Conference USA Tournament: No. 10 SMU opened the Conference USA Tournament with a 61-59 upset win against No. 7 Rice. Junior forward Donatas Rackauskas and Devon Pearson each scored 15 points for the Mustangs, who dominated Rice in the paint with 41 rebounds. SMU will play No. 2 Alabama – Birmingham in the quarterfinals.
No. 11 Southern Mississippi pulled off the second upset of the day in the Conference USA Tournament by beating No. 6 Tulsa 66-61. The Golden Eagles move into the quarterfinals against No. 3 Texas – El Paso. Southern Mississippi got more than half its points from two bench players, junior forward Mildon Ambres and freshman guard Craig Craft. Ambres led the way with 19 points, and Craft added 15 points.
No. 8 Tulane slipped past No. 9 Marshall 64-58 to advance to the quarterfinals against No. 1 Memphis, which beat the Green Wave by 40 a couple of weeks ago in Memphis. Sophomore forward David Gomez led Tulane with 21 points and 10 rebounds, which tied his career high for points. Marshall tied the score at 56 with less than three minutes remaining, but Tulane hit most of its free throws late in the game to quiet the Thundering Herd.
No. 5 Central Florida buried No. 12 East Carolina 65-52 as junior guard Josh Peppers dumped a career-high 25 points on the Pirates. The Golden Knights jumped out to a 42-16 halftime lead by hitting 54 percent from three-point territory and 50 percent from the field. Peppers hit five three-pointers in the game as the Pirates never seriously threatened Central Florida. The Golden Knights will play No. 4 Houston in the quarterfinals Thursday. [3/08/06]
