March 7, 2012

Championship Central

Thursday's quarterfinal action at the 2012 C-USA Men's Basketball Championship featured back-to-back overtime games to start the day. Southern Miss won a thriller over East Carolina in overtime in the first game, 81-78. Then, Marshall defeated Tulsa, 105-100 in the first triple-OT game in C-USA Tournament history. In evening action, host Memphis defeated UTEP, 65-47 and UCF knocked off UAB, 64-54, to reach the semifinals for the first time.

Opening round action of the championship is in the books. East Carolina opened the day with a 68-66 win over Rice. In the second game, Marshall pulled away and downed SMU, 74-56. UTEP opened the evening action with a 67-62 overtime victory over Houston and UAB finished the day with a 72-64 win over Tulane.

All games will be played at FedExForum in downtown Memphis. In addition to the four quarterfinal games on Thursday, the Friday semifinal games will be shown on CBS Sports Network at 3 and 5:30 (CST). CBS will broadcast the championship game on Saturday, beginning at 10:35 a.m. (MST). For ticket information, please visit ConferenceUSA.com, the FedExForum box office at 901-205-2640 or the University of Memphis at 888-867-8636.

2012 Conference USA Championship Schedule
FedExForum, Memphis, Tenn.

Wednesday, March 7
(10) East Carolina 68, (7) Rice 66
(6) Marshall 74, (11) SMU 56
(8) UTEP 67, (9) Houston 62 (ot)
(5) UAB 72, (12) Tulane 64

Thursday, March 8
(2) Southern Miss 81, East Carolina 78 (ot)
(3) Marshall 105, Tulsa 100 (3ot)
(1) Memphis 65, UTEP 47
(4) UCF 64, UAB 54

Friday, March 9
Semifinal # 1
Southern Miss vs. Marshall (CBS Sports Network) 3:00p
Semifinal # 2
Memphis vs. UCF (CBS Sports Network) 5:30p

Saturday, March 10
Championship Game (CBS) - 10:35a

All Times CENTRAL