The 2013 Conference USA Tournament finished its quarterfinal round on Thursday. For the most part, the tourney has gone almost all chalk, with very few surprises or upsets. Only four teams remain in the fight for the automatic NCAA bid. Let’s take a look at Thursday’s action:
Conference USA basketball tournament 2013 results and bracket: Memphis, Southern Miss take care of business
Memphis, Southern Miss, UTEP and Tulsa all moved on to the Conference USA Tournament semifinals.
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No. 2 Southern Miss Golden Eagles 81, No. 7 UAB Blazers 66
Southern Miss is one of those mid-major teams hanging on the edge of the bubble, and they need to either win the tournament or make the finals to make the Selection Committee take notice. So far, they've done what they needed to, dispatching UAB without much muss or fuss. Neil Watson and Dwayne Davis both scored over 20 points, the team shot 52.7 percent from the field and won the rebound battle, 35-22. The Golden Eagles will face UTEP on Friday.
No. 3 UTEP Miners 80, No. 6 Houston Cougars 69
Julian Washburn scored 20 points and Jacques Streeter put up a double-double (13 points, 12 rebounds) as the Miners took care of Houston. UTEP made 51 percent of field goals and scored on 7 of 16 three-pointers, compared to 2 of 11 for Houston. TaShawn Thomas led the Cougars with 15 points and 11 rebounds. UTEP will play Southern Miss on Friday.
No. 1 Memphis Tigers 81, No. 8 Tulane Green Wave 68
Memphis is the overwhelming favorite to win this tournament, and they played like it, crushing an inferior opponent without much trouble. Chris Crawford led with 24 points and sunk six three-pointers to pace the Tigers, who shot 55.4 percent from the field and got 11 steals. Josh Davis had 21 points and 15 rebounds in a losing effort for Tulane.
Memphis moved on to play Tulsa in the semifinals.
No. 5 Tulsa Golden Hurricane 79, No. 4 East Carolina Pirates 72
Scottie Haralson scored 22 points, and the Golden Hurricane moved on to the Conference USA semifinals with a 79-72 win over East Carolina. Haralson was one of four players in double figures for Tulsa, which shot 47.5 percent from the floor and out-rebounded the Pirates 31-27. Maurice Kemp had 24 points for East Carolina.
Tulsa will play No. 1-seeded Memphis in the semifinals. The teams met once in the regular season, a game Memphis won at home 94-64 on Feb. 2.
See the full bracket here.
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