Jan. 17, 2009
Final Stats
UTEP-ECU Box Score (PDF) 
Randy Culpepper scored 17 of his 25 points in the second half as UTEP rolled to its third straight road victory at East Carolina, 88-67, on Saturday.
"It's no secret that the better players and teams are able to go on the road and win these games," UTEP coach Tony Barbee said. "Getting two wins on the road to start conference play is big. I was happy that our guys bounced back from a tough home loss to Houston [on Wednesday]."
UTEP (11-6, 2-1 C-USA) went up 30-13 with 8:23 remaining in the first half, then lost almost all of the lead prior to halftime before dominating the second period.
The Pirates (9-7, 1-2 C-USA) rallied behind Brock Young - who had 11 points in the first half - to close the gap to 41-36 at the intermission. But UTEP scored the first six points of the second half, and later blew the game open with a 16-0 run that extended a 50-48 lead to 66-48.
The Miners pretty much had their way offensively against the Pirates, shooting 48.5 percent from the field - including 56.3 percent in the second half - and drilling 8-of-17 three point shots.
"The biggest thing that we had to do was recognize their defenses," Barbee said. "They played an array of defenses - man-to-man, 1-3-1 zone, 2-3 zone, even some diamond and one late. I told our guys, whatever defense they're in, let's attack it and be aggressive."
Culpepper made 10-of-17 shots and 4-of-8 three pointers, while adding four of the Miners' 14 steals. Stefon Jackson netted 19 points despite an off shooting night (6-for-21 from the floor), and also had four thefts. Julyan Stone chipped in with 13 points and seven assists, with all of his points coming prior to the intermission.
"It was great to see Julyan get going," Barbee said. "I told him he's as talented as any point guard that I've been around, but he has to be aggressive offensively. You can't have people not play you [defensively]."
Young was the lone player in double figure scoring for the Pirates, finishing with 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting. He was responsible for five of ECU's 19 turnovers.
"What we wanted to do was take him out of the game," Barbee said of Young, the C-USA assist leader. "We wanted him to give up the ball so others had to handle it and make plays, and it caused turnovers."
UTEP also wouldn't let the Pirates get going from three point range. They came into the game averaging a league-best 8.5 triples per game, but finished 5-for-19 from beyond the arc.
"That's the biggest number on the stat sheet [5-for-19], because we really talked about and worked on defending the three point shot," Barbee said. "That's their strength."
The Miners have put together three consecutive road wins for the first time since the 2004-05 season, when they prevailed at New Mexico State, Boise State and Nevada in succession. UTEP, 2-0 in conference road games this season, was 1-7 on the road in league play each of the last two year.
UTEP will shoot for four road victories in a row on Wednesday at UAB (6 p.m. MST). Rather than traveling all the way back to El Paso and back out East on Tuesday, the Miners will spend two days in Memphis on Sunday and Monday. UTEP players and coaches will visit the Civil Rights Museum on Martin Luther King Day Monday.
