Poor free throw shooting finally plagued the Memphis Tigers, creeping up at the most inopportune of times. The Tigers missed much-needed free throws as Kansas went on a 12-3 run to force overtime, then the Jayhawks scored the first 6 points of the extra frame en route to a 75-68 Kansas victory over Memphis.

With the game on the line it was Chris Douglas-Roberts and Derrick Rose who both missed free throws, CDR missing the front end of a 1-and-1 as well as missing two more free throws inside the final minute of regulation, opening the door for Brandon Rush’s tying 3-point shot to send the game into overtime. Kansas then took over in OT and held on with strong defense, preventing Memphis from having a breath of hope in the final seconds of overtime.

The final minutes of the National Championship game could not have gone much worse for the Memphis Tigers. All year long we have heard about Memphis’ free throw shooting problems, and the difference in a National Championship and overtime came down to free throws. After hitting his first 4 FT attempts of the game, Chris Douglas-Roberts missed the front end of a 1-and-1 then followed that by missing 2 more free throws inside the final minute of the game. Derrick Rose then hit 1-2 FTs as a Kansas 3-pointer tied the game, sending the Jayhawks and Tiggers to overtime. Kansas overcame a Memphis 9-point lead in the final 2 minutes of regulation.

Foul trouble for Memphis and hot-shooting for Kansas has been the story of the first half of tonight’s National Championship game as the Kansas Jayhakws lead the Memphis Tigers 33-28 at the half. Chris Douglas-Roberts leads the Tigers with 13 points, but the story is Memphis’ foul trouble. Joey Dorsey, Shawn Taggart and Robert Dozier each have 2 fouls making 6 of the Tigers’ 7 first half fouls. While Kansas also has two players with 2 fouls, the Jayhawks are a consistently deeper team, regularly going 7-8 deep for significant minutes.

Forwards Shawn Taggart and Robert Dozier are both in early foul trouble as the Memphis Tigers and Kansas Jayhawks are squaring off in the National Championship game on CBS. We’re at the 11:33 mark left in the first half and neither team has connected on a 3-point field goal as the defenses have held both teams in check.

From the beginning of the season experts and fans alike have said Memphis was one of the best teams in the nation. With their win today over UCLA in the first of two Final Four match-ups, the Memphis Tigers have proven they are one of the top two teams in the nation, and on Monday night they have a chance to play for the NCAA National Championship.

The Tigers (38-1) outscored UCLA (35-4) 38-35 in the first half before pulling away in the second half for a 78-63 win. Memphis was led by freshman Derrick Rose (25 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists) who looked a step quicker than anyone UCLA could put on him and Chris Douglas-Roberts (28 points) and as a team shot 87% (20-23) from the free throw line. Meanwhile, Joey Dorsey played the role of clean-up man picking up 15 rebounds in just 27 minutes of play.

With the win there’s no doubt that Memphis Tigers tickets and Memphis basketball apparel & clothing will be more popular than ever as the Tigers advance to the National Championship game. The Tigers will face the winner of Kansas & North Carolina on Monday night, April 7th @ 9:21 pm ET.