No. 7 Memphis clinches C-USA with Rice rout

Jeremy Hunt deposited 16 points for Memphis (24-3, 13-0), which clinched their second-straight Conference USA title with the win. Chris Douglas-Roberts and Antonio Anderson added 14 points apiece for the Tigers, who won for the 28th straight time at home.

Morris Almond scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Rice ( 13-3, 7-6), which has lost three in a row. Cory Pflieger pitched in with 10 points for the Owls, who have lost seven of nine true road games this season.

Aleks Perka’s jumper pulled Rice to within 67-51 midway through the second half, but Memphis blew the game open with a 20-2 run, capped with a couple of Joey Dorsey dunks and a Kemp layup, giving the Tigers a commanding 87-53 lead with 5:52 left in the contest.

Memphis jumped on the Owls early with a 9-0 burst, but Rice responded with a 14-2 run, capped by two Paulius Packevicius free throws putting the Owls ahead 14-11 with 11:50 remaining in the first half.

Less than a minute later an Anderson three put Memphis back on top 16-14. The Tigers never trailed thereafter.

Memphis outscored Rice 36-20 the rest of the session and took a 52-34 advantage into the intermission.

Game Notes

Memphis started the game 0-for-7 from 3-point range but ended up shooting 15- of-32 (47 percent) from outside the arc...Kemp shot 4-of-6 from downtown. Rice committed 20 turnovers...Memphis leads the series 4-0.