The 2012 Conference USA Championship game will be played early Saturday, pitting the top-seeded Memphis Tigers against upstart No. 6 seed Marshall.
Marshall upset the Southern Miss Golden Eagles in the semifinals, 73-62. The loss places Southern Miss squarely on the bubble, and gives the Thundering Herd a chance to steal a bid with a win over Memphis in the championship game. Marshall will need to keep up their hot shooting if they are to win. The Thundering Herd were nine of 17 from three point land in the semifinal win.
Memphis advanced to the tile game via a 83-52 demolition of UCF. Six different Tigers scored eight points or more, and the Memphis defense simply overwhelmed the Knights, just as the Memphis defense keyed their quarterfinal win over UTEP. Memphis held UCF to 33.3 percent shooting for the game, and a ghastly two of 19 from beyond the three point line.
Grad a bagel and some coffee, as this title game tips off at 11:35 a.m. on CBS.
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