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Memphis looks to continue rolling through conference play

Mar 1, 2008 - 11:30 AM No. 3 Memphis (27-1) at Southern Miss (15-12) 4:00 pm EST

HATTIESBURG, Mississippi (Ticker) - Third-ranked Memphis goes for its 37th consecutive Conference USA win at Southern Mississippi on Saturday.

The Tigers (27-1, 13-0) rebounded from its first loss of the season to then-No. 2 Tennessee on February 23 with an 82-67 victory over Tulsa on Wednesday. Memphis was leading, 43-19, at the break.

Willie Kemp scored 14 of the team's 43 bench points in the victory, while leading scorer Chris Douglas-Roberts had just nine in 16 minutes of action.

The Tigers, who are hoping to secure a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, won the first meeting, 83-47, against the Golden Eagles, and are 5-0 against their conference rival since the start of the 2005-06 season.

The Golden Eagles (15-12, 7-6) had a three-game winning streak snapped with a 95-67 setback at Houston on Wednesday. In the game, Southern Mississippi allowed Houston's Robert McKiver to score 52 points, which is the highest one-game point total in Division I this season.

Craig Craft scored 16 points and Jeremy Wise had 14 to pace Southern Mississippi in the loss. Wise leads the team in scoring at 18.8 points per game.