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Memphis targets 38th straight conference win

Mar 5, 2008 - 1:10 PM No. 3 Memphis (28-1) at SMU (9-18) 8:00 pm EST

DALLAS (Ticker) -- Even though Memphis already has the Conference USA regular-season title in hand, it undoubtedly wants to present a near-flawless resume to lock up a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The third-ranked Tigers aim for their 38th straight conference win Wednesday at Southern Methodist.

Memphis (28-1, 14-0 C-USA) struggled but clinched its third consecutive conference title Saturday with a 76-67 win over Southern Mississippi. The Tigers have not lost a league game since an 80-74 setback against Alabama-Birmingham on March 2, 2006.

Freshman guard Derrick Rose poured in 23 points while junior guard Chris Douglas-Roberts added 22 for the Tigers.

The Tigers figure to keep their long conference run going against SMU (9-18, 3-11), which ended a five-game losing streak on Saturday with a 99-96 double-overtime victory over Texas-El Paso.

Jon Killen scored 33 points and Bamba Falls added 19 points for the Mustangs, who have lost by an average of 22 points per game in their four contests against Memphis since they joined Conference USA prior to the 2005-06 season.