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

> Find the best online selection of Memphis apparel & merchandise through CUSA Fans!

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.

It’s no secret that in Conference USA basketball, it’s Memphis and everybody else. Only Houston, UTEP and UAB have really given the Tigers much competition, but don’t count out UCF in 2008-2009 as both the Cougars and Knights look to compete for the C-USA title. The 2008-2009 UCF Knights basketball preview is now live along with the 2008-2009 Houston Cougars basketball preview over at College Sports Fans as they preview the majority of the Division I college basketball programs. Check out the 2008-2009 college basketball preview today to see how your team looks for the upcoming college basketball season!

Poor free throw shooting finally plagued the Memphis Tigers, creeping up at the most inopportune of times. The Tigers missed much-needed free throws as Kansas went on a 12-3 run to force overtime, then the Jayhawks scored the first 6 points of the extra frame en route to a 75-68 Kansas victory over Memphis.

With the game on the line it was Chris Douglas-Roberts and Derrick Rose who both missed free throws, CDR missing the front end of a 1-and-1 as well as missing two more free throws inside the final minute of regulation, opening the door for Brandon Rush’s tying 3-point shot to send the game into overtime. Kansas then took over in OT and held on with strong defense, preventing Memphis from having a breath of hope in the final seconds of overtime.

The final minutes of the National Championship game could not have gone much worse for the Memphis Tigers. All year long we have heard about Memphis’ free throw shooting problems, and the difference in a National Championship and overtime came down to free throws. After hitting his first 4 FT attempts of the game, Chris Douglas-Roberts missed the front end of a 1-and-1 then followed that by missing 2 more free throws inside the final minute of the game. Derrick Rose then hit 1-2 FTs as a Kansas 3-pointer tied the game, sending the Jayhawks and Tiggers to overtime. Kansas overcame a Memphis 9-point lead in the final 2 minutes of regulation.

Foul trouble for Memphis and hot-shooting for Kansas has been the story of the first half of tonight’s National Championship game as the Kansas Jayhakws lead the Memphis Tigers 33-28 at the half. Chris Douglas-Roberts leads the Tigers with 13 points, but the story is Memphis’ foul trouble. Joey Dorsey, Shawn Taggart and Robert Dozier each have 2 fouls making 6 of the Tigers’ 7 first half fouls. While Kansas also has two players with 2 fouls, the Jayhawks are a consistently deeper team, regularly going 7-8 deep for significant minutes.

Forwards Shawn Taggart and Robert Dozier are both in early foul trouble as the Memphis Tigers and Kansas Jayhawks are squaring off in the National Championship game on CBS. We’re at the 11:33 mark left in the first half and neither team has connected on a 3-point field goal as the defenses have held both teams in check.

From the beginning of the season experts and fans alike have said Memphis was one of the best teams in the nation. With their win today over UCLA in the first of two Final Four match-ups, the Memphis Tigers have proven they are one of the top two teams in the nation, and on Monday night they have a chance to play for the NCAA National Championship.

The Tigers (38-1) outscored UCLA (35-4) 38-35 in the first half before pulling away in the second half for a 78-63 win. Memphis was led by freshman Derrick Rose (25 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists) who looked a step quicker than anyone UCLA could put on him and Chris Douglas-Roberts (28 points) and as a team shot 87% (20-23) from the free throw line. Meanwhile, Joey Dorsey played the role of clean-up man picking up 15 rebounds in just 27 minutes of play.

With the win there’s no doubt that Memphis Tigers tickets and Memphis basketball apparel & clothing will be more popular than ever as the Tigers advance to the National Championship game. The Tigers will face the winner of Kansas & North Carolina on Monday night, April 7th @ 9:21 pm ET.

After being ranked in the top 3 all season and being the undefeated, #1 team in the nation for several weeks, the Memphis Tigers have finally lived up to expectations. The Memphis Tigers defeated the Texas Longhorns, in Houston, by a score of 85-67 on Sunday to advance to the Final Four. While Memphis Tigers apparel & merchandise is a hot item in stores and online, John Calipari’s team is not done just yet. The Tigers have unfinished business and hope to get two more wins and a National Championship to add to the 2008 season’s success.