Memphis, Tenn. ? With the No. 1 ranking in sight, the Memphis Tigers wanted to seize the opportunity.

And the No. 2 Tigers took care of their end of the deal early Saturday night, beating Southern Mississippi, 83-47, hours after top-ranked North Carolina lost at home to Maryland.

“I think we deserve it,” Memphis forward Joey Dorsey said.

Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 19 points and Derrick Rose scored 13 to help Memphis stake its claim.

“We’re just one of those teams,” Douglas-Roberts said. “We were No. 2. No. 1 lost, so why shouldn’t we be?”

Douglas-Roberts, the Tigers’ leading scorer with a 16.3 average, connected on 7 of 10, including both shots outside the arc, as Memphis (17-0, 4-0 Conference USA) won its 42nd straight home game and extended its streak of consecutive league wins to 27. Doneal Mack added 12 points, missing only one of his five shots from three-point range.

Southern Mississippi (9-9, 1-3) lost its second straight and has dropped six of its last seven.

“Obviously, we were totally outclassed,” Southern Miss coach Larry Eustachy said. “They have tremendous talent, a ton of depth, and they just keep coming at you with fresh players.”

The only time the Tigers have been ranked No. 1 was in 1983. They moved into the top spot on Jan. 10, but lost at Virginia Tech that same night and dropped to No. 6 the next week.

With about 3 minutes left Saturday night, the Memphis crowd began chanting, “We’re No. 1. We’re No. 1” as the Tigers built the lead to 39 points. Even Memphis coach John Calipari stood and clapped with the crowd adding a little hip-shake dance.

“For this team to be doing the things we’re doing, it’s incredible,” Calipari said. “Let me say this: Enjoy this. Live the moment.”