the tigers beat North Texas 73-58 on Friday and showed why the Tigers believe they'll be ready to play the big boys when they finally get a chance.

Backup guards Andre Allen and Jeremy Hunt found themselves running the offense after two starters got in foul trouble midway through the first half. With big men Robert Dozier and Joey Dorsey getting physical, and freshman reserve Doneal Mack hitting some big shots, Memphis not only hung tough it went from being down by a few to being ahead by a lot.

The Tigers (31-3) were hardly tested again on the way to their national-best 23rd straight win.

"We did what we had to," Memphis coach John Calipari said.

Chris Douglas-Roberts led the Tigers in scoring with 16 points, but 13 came in the second half. He missed the last 9:58 of the first half after picking up a technical foul that counted as his third personal.

Antonio Anderson was on the bench, too, partly because of two fouls and partly because of how well Allen was playing. Allen ended up staying in for a career-high 36 minutes, scoring 14 points and handing out four assists. He also was the driving force in a 14-4 run midway through the second half that ended any hopes North Texas (23-11) had of an upset.