The opening round of the 2012 Conference USA Tournament has already seen two Texas teams fall short and get eliminated. The No. 7 Rice Owls fell to the No. 10 seed East Carolina Pirates in the opening game and just a couple of hours later, the 11th-seeded SMU Mustangs were being ushered out of town with a 74-56 loss to the No. 6 seed Marshall Thundering Herd.
SMU fell behind 33-26 entering halftime and in the second half Marshall only extended their lead. Ultimately, the final score was no real surprise in a game pitting a 13-19 team against a 19-12 team.
Rodney Clinkscales ended up with a solid game for the Mustangs in the losing effort. The guard put up 17 points, also adding three rebounds and two steals. Jalen Jones added 11 points and five rebounds for SMU.
The Thundering Herd will now advance to Thursday's quarterfinals to play against the No. 3 seed Tulsa Golden Hurricane.