MEMPHIS, Tenn. - According to the calendar, the Conference USA basketball tournament begins next month. But according to coach Tom Penders, the Houston Cougars are in a postseason frame of mind. "You have to approach each game like it's a tournament already," Penders said. "Every game is very important, and the kids understand that if we can win two out of our last three games that we'll be no worse than second place (in C-USA)." The cold one-and-done reality that is tournament play would be a severe handicap today when the Cougars (15-12, 9-4) take on the seventh-ranked Memphis Tigers, who own the nation's longest win streak at 16 in a nationally televised game. "There's no weakness on that team — at least no predicted weakness," said Penders of the Tigers (24-3, 13-0). "You always look for something in the other team that you might be able to take advantage of. But they're quicker than we are, they're bigger than we are, they shoot better than we do and they're deeper than we are. So you just have to hope that they have an off game and you're having a great game." But Memphis isn't the only hurdle on this trip. After today's game, the Cougars head to Orlando, Fla., for a Wednesday game against Central Florida, which is one-half game behind UH for second place in the C-USA standings. And finishing in second place is a big deal because it means being in the opposite side of the bracket from tournament host Memphis. "I know these wins right here can really establish us going into the conference tournament," UH senior forward Jahmar Thorpe said. "We don't want to go into the conference tournament as the third-ranked seed and having to play the No. 1 seed. We want to be able to have that slight advantage and then meet Memphis in the championship game." michael.murphy@chron.com http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/4579779.html
