University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
Tulane
No. 5 Memphis Rolls Into C-USA Semifinals
Mar 09, 2006 | Men's Basketball
March 9, 2006
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Rodney Carney scored 18 points, and Darius Washington added 15 to help No. 5 Memphis beat Tulane 75-56 in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA tournament Thursday night.
Top-seeded Memphis benefited from an aggressive defense and great outside shooting, going 11-of-28 from outside the arc. The Tigers (28-3) will face the winner of Thursday's late game between Central Florida and Houston in the semifinals Friday. UTEP faces No. 24 UAB in the other semifinal.
Shawne Williams added 13 points for Memphis.
Chris Moore led the Green Wave (12-17) with 21 points, including 19 in the second half, and nine rebounds. Quincy Davis scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Donnie Stith finished with 10 points.
Tulane, which beat Marshall 64-58 in Wednesday's opening round, never got going after falling behind 9-0 to start the game. Memphis built the lead to 30 in the latter stages of the first half. The Green Wave didn't get the second-half deficit under 20 until the final minutes, when Memphis was playing its deep reserves.
Memphis took a 47-19 halftime lead.
The defense caused 20 turnovers, nine on steals, leading to 23 first-half points as Memphis scored inside and connected from outside the arc.
Carney had 13 points to lead Memphis in the first half, while Washington scored nine, including back-to-back 3-pointers in the final 1:07, giving the Tigers their biggest lead of the half at 47-17.
Tulane's 19 points was its lowest output for a half this season.
Davis had eight of Tulane's points and was the only offensive threat for the Green Wave. David Gomez, who led Tulane in its opening round win with 21 points and 10 rebounds, missed nine of his 11 shots and committed six turnovers. He finished with four points.
The only Memphis lull came midway through the second half. After building the lead to 65-28, Moore connected on a trio of 3-pointers and Davis scored inside to key a 17-0 run by the Green Wave.
But that only cut the Memphis lead to 65-45.
