KNOXVILLE — The winner of Friday's Memphis-Tennessee game at Thompson-Boling Arena could earn bragging rights for quite some time.
This series' contract expires at the end of the season, and Memphis Coach Josh Pastner says he has no interest in continuing to face the Volunteers.
"If it's up to me, the only way we'll play them is if we're playing them in a tournament," Pastner said this week.
But that doesn't necessarily mean the end of the rivalry. The schools' athletic directors were having conversations Thursday about the future of the series. Memphis athletic department spokesman Bob Winn said the two ADs were discussing the potential for future matchups in other sports as well.
Pastner didn't go into detail about his reasons, though he did point out the uncertainty surrounding Memphis' schedule as it prepares to enter an often-changing Big East next season. "It's nothing against Tennessee or anything like that," Pastner said. "It's more what I feel what's best with our program as we move forward in our scheduling as we move to the Big East."
Former Memphis coach John Calipari said he didn't want to play a home-and-home series with Tennessee because the Volunteers recruit the area of Memphis more heavily than the Tigers recruit the smaller Knoxville.
Thursday's games
No. 3 Arizona 92, Colorado 83 (OT): Kevin Parrom scored five of his 16 points in overtime after the host Wildcats staged an improbable late rally in regulation and escaped with a victory in their Pac-12 opener.
Colorado's Sabatino Chen banked in a three-pointer at the end of regulation but officials waved it off after reviewing the video, saying the ball was on his fingertips as the backboard lights went on. Arizona (13-0, 1-0) outscored the Buffaloes 10-2 over the final 1:35 of regulation to force the overtime.
Morehead State 68, SIU-Edwardsville 64: Junior Chad Posthumus grabbed a game-high 19 rebounds as the Eagles (7-8, 1-0) used a 44-23 edge on the glass to beat the visiting Cougars (4-7, 0-1) in their Ohio Valley Conference opener.
The rebounding performance by Posthumus was the program's best since Kenneth Faried pulled down 21 boards on March 4, 2011.
Eastern Kentucky 65, Eastern Illinois 54: The host Colonels (11-3, 1-0 OVC) took control of the game with a 16-2 run in the first half, with Marcus Lewis scoring six straight points to get the run started. Back-to-back three-pointers by Mike DiNunno and Tarius Johnson, who each had team-high 13 points, capped the run and put the Colonels up 27-12 with four minutes remaining in the half. The Panthers (3-12, 0-2 OVC) never got closer than 13 points until a late-game run. EKU's Glenn Cosey (eight points) failed to score in double figures for the first time this season.
Murray State 73, UT-Martin 62: Isaiah Canaan shot 6-of-8 from the field scoring 18 points and Stacy Wilson was nearly as good (6 for 9) in adding 16 points as the Racers (10-3, 1-0) never trailed and had little trouble on the road for their OVC opener.
Women
Western Kentucky 78, Ark.-Little Rock 69: WKU (12-2, 5-0) used a 10-0 run in the final four minutes to break a 62-62 tie and stay unbeaten in Sun Belt Conference play. The host Trojans committed 16 turnovers, helping WKU to a 28-11 advantage in points off turnovers. Sophomore Chastity Gooch had a game-high 23 points to lead four Lady Toppers in double figures, including sophomore Alexis Govan (18 points, 10-of-10 from the free throw line).
No. 10 Georgia 77, Missouri 46: The Tigers (11-4, 0-1) came into Athens as the nation's most prolific three-point shooting team, averaging 10 per game, but were only 5 for 22 against the Lady Bulldogs (13-1, 1-0) in the SEC opener.
Auburn 50, No. 23 Arkansas 47: Tyrese Tanner scored 10 of her 15 points in a second-half spurt as the host Tigers (12-2) built a double-digit lead, then held on to win their ninth straight. The Razorbacks (12-2) suffered their first road loss.
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