UTEP took over sole possession of first place in the C-USA standings with a 73-59 victory over Tulsa in front of a sold out crowd at the Don Haskins Center. The Miners were led by Jeremy Williams' 15 points and double-doubles from junior F Derrick Caracter and sophomore F Arnett Moultrie. Caracter scored 12 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, while Moultrie tossed in 10 points and pulled down 11 boards. UTEP has now won seven-straight games.

Tulsa senior C Jerome Jordan became the all-time shot blocker in Conference USA history as his three tonight improved his season total to 314. Jordan also added 20 points and five rebounds. Senior point guard Ben Uzoh had a game-high eight assists on the night.

The Golden Hurricane is now in a second-place tie with UAB, as the Blazers picked up a 76-65 road win over Rice. Junior G Aaron Johnson, playing with a broken nose, led UAB with 28 points. Rice freshman Arsalan Kazemi registered his seventh double-double of the season with 15 points and 13 rebounds.

Marshall exploded for 67 points in the second half and received 15-or-more points from four players to defeat East Carolina, 100-49. Junior F Tirrell Baines scored a season-high 18 points (14 in the second half) on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor to help the Herd snap a five-game losing streak.

Southern Miss and SMU also picked up big road victories. The Golden Eagles won their fourth-straight game as junior F Torye Pelham got the put-back basket off one of his game-high 13 rebounds for a 57-55 win over Houston. SMU jumped out to a 24-point first-half lead en route to a 66-48 win at Tulane. Senior G Derek Williams led the Mustangs with 18 points, while junior F Papa Dia tallied 17 points and 16 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season.

Memphis stepped out of conference play to face No. 13 Gonzaga at FedExForum. Sophomore Wesley Witherspoon followed up a career-high 29 points on Wednesday with a 26-point performance Saturday afternoon, but the Tigers dropped a 65-58 decision to the Bulldogs.

Updated Conference USA Statistics

SATURDAY'S RESULTS
UTEP 73, Tulsa 59
UAB 76, Rice 65
Marshall 100, East Carolina 49
Southern Miss 57, Houston 55
SMU 66, Tulane 48
(13) Gonzaga 66, Memphis 58

C-USA MEN'S BASKETBALL SHOOTING STARS (Saturday, Feb. 6)
UTEP earned sole possession of first place in Conference USA and picked up its seventh-straight win with a 73-59 victory over visiting Tulsa. The Miners were led by junior F Jeremy Williams (Memphis, Tenn.), who scored 10 of his team-high 15 points in the second half after the two teams went into the break tied, 30-30. Junior F Derrick Caracter (Fanwood, N.J.), the reigning C-USA Player of the Week, earned his seventh double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomore F Arnett Moultrie (Memphis, Tenn.) added 10 points and 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season and ninth of his career..

Tulsa senior C Jerome Jordan (Kingston, Jamaica) tied the Conference USA career blocks record with three against UTEP to improve his career total to 314. Jordan also added 20 points and five rebounds. Senior point guard Ben Uzoh (San Antonio, Texas) had a game-high eight assists on the night.

UAB junior G Aaron Johnson (Chicago, Ill.) scored 28 points as UAB picked up its ninth win away from Bartow Arena with a 76-65 victory at Rice. The Blazers trailed 31-26 at halftime but opened the second half on a 9-0 run to take the lead for good. Johnson was 7 of 10 from the field and 11 of 13 from the free-throw line for UAB. He also had five assists and three steals. Junior G Jamarr Sanders (Montgomery, Ala.) added all 18 points of his points in the second half and junior G Elijah Millsap (Grambling, La.) chipped in 13 for the Blazers.

Freshman Arsalan Kazemi (Esfahan, Iran) led Rice with 15 points and 13 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season. Senior G Lawrence Ghoram (Zachary, La.) added 13 points and junior C Trey Stanton (Friendswood, Texas) scored 12.

Marshall exploded for 67 points in the second half and received 15-or-more points from four players to defeat East Carolina, 100-49. The 51-point margin of victory ties the conference record for games between C-USA opponents and the 67 points in a half is the third-best performance in all games.

Junior F Tirrell Baines (Laurens, S.C.) scored a season-high 18 points (14 in the second half) on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor to help the Herd snap a five-game losing streak. Senior F Tyler Wilkerson (Lexington, Ky.) connected on eight baskets en route to a 17-point effort along with grabbing five rebounds. Classmate Chris Lutz (Bedford, N.H.) poured in 13-of-15 points in the last stanza, including four 3-pointers after intermission.

Freshman Hassan Whiteside (Gastonia, N.C.), who was held to one point in the first half, tallied a total of 15 along with six boards and four blocked shots. Whiteside, the nation's leading shot blocker, now has 122 for the season and is just 21 shy of the C-USA single-season blocks record, currently held by Tulsa's Jerome Jordan.

East Carolina junior point guard Brock Young (Raleigh, N.C.) and sophomore F Darrius Morrow (Atlanta, Ga.) scored 11 points apiece.

Southern Miss junior F Torye Pelham (Nashville, Tenn.) grabbed one of his game-high 13 rebounds and got a tip-in with one second remaining as the Golden Eagles defeated Houston, 57-55. It was Southern Miss' fourth-straight win. Junior F Gary Flowers (Dallas, Texas) led the Black and Gold with 15 points and six rebounds. Junior Sai'Quon Stone (Brooklyn, N.Y.) had 12 points, all in the second half, and junior R.L. Horton (Jackson, Miss.) added 11 points and a game-high five assists. Horton needs just 11 more points to reach 1,000 for his career.

Senior G Aubrey Coleman (Houston, Texas), the nation's leading scorer, tossed in a game-high 22 points for the Cougars. Junior F Maurice McNeil (New York, N.Y.) registered his sixth double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

SMU jumped out to a 24-point first-half lead en route to a 66-48 win at Tulane. Senior G Derek Williams (Jamaica, N.Y.) led the Mustangs with 18 points, while junior F Papa Dia (St. Louis, Senegal) scored 17 points with 16 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season. SMU also hit 19-20 free throws in the win. Sophomore F Robert Nyakundi (Arlington, Texas) also scored 14 points for the Mustangs.

Redshirt freshman Kendall Timmons (Houston, Texas) led Tulane with 14 points for his sixth game this season in double figures, while freshman Jordan Callahan (Marietta, Ga.) added nine and junior Aaron Holmes (Houston, Texas) had seven points. The Green Wave was outrebounded, but Tulane's defense did collect 14 steals and force 20 turnovers that resulted in 30 points.

Sophomore Wesley Witherspoon (Atlanta, Ga.) followed up a career-high 29 points on Wednesday with a 26-point performance Saturday afternoon, but the Tigers dropped a 65-58 decision to No. 13 Gonzaga. Sophomore G Elliot Williams (Memphis, Tenn.) added 11 points and six assists. Memphis' 9-0 run allowed it to take a 53-51 lead with 4:48 left on a layup by Willie Kemp. Sophomore F Angel Garcia (Tao Baja, P.R.) made his first appearance as a Memphis Tiger on Saturday. He was expected to miss the 2009-10 season due to an ACL tear suffered prior to the start of the season but made a quick recovery.

C-USA UPCOMING GAMES
Monday, February 8
Texas A&M International at Rice - 7:00p

Tuesday, February 9
Rio Grande at Marshall - 6:00p
Houston at Western Kentucky (FS Houston) - 7:00p

Wednesday, February 10
Tulane at East Carolina - 6:00p
UCF at Memphis (CSS) - 6:00p
UTEP at SMU - 7:00p
Southern Miss at Tulsa - 7:00p

All times Central. Conference USA games in bold.

Most Recent C-USA Notebook

More information on Saturday`s games and your favorite team can be found on the school web sites:

East Carolina | Houston | Marshall | Memphis | Rice | SMU | Southern Miss | Tulane | Tulsa | UAB | UCF | UTEP