Jan. 13, 2010
Final Stats
Box Score in PDF Format 
UTEP shot 28 percent in the first half in falling behind by 13 points, and a second-half rally came up short as Houston beat the Miners, 75-65, on Wednesday night at Hofheinz Pavilion.
The Miners suffered their third loss in four games to fall to 10-5 overall and 1-1 in Conference USA play.
The Cougars, who moved to 9-7 overall and 2-1 in league action, set the tone with a 10-3 run early in the game that expanded a 12-11 lead to 22-14. Houston led 37-24 at the break.
UTEP scored the first eight points of the second half to creep within 37-32, and the Miners were down by just four points (49-45) when Derrick Caracter scored on a jumper with 12:13 to play. But Houston put the game away with a 12-2 run, building a 61-47 advantage with 7:41 remaining.
"We have been getting off to great starts, and tonight we came out sluggish," UTEP coach Tony Barbee said. "We built ourselves a hole and spent too much energy trying to scratch and claw our way back into the game. You can't play that way."
The big story of the night was the Miners getting outrebounded 41-35 by a Houston team that entered the game last in C-USA in rebound margin (-10.8 per game).
"It's disappointing, and it was a big factor in the game," Barbee said.
The Cougars also allowed less than 70 points for the fifth time in 16 games. On the other end of the floor, they made 11-of-20 three point shots, including their first four in the opening four minutes.
"I just thought defensively we broke down," Barbee said. "Too many times we had three or four good defensive possessions in a row, then broke down for three in a row."
C-USA scoring leader Aubrey Coleman led Houston with 22 points, while Kelvin Lewis added 13 and Maurice McNeil 12. Lewis and McNeil both had double-doubles with 10 rebounds each.
UTEP's Arnett Moultrie continued his series of dominant performances against the Cougars with 15 points and 13 rebounds. But Randy Culpepper struggled shooting the ball for the second straight game, going 2-for-9 from the field for a total of 10 points.
Caracter chipped in with 10 points and five rebounds for the Miners despite playing with torn ligaments in his finger, an injury he sustained against BYU on Saturday.
UTEP heated up to 55.2 percent shooting in the second half in outscoring Houston 41-38. But the Miners had a rough night at the charity stripe, going 12-for-22 - including 6-for-14 after halftime.
UTEP will host Southern Miss on Saturday at 7:05 p.m.
