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Houston hosts No. 1 Memphis in Conference USA showdown

Jan 30, 2008 - 3:53 PM No. 1 Memphis (19-0) at Houston (15-3) 8:00 pm EST

HOUSTON (Ticker) - Top-ranked Memphis has had little problems with teams at the bottom of the Conference USA standings. Now the Tigers face Houston on Wednesday in a matchup of teams undefeated in the conference.

Memphis (19-0, 5-0 C-USA) has victories over teams that are a collective 6-20 in the conference. The Cougars (15-3, 4-0) have won their four conference games by an average of 13.7 points.

"The only time we'll worry about another undefeated season is (after the national championship game)," said Tigers' coach John Calipari. "If we're undefeated at the time, we are all going to all really be really happy."

Houston coach Tom Penders will collect his 600th career victory if his club can pull off the upset.

"If it all ended tomorrow, I've had an incredible run," Penders said. "I would be very thankful for everything that's happened."

Junior guard Chris Douglas-Roberts leads Memphis in scoring at 16.8 points per game, including an average of 19 in his last four games. Freshman guard Derrick Rose averages 14.3 points for the Tigers.

Senior guard Robert McKiver averages 19.8 points for the Cougars, who are second-to-last in the conference in field-goal percentage at 41.2 percent. Senior guard Dion Dowell averages 12.4 points and 7.6 rebounds for Houston.

Memphis has won five consecutive games against the Cougars and leads the series, 18-10.