Memphis-Tulsa Preview

3/15/2008 9:08 AM

By MATT BECKER
STATS Writer

Three years ago, Memphis lost the Conference USA tournament championship game at FedEx Forum. It hasn't lost on its home court since.

The second-ranked Tigers look to add a third straight tournament title to their third consecutive outright regular-season title and secure a likely No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament as they play seventh-seeded Tulsa in the C-USA championship game on Saturday.

Memphis (32-1) is back in the tournament championship game for the fourth straight year, and has won the last two since losing to Louisville in the 2005 championship game.

Not much has slowed down the Tigers since that loss, however. Memphis has reeled off 31 straight home conference victories at FedEx Forum since falling to the Cardinals on March 12, 2005, and won 41 consecutive league games - including eight in the conference tournament - since an 80-74 loss to UAB on March 2, 2006.

The Tigers advanced to the championship game with double-digit victories each of the last two days, including a 69-53 win over fifth-seeded Southern Mississippi in Friday's semifinals. A win in the title game should be enough to get Memphis a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

On Friday, the Tigers scored on eight of their first nine possessions and built a 20-3 lead with 12:34 left. Derrick Rose led Memphis with 25 points, while Chris Douglas-Roberts added 14 to offset senior Joey Dorsey, who had no points and only two rebounds.

"It was a good game for us," said Memphis' John Calipari, the C-USA coach of the year. "We had a couple guys that didn't play particularly well. We'll see if we can't get them going for tomorrow."

The Tigers have won all six meetings with Tulsa (20-12) since the Golden Hurricane joined Conference USA in 2005. Memphis won at Tulsa 56-41 on Jan. 23, and defeated the Golden Hurricane 82-67 at home on Feb. 27.

Douglas-Roberts, the C-USA player of the year, scored 29 points on 12-of-19 shooting versus Tulsa this season and is averaging a team-high 17.2 points.

Rose, who was named the conference freshman of the year, had 23 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds in the two wins against the Golden Hurricane.

Tulsa has advanced to its first conference tournament championship game since winning the Western Athletic Conference in 2003 - its last trip to the NCAA tournament.

While the Tigers are already a lock to make the NCAA tournament, the Golden Hurricane's only chance to make the field of 65 is by winning four games in four days and earning an automatic bid with a victory in the C-USA championship.

Tulsa, which surprised No. 2 seed UAB in overtime in the quarterfinals, advanced with a 64-62 overtime victory over sixth-seeded UTEP in Friday's other semifinal. The Golden Hurricane did not make a basket in the extra five minutes, but connected on 7 of 8 free throws.

Ben Uzoh finished with 17 points against the Miners, and is averaging 17.7 points in three tournament games. Uzoh has scored 24 points in the two games against the Tigers this season.

Tulsa - trying to become the first No. 7 seed to win the Conference USA tournament - has lost 11 straight games against ranked opponents since defeating then-No. 16 Dayton 84-71 in the 2003 NCAA tournament.