November 23, 2008 | AP Press

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Terrell Holloway made 10 free throws without a miss and finished with 13 points to help Xavier beat Memphis (No. 12 ESPN/USA Today, No. 13 AP) 63-58 on Sunday night in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off championship game.

B.J. Raymond and Jamel McLean added 11 points each for the Musketeers (5-0), and C.J. Anderson finished with 10.

“I’m really proud of our team,” Xavier coach Sean Miller said. “We really showed a lot of toughness and resiliency in all three games in the tournament.”

Tyreke Evans led Memphis (4-1) with 12 points, but was 4-for-16 from the field. Robert Dozier and Antonio Anderson each scored 10 points.

Both teams struggled from the field, with Xavier shooting 36 percent and Memphis finishing at 32.7 percent. Xavier was 25-for-37 at the line, and Memphis was 15-of-30.

“We’re disappointed with the outcome, but November games are about learning about your team. We did tonight,” Memphis coach John Calipari said.

Holloway made two free throws with 27 seconds to go to give Xavier a 61-58 lead. After Dozier missed two three throws with 17 seconds left, Dante’ Jackson and C.J. Anderson hit free throws in the final seconds to seal the victory.

“C.J. has great toughness,” Miller said. “He’s an incredible leader. Our team follows his lead, especially in toughness.”

Memphis was 38-2 last season, losing the national title game to Kansas in overtime.

“This year’s team is so different from last year’s team and the year before. What disappointed me were our seniors down the stretch,” Calipari said. “Hopefully, we get better as the season goes on. We had chances to win the game, but didn’t make the plays we needed to make to win. We had some guys that played tentative and not to lose tonight. I want guys to make plays and play to win. I wanted this game to be close.”

Xavier opened the tournament with a 75-71 victory over Missouri, then beat Virginia Tech 63-62 in overtime.

“These were three great tests for us,” Miller said. “All three teams attacked us and we responded.”

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