EL PASO, Texas (AP)—Gary Flowers’ ninth double-double of the season led Southern Mississippi past Tulane 63-47 on Wednesday in the first round of the Conference USA tournament.
Flowers had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the fifth-seeded Golden Eagles (22-9), who will face fourth-seeded Memphis (22-9) in the quarterfinals Thursday. The senior forward reached double figures for the 27th consecutive game.
LaShay Page added 12 points and Josimar Ayarza 10 for Southern Miss, which shot 46.8 percent while limiting Tulane to 34.0.
The 12th-seeded Green Wave (13-17) got 16 points from Kris Richard and 15 from Kendall Timmons. Richard hit four 3-pointers.
Trailing 5-4, Southern Miss reeled off the next 10 points, ending with a basket by Ayarza that made it 14-5 with 14:51 left in the first half. The Golden Eagles held the Green Wave scoreless for the final 5:09 and led 35-18 at halftime.
The second-half lead peaked at 22.
