March 25, 2008
HOUSTON AND TULSA TO MEET IN CBI SEMIFINAL
Both Houston and Tulsa advanced to the semifinals of the College Basketball Invitational (CBI), where they will square off against each other Wednesday, March 26, at the Donald W. Reynolds Center in Tulsa. Tip-off is 8 p.m. CDT and the game will be shown on Fox College Sports.
Houston senior Robert McKiver posted his eighth 30-point game with 33 and Kelvin Lewis scored a career-high 28 points in a convincing 91-67 victory against Valparaiso Monday. Tulsa won its quarterfinal game against Utah, 69-60, limiting the Utes just six field goals in the first half.
UH and Tulsa met earlier this year and the Cougars defeated TU, 92-81, in Houston, as McKiver tallied 33 points. With 22 wins, Tulsa has posted its most victories since a 23-10 mark in the 2002-03 campaign. The Hurricane has an overall mark of 22-13, and has compiled a 12-3 record since its loss to Houston on Feb. 6.
Three Conference USA teams were invited to participate in the inaugural CBI. Tulsa hosted Miami (Ohio), UTEP played Utah and Houston was at Nevada in the first round. The 16-team tournament opened March 18-19. Houston picked up an 80-79 road win on March 18, then Tulsa knocked off the RedHawks, 61-45, on March 19. The Miners were eliminated by Utah, 81-69.
Complete C-USA Notebook and Statistics in PDF Format 
MEMPHIS RECEIVES NCAA SOUTH REGION'S NO. 1 SEED
Memphis is the NCAA South Region's No. 1 seed and defeated No. 16 seed UT Arlington, 87-63, and No. 8 seed Mississippi State, 80-77. Both games were played at North Little Rock's Alltel Arena. Next up, Memphis will face No. 5 seed Michigan State in Houston, Texas, as the Tigers advance to their third straight Sweet 16 appearance.
This is the second time in three seasons that the Tigers earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Championship. Memphis was the Oakland Region No. 1 seed in 2006. Last year, the Tigers were the South Region's No. 2 seed. The 2005-06 and 2006-07 Memphis teams advanced to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight. This is Memphis' 21st NCAA Championship appearance. The Tigers have a 27-20 record in NCAA tournament play. In its history, Memphis has made two Final Four appearances (1973, 1985), five Elite Eights and nine Sweet Sixteens (prior to this weekend).
MEMPHIS IN THE NCAA
(1955, 1956, 1962, 1973-2nd, 1976, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985-3rd, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008)
UAB ADVANCES TO SECOND ROUND OF MASTERCARD NIT
UAB received a No. 5 seed in the 2008 MasterCard National Invitation Tournament and opened play with an 80-77 win over No. 4 seed VCU on March 19 in Richmond, before dropping a 75-49 decision to top seed Virginia Tech Monday. UAB finished its season with an impressive 23-11 overall record and a 12-4 mark in C-USA play. The Blazers won 10 of their final 14 games entering postseason play, with two of those losses against No. 2 Memphis. The Blazers were making their ninth appearance in the NIT and had reached the Final Four on two occasions, both under former coach Gene Bartow, in 1989 and 1993. UAB has an all-time record in the NIT of 12-9. UAB has participated in 13 NCAA Tournaments, making this the Blazers' 22nd overall postseason appearance in their 30-year history.
UAB IN THE NIT
(1980, 1989-3rd, 1991, 1992, 1993-3rd, 1997, 1998, 2003, 2008)
DOUGLAS-ROBERTS NAMED NAISMITH FINALIST
Memphis junior guard Chris Douglas-Roberts, the 2008 Conference USA Player of the Year, was named one of four finalists for the 2008 Naismith Men's College Player of the Year Award presented by AT&T, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Monday. He is joined on the list of finalists with Michael Beasley (Kansas State), Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina) and Kevin Love (UCLA). The finalist position is one of a slew of honors Douglas-Roberts has already received this season. He has been named an All-American honoree by four different organizations, including the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). He became the first Tiger to earn USBWA All-America first team honors since Anfernee Hardaway did so in 1993. Douglas-Roberts has also earned All-America honors from The Sporting News, Sports Illustrated and ESPN.com and was named the Conference USA Player of the Year earlier this month. The Detroit, Mich., native leads Memphis in scoring (17.3 ppg) and three-point field goal percentage (42.7). An All-C-USA first team honoree, Douglas-Roberts became the 43rd Tiger in Memphis history to pass the 1,000 career point mark and was named C-USA Player of the Week three times.
CBS Sports will profile the four Naismith Trophy finalists during its coverage of the 2008 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship starting March 27. Finalists were selected through a vote by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors, who narrowed the mid-season list of 30 candidates (which included teammate Derrick Rose) down to the above foursome.
