Wednesday, March 26th, 9:00 p.m. (et)

FACTS & STATS: Site: Donald W. Reynolds Center (8,355) -- Tulsa, Oklahoma. Television: Fox College Sports. CBI Record: Houston 2-0, Tulsa 2-0. Series Record: Houston leads, 19-16.

GAME NOTES: The Tulsa Golden Hurricane will welcome the Houston Cougars to the Reynolds Center this evening, for semifinal action of the College Basketball Invitational. The winner of this game will take on either Bradley or Virginia in a best of three series starting next week for the tournament title. The Golden Hurricane opened tournament play with a 61-45 win over Miami-Ohio and followed that up with a 69-60 decision against Utah in the quarterfinals just two days ago. The team's 22 wins on the season are the most for Tulsa since the 2002-03 season. The Cougars have navigated the tournament field with a narrow 80-79 win over Nevada in the first-round and then an easier 91-67 pasting of Valparaiso on Monday. With the pair of victories, Houston has moved to an impressive 24-9 on the year. These two teams met earlier this year, with the Cougars posting a 92-81 shootout victory in Houston. With the victory, Houston now has a 19-16 edge in the all-time series.

Guards Robert McKiver and Kelvin Lewis were unstoppable on Monday, combining for a whopping 61 points in leading the Cougars to a lopsided win over the Crusaders. McKiver was 10-of-19 from the floor and hit six three-pointers, en route to a game-high 33 points. Lewis converted seven times from behind the arc and poured in 28 points. Tafari Toney joined the explosive pair in double figures with 10 points, as Houston rolled up 91 points, on .453 shooting. Scoring points in bunches is nothing new for the Cougars this season, as the team comes into this game netting a respectable 79.1 ppg. McKiver is one of the nation's premier scorers, despite shooting just .399 from the floor overall. He is still racking up 23.4 ppg on the season (second-leading scorer in Conference USA), thanks in large part to a whopping 139 three-pointers. Dion Dowell and Lewis are also making solid offensive contributions, averaging 11.2 and 10.2 ppg, respectively.

Ben Uzoh netted 22 points, leading the Golden Hurricane over Utah and into the CBI semifinal round. Uzoh was just 5-of-11 from the floor in the game, but did convert 11-of-14 attempts at the free-throw line. Ray Reese had a strong offensive game as well, tacking on 16 points in support, while Jerome Jordan chipped in with 12. Tulsa didn't shoot the ball particularly well, hitting just 38.3 percent from the floor, but was able to take a 15-point lead into halftime, thanks to a stifling defensive effort that limited the Utes to a mere six field goals in the first half. The Hurricane are not an explosive team by nature, averaging a modest 70.2 ppg on the year. However, the team has thrived defensively, holding foes to a mere 64.5 ppg on just over 40 percent shooting (.407). Uzoh is the top option at the offensive end, shooting a solid .495 from the floor and putting up 15.5 ppg. Jordan is next in line at 10.1 ppg and is the team's top rebounder with 7.4 caroms per outing. He gets help on the boards from Calvin Walls (8.5 ppg), who hauls in just over seven rebounds per game (7.1).

The Golden Hurricane get the Cougars at home this time and are an impressive 15-2 in their own building this year. If Tulsa can limit McKiver in this game, the hometown faithful will have something to cheer about, as the Hurricane move on to the title series next week.

Predicted Outcome

Tulsa 73, Houston 71