Memphis reaches Conference USA final

MEMPHIS, March 13 (UPI) -- Robert Dozier led No. 3 Memphis to another easy win over a league opponent Friday, downing Houston 74-49 in the Conference USA semifinals.

Memphis will play for the tournament title Saturday against Tulsa, which reached the championship contest by downing Alabama-Birmingham 70-67.

A victory Saturday would give the Tigers their fourth straight conference tournament crown and could bring them a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Dozier scored 16 points and claimed seven rebounds. Doneal Mack, Shawn Taggart and Wesley Witherspoon all had 10 points for the Tigers (30-3), winners of 24 straight games.

It was the 60th straight victory for Memphis over a Conference USA foe. Memphis also became the first basketball program in NCAA Division I history to win 30 games in four straight seasons.

Houston (21-11), which made its third straight semifinal appearance, was paced by Kelvin Lewis with 18.

Tulsa, which lost to Memphis in last year's final, opened a six-point lead with 4:45 to play and held on down the stretch. Ray Reese scored 17 points for the Golden Hurricane (24-0).

Tulsa finished second to Memphis in the regular season.