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March 15, 2008

Tulsa reaches Conference USA final

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Calvin Walls scored the first four points in overtime at the free-throw line, and Tulsa held on for a 64-62 victory over UTEP on Friday night to advance to the Conference USA tournament championship.

Ben Uzoh, who finished with 17 points for the Golden Hurricane (20-12), put the game out of reach with two more free throws with 35.7 seconds left. Brett McDade’s free throw with 4.8 seconds remaining provided the final margin.

Stefon Jackson’s desperation shot for UTEP (19-13) from just inside midcourt as time ran out went over the backboard, sending Tulsa to its first conference tournament championship game since 2003 when they won the Western Athletic Conference.

Tulsa will face No. 2 Memphis with a chance at the league’s automatic NCAA tournament berth Saturday morning. The Tigers defeated Southern Mississippi 69-53 in the other semifinal.

Jerome Jordan and Walls finished with 12 points and nine rebounds each for Tulsa, which won its second straight game in overtime. The Golden Hurricane upset No. 2 seed UAB 78-68 in the quarterfinals.

Jackson led UTEP with 18 points, while Randy Culpepper finished with 14.

Tulsa held a 63-59 lead when Culpepper hit one of two free throws with 8.4 seconds left. Culpepper rebounded the miss and hit a 12-footer to pull the Miners within 63-62 with 5.5 seconds to go.

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