C-USA Football, Basketball & Baseball blog by CUSA Fans

No. 2 Memphis (33-3) vs. No. 3 Missouri (30-6)
Time/Day/TV: 9:37 EDT/Thursday/CBS

Memphis Road to the Sweet 16: Defeated No. 15 Cal-State Northridge, 81-70; Defeated No. 10 Maryland, 89-70

Missouri Road to the Sweet 16: Defeated No. 14 Cornell, 78-59;  Defeated No. 6 Marquette, 83-79

Memphis Moment of Truth: Trailing in the closing minutes to Cal-State Northridge, the Tigers rallied to win. They really didn’t feel comfortable until the final minute.

Memphis Leading Scorers: Tyreke Evans 16.6, Robert Dozier 12.7, Shawn Taggart 10.5

Missouri Moment of Truth: Kim English’s 2 free throws with 5.5 seconds to play broke a tie with Marquette.

Missouri Leading Scorers: DeMarre Carroll 16.7, Leo Lyons 14.6

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Key Matchup: Evans vs. Missouri’s full-court press. Ever since Evans moved to the point, Memphis hasn’t lost (27-0). He must stay disciplined against Missouri’s smothering defense that likes to create a lot of turnovers and points. If he can break it consistently, Memphis has the low post game with Dozier and Taggart to win.

Who Wins and Why: Memphis. Speaking of defense, this might be coach John Calipari’s best defensive team. Their hands are active. They harass. And they can make it hard for teams to move the basketball. Missouri will experience what Maryland couldn’t solve.

The 2009 Conference USA Tournament is almost over as the seeding has held true throughout and the #1 seed Memphis Tigers will take on the #2 seed Tulsa Golden Hurricane in the C-USA Tournament Championship Game today. Memphis, the heavy favorite, looks to win their 4th consecutive Conference USA Basketball Tournament Championship while Tulsa looks to stun the college basketball world and punch their ticket into the Big Dance. Tulsa is 24-9 on the season after finishing with Conference USA’s second-best record at 12-4 and is ranked #67 in the RPI. Meanwhile a win for Memphis could net them a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament as they are 30-3 after a perfect 16-0 C-USA mark and rank #8 in the RPI.

With the winner guaranteed a spot in the 2009 NCAA Tournament, fans can buy NCAA Tournament tickets online through DFN Sports and partner sites.

March is here and with March comes the college basketball madness, but first we have the conference tournaments. The two weeks leading up to the 2009 NCAA Tournament are sure to be just as thrilling as teams play for their postseason lives, and the Conference USA Tournament is no different. The 2009 C-USA Basketball Tournament will be no different than in recent years; it will again be held on Memphis’ home floor, the FedEx Forum, and the Tigers will yet again be the #1 seed and heavy favorites. It appears that UAB and Tulsa will battle for the #2 seed but Houston is just a game back of both. The seeding 4-9 is all up for grabs but it appears that the #10 & 11 seeds will go to Rice & Southern Miss with SMU getting the #12 seed and facing a 20-loss season.