Conference USA Tournament Recaps

El Paso, TX (SportsNetwork.com) – James Woodard dropped in 24 points as the Tulsa Golden Hurricane ran past the Tulane Green Wave 70-49 in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA Tournament at the Don Haskins Center.

Rashad Smith tallied 13 points and seven rebounds and D’Andre Wright chipped in 10 for the second-seeded Golden Hurricane (19-12), who await Middle Tennessee in the semifinals.

Jay Hook netted 21 points before fouling out and Jonathan Stark added 14 points for seventh-seed Tulane (17-16). Tre Drye cleared 12 boards as well.

The first half was more competitive than the final score might indicate, with Tulsa leading by a modest 33-29 edge at the break. The Golden Hurricane hit on 50 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes, while Tulane turned in a 45.5 percent effort.

It was in the second half that the game got out of hand, with Tulsa doubling up Tulane in field goals in the period (12-6).

The Green Wave connected on just 33.3 percent from the field in the contest, with eight of their 16 field goals coming from 3-point range. Tulsa had a 42-32 edge on the glass.

Final Score: Middle Tennessee 62, Old Dominion 48

El Paso, TX (SportsNetwork.com) – Neiko Hunter netted a game-high 16 points to lead the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders to the semifinals of the Conference USA Tournament with a 62-48 victory over the Old Dominion Monarchs at the Don Haskins Center.

Tweety Knight and Kerry Hammonds added 11 points apiece for third-seed Middle Tennessee (24-8). Shawn Jones grabbed 11 boards for the Blue Raiders, who move on to the semifinals against Tulsa.

Ambrose Mosley scored 13 points for sixth-seed Old Dominion (16-17), which also got 12 points from Richard Ross and 10 from Keenan Palmore.

Middle Tennessee ran out to a 30-19 lead at halftime after shooting an even 50 percent from the floor in the first half. Old Dominion couldn’t keep up, connecting on only 27.6 percent.

The Blue Raiders were even better in the second half, as they coasted to victory on the back of a 60 percent shooting effort.

Middle Tennessee outscored the Monarchs 30-10 in the paint.

Final Score: Southern Miss 64, Texas-El Paso 56

El Paso, TX (SportsNetwork.com) – Aaron Brown tallied 18 points and seven rebounds to lift the fourth-seeded Southern Miss Golden Eagles to a 64-56 decision over the Texas-El Paso Miners in the quarterfinal round of the Conference USA Tournament at the Don Haskins Center.

Michael Craig registered a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Golden Eagles (27-5), who will play Louisiana Tech in the semifinals on Friday.

Julian Washburn paced UTEP (23-10) with 16 points and Vince Hunter scored 14 points.

Both sides went 0-of-9 from 3-point range in the opening period. USM took a 28-24 lead into the intermission after it shot 43.3 percent from the floor before the break. The Miners trailed at halftime despite outscoring USM, 10-2, at the free-throw line in the first half.

UTEP heated up to sink 46.2 percent of its shots from the floor in the second stanza. The Golden Eagles scored 11 points off of turnovers to protect their lead over the final 20 minutes of the contest.

USM finished with a 45-28 advantage in total rebounds.

Final Score: Louisiana Tech 86, Charlotte 65

El Paso, TX (SportsNetwork.com) – Michale Kyser scored a game-high 20 points and pulled down nine rebounds, as the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs crushed the Charlotte 49ers, 86-65, during the quarterfinals of the Conference USA Tournament at the Don Haskins Center.

Alex Hamilton accounted for 19 points, Cordarius Johnson 14 and seven rebounds off the bench, followed by Chris Anderson with 12 points for the top-seeded Bulldogs (26-6).

The ninth-seeded 49ers (17-14) were paced by Terrence Williams and Pierria Henry with 13 points apiece, but they combined to shoot only 8-of-26 from the field. Denzel Ingram posted 12 points and Shawn Lester 11 off the bench, the latter hitting on 3-of-8 shots behind the 3-point line.

Charlotte led by a basket very early in the meeting, but the team ended up shooting only 34.4 percent from the floor in the first half, allowing Tech to take a 36-26 advantage at the break.

In the second half the Bulldogs erupted for 57.7 percent accuracy from the field and also connected on 16-of-24 at the free-throw line in order to create some distance between themselves and Charlotte.

In addition to forcing 16 turnovers, which they traded in for 17 points, the Bulldogs also outscored the 49ers in the paint by a comfortable 36-18 margin.

With the win, Louisiana Tech will now face fourth-seeded Southern Miss in the semifinals after the Golden Eagles took down UTEP earlier on Thursday, 64-56.

Categorized in: NCAA Basketball