GETTING INSIDE
After coach Tony Barbee’s Miners ran away from Oklahoma, 89-74, at what amounted to a second home court for the Sooners—the Ford Center in Oklahoma City—he made a declaration:
“They play a lot of freshmen in key positions,” Barbee said to the El Paso Times. “But they will be an NCAA Tournament team by the end of the season.”
If Barbee turns out to be right, then perhaps the Miners will be an NCAA Tournament team as well.
As is often the case with this team, junior guard Randy Culpepper led the way with 27 points. But Barbee liked more than the scoring, praising Culpepper for being “unselfish” and playing “under control.”
The Miners are 7-2 and the victory over the Sooners took some of the sting out of the home loss to New Mexico State and an overtime defeat to Ole Miss at a so-called neutral site less than an hour from the Mississippi campus.
“These kinds of opportunities don’t come your way very often and when they do, you need to seize those opportunities,” Barbee said after the loss to Ole Miss. “We played not to lose down the stretch instead of playing to win.”
NOTES, QUOTES
• UTEP thumped Alcorn State, 101-41, and the 60-point margin was the seventh-largest ever by a C-USA team.
• The Miners lost to New Mexico State, 87-80, after leading by 11 with nine minutes to play. They lost to Ole Miss in overtime, 91-81, after leading by 12 with 3:59 to play.
January At A Glance: The month starts with a game at Texas Tech and ends with a game at UAB. In between is a trip to Memphis. The Miners’ ability to take their game on the road and come away with victories will be duly tested.
Quote To Note: “We talked about starting fast and finishing faster. We’ve been playing this way. We just haven’t been finishing this way.”—Coach Tony Barbee in the El Paso Times after UTEP’s 89-74 victory over Oklahoma at Oklahoma City’s Ford Center.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
Season Recap: Coach tony Barbie has proven his team can go 10-deep, and there is balanced scoring with five players averaging 12 or more points per game. UTEP is out-rebounding opponents by an average of 39-35 per game and has a substantial advantage in assists and turnovers. The Miners’ resume to date shows they don’t always finish what they start, blowing leads in the two losses, but they have not been outplayed for the majority of a game by anybody.
Player Rotation: Usual Starters—G Randy Culpepper, G Christian Polk, G Julyan Stone, F Arnett Moultrie, F Derrick Caracter. Key Subs—C Claude Britten, G Issac Gordon, F Jeremy Williams.
Game Review:
Mississippi 91, Texas-El Paso (OT)
Texas-El Paso 101, Alcorn State 41
Texas El-Paso 89, Oklahoma 74
Game Preview:
Vs. Norfolk State, Monday, Dec. 28
Vs. Air Force or Niagara, Tuesday Dec. 29
At Texas Tech, Sunday, Jan. 3
Vs. SMU, Wednesday, Jan. 6
Vs. BYU, Saturday, Jan. 9
In Focus: As balanced as the Miners are, guard Randy Culpepper is the indispensable piece of the puzzle. He averages 18.7 points and 33.1 minutes per game and, as the saying goes, makes everyone else better.
Roster Report:
• Junior forward Jeremy Williams shared the league’s Rookie of the Week award with Marcus Jordan of UCF. Williams averaged 14.0 points and made 10-of-13 shots an overtime loss to No. 20 Ole Miss and a 60-point victory over Alcorn State.
• Point guard Julyan Stone has dished out 55 assists and his 6.1 per-game average has him atop C-USA.
-Junior forward Derrick Caracter posted double-doubles against Alcorn State (21 points, 10 rebounds) and Ole Miss (15 points, 15 rebounds).
