TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Will Barton scored 30 points as Memphis won the Conference USA regular-season title Saturday with a 78-66 victory over Tulsa.
Joe Jackson scored 16 and Wesley Witherspoon 13 for the Tigers (23-8, 13-3), who shot 55 percent (29 of 53) and will open conference tournament play Thursday in Memphis as the top seed.
Barton passed the 1,000-point milestone for his career. He now has 1,011. He and Witherspoon each grabbed nine rebounds, and Chris Crawford had seven assists.
Jordan Clarkson’s 18 points led the Golden Hurricane (17-13, 10-6), who will have a first-round bye in the tournament. Steven Idlet added 13 and Scotty Haralson 10.
The Tigers, who have won four straight and eight of nine, led only 37-34 at intermission but blitzed the Golden Hurricane with an 18-3 run to begin the second half and led 55-37 with 15:48 to go. The lead later peaked at 25.
