March 14, 2008

CSTV Highlights 

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - If the Memphis Tigers keep this up, maybe the Conference USA tournament should be renamed the Memphis Invitational.

Derrick Rose scored 25 points and No. 2 Memphis advanced to the conference championship for a fourth straight year, beating Southern Mississippi 69-53 Friday for its 41st consecutive league victory.

Memphis (32-1), which will play either UTEP or Tulsa on Saturday, is looking to add a third straight tournament title to the third consecutive outright regular-season championship it clinched less than a week ago on this same court.

Southern Miss (19-15) hadn't played in the semifinals since 2001, and this was only the third time in school history the Golden Eagles had gotten this far in a conference tournament.

While Memphis needs to win out to clinch a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, the Golden Eagles' only chance at an NCAA bid was Conference USA's automatic berth. To get that, Southern Miss had to win four games in four days, and the Golden Eagles won the late game in the first two rounds to advance.

Chris Douglas-Roberts added 14 points for Memphis.

Sai'Quon Stone led Southern Miss with 14 points, and Jeremy Wise and R.L. Horton each had 12. The Golden Eagles, who led only once at 3-2, hit their first 18 free throws and finished 24-of-26 at the line.