Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
Saturday night in Houston, Memphis set a new NCAA record for consecutive regular season conference wins by beating Rice, 80-68. That victory surpassed Kentucky's run of 51 SEC triumphs between 1950 and 1954.
That win also tied the Tigers with the 1945-50 Wildcats for the most consecutive conference wins -- factoring in both the regular season and conference tournaments -- at 64.
UTEP didn't let them make it 65 this evening. The Tigers will remain tied with Kentucky, as they fell to the Miners, 72-67, at home.
It's the first win for a Conference USA team over Memphis since UAB knocked them off on March 2, 2006.
The Tigers' run started with their very next game, as they won their regular season finale at home against Houston, then swept through the Conference USA tournament, also on their own floor.
During that span, John Calipari's squads made two Elite Eights, a National Championship game (which was later vacated) and a Sweet Sixteen.
With Calipari and all of his talent now in Lexington, it was always likely the Conference USA win streak was going to end this season. Tiger fans just wish it had lasted one more game.
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