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Rose, Douglas-Roberts team up to lead Memphis

Mar 2, 2008 - 1:55 AM HATTIESBURG, Mississippi (Ticker) -- Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts proved to be too much for Southern Miss to handle.

Rose and Douglas-Roberts each had strong games and third-ranked Memphis won its 37th consecutive Conference USA game with a 76-67 victory over Southern Miss on Saturday.

The Tigers, who are hoping to secure a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, clinched the Conference USA regular-season title for the third consecutive season with the win.

A freshman standout, Rose scored 23 points, including a deep 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1:52 to play that gave the Tigers (28-1, 14-0 C-USA) a 72-63 lead.

Rose scored just one point in the first half but continuously came up big down the stretch. He made three 3-pointers and was 6-of-7 from the line in the second half.

He scored 11 points in a five-minute span as Memphis turned a 51-50 deficit into a 64-56 advantage with five minutes to play.

Douglas-Roberts had 22 points and was the only other player in double figures for Memphis, which is 6-0 against its conference rival since the start of the 2005-06 season.

Jeremy Wise scored 26 points, Craig Craft added 14 and Sai'Quon Stone had 11 for Southern Miss (15-13, 7-7).

The Golden Eagles trailed 34-31 at the break before opening the second half with a 12-4 run to take a 43-38 lead.

The Golden Eagles were playing in front of a sellout crowd at Green Coliseum for the first time in 12 years and the charged atmosphere affected the players before the opening tip.

Memphis forward Joey Dorsey, who seems to have a penchant for getting himself involved in some kind of controversy, got into a minor altercation with Stone during pre-game warmups, but there were no incidents during the game.

Dorsey finished with six points and six rebounds for the Tigers, who shot 57 percent (12-of-21) from the field in the second half.