Premium

Coach Cal Countdown: Antonio Anderson’s clutch free throws send Memphis to Elite Eight

By , Daily Memphian Updated: October 22, 2025 4:00 AM CT | Published: October 22, 2025 4:00 AM CT

As the city prepares to celebrate John Calipari and his former Tigers as part of the Hoops for St. Jude Tip Off Classic preseason game, The Daily Memphian is rolling out nine stories on games that defined a wondrous era of Memphis basketball. This is the fourth installment.

Sunday: Memphis takes the big stage at Madison Square Garden

Monday: Darius Washington Jr. had three shots to lift Memphis into the NCAA Tournament

Tuesday: The Tigers had an answer for Adam Morrison and Gonzaga. It took a village.

From the 2005-06 season through 2008-09, John Calipari’s Memphis Tigers boasted a 137-14 record.

In the 2006-07 season, the one preceding a national title game appearance and their only Final Four under Calipari, the South Regional No. 2 seed Tigers rode a 25-game win streak to the Elite Eight, where Memphis lost in San Antonio to No. 1 South Regional seed Ohio State.

Getting there took some clutch work at the foul line.

This is an excerpt of this story. To read more, please click here and subscribe.

Topics

John Calipari Memphis Tigers Basketball 2025 Hoops for St. Jude Tip Off Classic Subscriber Only Chris Douglas-Roberts

2025 is almost over. Now is the time to support your trusted local news source.

Will you help us reach more Memphians with quality, in-depth local news? Make a fully tax-deductible donation or other contribution to The Daily Memphian, a 501(c)3 nonprofit news organization, today.

Thank you for keeping up with what’s happening in Memphis. Thank you for investing in our community’s trusted local news source.

Sam Shoemaker

Sam Shoemaker

Sam Shoemaker was born and raised in Memphis and attends the University of Memphis, double majoring in journalism and philosophy. He has covered Tiger football since his junior year of high school for various online publications, most recently On3.


Comments

Want to comment on our stories or respond to others? Join the conversation by subscribing now. Only paid subscribers can add their thoughts or upvote/downvote comments. Our commenting policy can be viewed here