No. 20 Memphis 56, Texas-El Paso 56: Junior guard Chris Crawford shot 6-of-9 from the floor to finish with 15 points as the Tigers beat the host Miners to remain unbeaten in Conference USA.
Memphis (26-4, 15-0) also received 11 points and nine rebounds from sophomore forward Adonis Thomas. Junior guard Geron Johnson grabbed 10 boards to contribute to the Tigers' 38-25 edge on the offensive glass.
UTEP (16-13, 9-6) was led by sophomore guard Julian Washburn, who scored 19, and sophomore forward Cedrick Lang, who added 10 points and seven rebounds.
After playing to a 22-all halftime tie, the Miners overcame a six-point deficit to take a 42-40 lead with nine minutes to go. But a Thomas 3-pointer with 2:53 left gave the Tigers the lead for good.
A Washington block gave UTEP a chance to tie coming out of a timeout with 11 seconds left. Sophomore guard C.J. Cooper was fouled on a 3-point attempt, but missed the first free throw and a last-second desperation shot after a steal fell short.
GAME NOTEBOOK: A win in UTEP's regular-season finale against Southern Methodist on Saturday would wrap up the third seed in the Conference USA Tournament for the Miners. … Memphis will attempt to close out a perfect conference slate at home Saturday versus UAB. … The Miners fell to 0-3 against ranked opponents this season.
Memphis | Texas-El Paso | |
Chris Crawford 15 | Scoring | Julian Washburn 19 |
Geron Johnson 7 | Assists | John Bohannon 7 |
Geron Johnson 10 | Rebounds | Cedrick Lang 7 |
Shaq Goodwin 2 | Free Throws Made | Julian Washburn 7 |
Geron Johnson 3 | Steals | Jacques Streeter 2 |
Tarik Black 1 | Blocks | John Bohannon 3 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Memphis | 56 | 42.3 | 5-13 | 7-13 | 15 | 32 | 2 | 6 | 16 |
Texas-El Paso | 54 | 42.2 | 3-16 | 13-19 | 12 | 25 | 4 | 5 | 12 |