Tulsa Closes Out Regular Season at Memphis

Originally Published: Mar 5, 2010 3:16 PM CDT

Bobby Lewis
Oklahoma Sports Mobile Journalist

MEMPHIS, Tennessee – Tulsa’s Saturday matchup with Memphis is a showdown between the past two Conference USA championship game participants. The Tigers have claimed the past two titles, and have beaten the Golden Hurricane in the past 11 meetings.

This weekend’s get together has heightened importance for both schools. Tulsa is fighting for better seeding in next week’s conference tournament. They are tied with Marshall for fourth in the league, while Memphis, already locked in as the second seed, wants a win heading into the tournament. UAB is locked in as the third seed. UTEP clinched the top spot earlier this week.

The Golden Hurricane split games with the Thundering Herd this season and could catch them for fourth place with a win and a Marshall road loss to SMU. The top four teams in the league get a first round bye in the conference tournament, so Tulsa is gunning for the final top-tier spot.

Memphis snapped Tulsa’s 23-game home winning streak with a 93-86 win on February 13th. Elliot Williams scored 27 points to lead the Tigers. Four Memphis players scored in double figures.

Bishop Wheatley scored a career-high 21 points in the game. Ben Uzoh had one of the best games of his career, notching 10 assists, eight rebounds and 20 points in the loss.

Seniors Jerome Jordan, Wheatley and Uzoh will play their final regular season game in a Golden Hurricane uniform on Saturday. The trio has amassed 3,751 points and 1,984 rebounds combined in their 378 career games. They have been a part of 91 wins over the past four seasons.

Jordan will finish his career as the school’s all-time leader in blocked shots and rebounds.

Memphis is 10-6 all-time against Tulsa at home. The then tenth-ranked Tigers won last year’s meeting, 63-37.

Game time is set for noon on Saturday. The Conference USA tournament will tip off on Wednesday, March 10th at the BOK Center in downtown Tulsa.