Feb. 18, 2009

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP)--Shawn Taggart scored 19 points and Doneal Mack added 15 points as No. 5 Memphis raced to a 90-47 victory over SMU on Wednesday night.

Robert Dozier had 14 points, and Tyreke Evans and Antonio Anderson each scored 13 for the Tigers (23-3, 11-0 Conference USA), who won their 17th straight. Memphis also extended its winning streak in the conference to 53 games, including the postseason.

Paul McCoy led SMU (7-17, 1-10) with 17 points, while Derek Williams added 11.

Memphis, which entered the game holding opponents to an average of 37.6 percent shooting from the field, limited SMU to 31 percent (17-for-55).

Memphis, ranked 10th in the conference in free-throw shooting, finished 36-for-40 (90 percent) from the line.

SMU was able to stay in the game early, even leading after hitting its first four shots from 3-point range. The Mustangs still were trailing by only 18-16 as they hit half of their first 12 shots.

But Memphis, which forced SMU turnovers with pressure defense, used a 12-2 run to grab its first double-digit lead before Mustangs coach Matt Doherty called timeout in hopes of curbing the momentum. At that point, SMU already had committed 13 turnovers. The Mustangs finished with 22 miscues.

SMU pulled to 36-31 when McCoy hit a 3.

But the Mustangs still could not take care of the basketball, finishing the half with 16 turnovers. That helped Memphis close the half on a 16-2 run, including 10 straight in one stretch, and the Tigers led 52-33 at halftime.