Dec. 28, 2009
Final Stats | Photo Gallery by Ivan Pierre Aguirre 
Box Score in PDF Format 
UTEP scored the game's first 17 points on its way to a 93-56 rout of Norfolk State in opening round action of the Bank of the West Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational on Monday at the Don Haskins Center.
The Miners (8-2), who have won every game this season by at least 15 points and have led by double digits in every contest, advanced to the tournament championship and will face old Western Athletic Conference rival Air Force (7-4) on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. Air Force beat Niagara, 77-71, in Monday's nightcap.
Norfolk State (1-9), which dropped its eighth consecutive game, didn't score until 13:45 remaining in the first half, when Christian Morris connected on a jumper.
"It was a good start to the tournament," UTEP coach Tony Barbee said. "I was a little worried because we have been hit by the flu bug a little bit. Our shootaround was dead today. There was no life in the building. I was concerned with how we would start the game, but they showed me. You'd like to start any game with a 17-0 run."
UTEP was ahead 56-21 at the half and took its biggest lead of the night, 92-48, on two free throws by Isaac Gordon with 4:17 to play.
Randy Culpepper scored 22 points in 16 first-half minutes, hitting 9-of-10 shots and 3-of-4 three pointers. He finished with a game-high 24 points, including four dunks that electrified the crowd of 6,212.
Arnett Moultrie (19 points), Derrick Caracter (15) and Claude Britten (10) also scored in double figures for the Miners. Caracter had his fourth straight double-double, tying his collegiate high with 15 rebounds.
Michael Deloach scored 18 points for Norfolk State, which shot 34.8 percent in the second half and 40 percent for the game. The Spartans were outrebounded 47-36 and committed 32 turnovers, leading to 45 points for UTEP.
UTEP's 18 steals tied the third-top game total in school history, and marked the most takeaways by a Miner team since having 19 versus UT-Permian Basin on Nov. 21, 2005.
