Jeremy Williams

COL BKB: UTEP 76, Central Fla. 54

Tulsa, Okla. -- Jeremy Williams helped No. 21 Texas-El Paso to an early surge Thursday and the Miners beat Central Florida 76-54 to coast into the Conference USA semifinals.

Tulsa set up a semifinal meeting with Texas-El Paso by eliminating Marshall 80-64. The other semifinal will send Houston against Southern Mississippi.

The Miners stormed to a 48-20 halftime lead and eventually made 57 percent of their shots while improving to 25-5. They have won 14 in a row since dropping a 75-65 decision at Houston Jan. 13.

Williams scored 17 points to lead the Miners, who limited Central Florida to 16 field goals.

The Knights (15-17) were led by Keith Clanton with 12.

Copyright 2010 United Press International, Inc. (UPI).

COL BKB: Texas-El Paso 78, Rice 64

El Paso, Texas -- Jeremy Williams and Randy Culpepper combined for 38 points Saturday to pace No. 25 Texas-El Paso to a 78-64 victory over Rice.

Williams scored 20 points and Culpepper added 18 as the Miners (22-5, 13-1 CUSA) proved deadly from field in the early going, shooting 58.6 percent in the first half en route to a 45-34 halftime lead.

UTEP used the hot shooting to compensate for 21 turnovers in the contest.

Rice (8-20, 1-13) was led by Arsalan Kazemi with 12 points and seven rebounds while Lawrence Ghoram chipped in with 11 points in the loss.

Copyright 2010 United Press International, Inc. (UPI).

COL FB: LSU 42, Tulane 0

Baton Rouge, La. -- Jordan Jefferson's 163 passing yards with two touchdowns Saturday led ninth-ranked LSU to a 42-0 non-SEC rout of Tulane.

LSU led the battle between the longtime Louisiana rivals 21-0 at halftime and cleared its bench in the second half.

Charles Scott ran for two touchdowns, gaining 112 yards on 18 carries.

Stevan Ridley scored once on eight carries for 73 yards.

Brandon LaFell score twice on four receptions for 85 yards, and Terrance Toliver added four catches for 59 yards for the Tigers (7-1), who extended their non-conference winning streak to 22 straight games, the longest in the country.

Also, they held a 455-216 advantage in total yards gained.