March 1, 2010
Photo Gallery vs Rice by Ivan Pierre Aguirre
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
The two hottest teams in Conference USA collide on Tuesday when UTEP (22-5, 13-1 C-USA) takes on Marshall (22-7, 10-4 C-USA) in Huntington, W. Va. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. MT, and the game will be televised in El Paso on Time Warner Cable MetroSports Southwest Channel 24.
"Marshall is probably the most talented team in our conference," UTEP coach Tony Barbee said. "They can score in a variety of ways, both inside and out. They are a good defensive team made even better with the presence of a shot-blocker like Hassan Whiteside."
The Miners are ranked 21st in this week's USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, and 24th by the Associated Press. On Tuesday, UTEP will be playing its first game as a ranked team in both polls since Feb. 15, 1992 at Air Force, when the Miners were no. 21 in both AP and USA Today/CNN.
UTEP owns the longest winning streak in the league at 12 games, and Marshall has the second-longest string of victories at seven. The Thundering Herd is 14-2 at home and hasn't lost at the Cam Henderson Center since Jan. 27. Wednesday is "Senior Night" for the Thundering Herd, which will bid farewell to three players -- Chris Lutz, Darryl Merthie and Tyler Wilkerson -- who combine to average 27 points per game.
The Miners clinched at least a share of the 2010 C-USA regular season title with their 78-64 win over Rice on Saturday at the Haskins Center. The Miners have a two-game lead over second-place UAB (23-5, 11-3 C-USA) and Memphis (21-8, 11-3 C-USA) with two games remaining prior to the league tournament March 10-13 in Tulsa. Memphis plays at UAB on Wednesday.
UTEP can win the C-USA title outright and clinch the top seed in the C-USA Tournament with a victory over either Marshall or at home versus UAB on Saturday. The UAB game is sold out and will also be carried on Time Warner Cable MetroSports Southwest Channel 24.
UTEP has now won 12 conference titles in its basketball history, during the 1940-41, 1956-57, 1958-59, 1969-70, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1984-85, 1985-86, 1986-87, 1991-92, 2003-04 and 2009-10 seasons. Eight of the championships came in the Western Athletic Conference and three were as a member of the Border Conference. This is UTEP's first C-USA title.
The Thundering Herd outlasted UCF, 121-115 in triple overtime, on Saturday night in Huntington. Marshall overcame foul trouble to its leading scorer, Wilkerson, who was on the floor for a total of 19 minutes. Six Marshall players scored in double figures led by Lutz, who poured in six three-pointers and finished with 25 points on the night.
Wilkerson averages 13.4 ppg to lead a balanced scoring attack for the Herd. Whiteside, a 6-11, 215-po
und forward, is one of the top freshmen in the country. He averages 13.2 points, 9.0 rebounds and 5.4 blocked shots and has a C-USA record three triple-doubles this season.
"Whiteside reminds me of Marcus Camby, who I was around at UMass," Barbee said. "They have very similar attributes at this point of their careers, but Whiteside is even more polished offensively than Marcus was."
Marshall's last loss was on Feb. 3 at Tulsa, 73-69. Its average margin of victory in the seven-game winning streak is 19.7 points.
"We have to defend, rebound and play tough - the same keys for us in any game -- and it's even more important that we do those things on the road," Barbee said.
Six players on this year's UTEP roster -- Claude Britten, Randy Culpepper, Gabriel McCulley, Arnett Moultrie, Wayne Portalatin and Julyan Stone -- have previous experience playing against Marshall. What many may not know is that Derrick Caracter, who is in his first year with the Miners, was on the floor when Louisville dealt the Herd an 85-75 setback on Dec. 18, 2007 at Freedom Hall. Caracter had one of his better games for the Cardinals, hitting 9-of-11 shots and scoring 18 points with eight rebounds and four blocked shots.
