the way that I performed. It's just a tough loss out there," Law said.
Advantage in the stands
Texas A & amp;M was unable to take advantage of a partisan crowd, the stands in the Alamodome filled mostly with maroon-clad fans providing a football-like atmosphere and waiting to celebrate another big victory.
Instead, it was the small contingency of fans in blue behind the Memphis bench -- including former Tigers star Penny Hardaway -- who were cheering at the end.
"We just hung around, and that's all we were trying to do," Calipari said. "This is what we wanted, to come to Texas in front of 30,000 and prove ourselves."
After Law's blown layup, Jeremy Hunt missed a 3-pointer for the Tigers. But Anderson got the rebound and they called timeout with 26 seconds left.
Andre Allen missed a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left and Hunt and Robert Dozier missed follow-up attempts before Anderson grabbed another rebound -- and was fouled by Donald Sloan while trying his own putback.
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