Jan. 31, 2012
UTEP-Rice Game Notes
THE TIP-OFF
UTEP (10-11, 3-4 C-USA) wraps up a three-game Conference USA road swing on Wednesday at Rice (12-10, 3-4 C-USA). The Miners are playing their second game in the city of Houston in five days after dropping an 81-76 overtime decision at Houston on Saturday.
Wednesday's game marks the midway point of the Conference USA schedule for both the Miners and the Owls. UTEP will be home for five of its final eight league games and will open a three-game homestand versus UAB on Saturday.
UTEP (0-7 on the road) is still looking for its first road win of the 2011-12 season. The Miners were one of 33 Division I schools with zero road victories through the games of Jan. 29. UTEP was one of three schools that were undefeated at home in conference play and winless on the road, along with Arkansas (3-0 home/0-3 away in SEC) and North Dakota (2-0 home/0-1 away in Great West). The Miners are 3-0 in C-USA home games and 0-4 in C-USA road games this season.
SCOUTING RICE
The Owls snapped a three-game losing skid with an 88-74 win over Tulane on Saturday in Houston. Freshman forward Ahmad Ibrahim (23 points) and senior guard Connor Frizzelle (22) combined for 55 points for Rice, which improved to 1-3 at home in C-USA games and 8-5 at Tudor Fieldhouse this season.
Rice lost its first two C-USA home games to Marshall (63-61) and UAB (61-60 in overtime) by a combined three points before getting routed by Tulsa, 70-46, on Jan. 21. The Owls' signature victory came at Texas A&M, 65-58, on Dec. 22 to snap the Aggies' 67-game home non-conference winning streak.
Junior forward Arsalan Kazemi is averaging 13.1 points and 11.3 rebounds. Junior guard Tamir Jackson averages 11.4 ppg and Frizzelle 9.7 ppg. Massive 7-2, 265-pound Omar Oraby is shooting 67 percent from the field while averaging 6.0 ppg and 3.7 rpg, but has made his presence felt even more in C-USA action with 8.9 ppg, 5.3 rpg and 2.0 bpg.
The Owls are second in C-USA in steals (8.0 avg.) and third in field goal percentage defense (.405) & assists (14.2 avg.). Kazemi is the league leader in rebounding, field goal percentage (.622) and steals (2.1 avg.). He is second nationally in double-doubles (14) behind Siena's O.D. Anosike (17), and ranks sixth in rebounding.
THE SERIES
The Miners lead the series 14-9 and have won 10 of the last 12 meetings between the schools. For the second straight year, and the second time since joining C-USA in 2005, UTEP and Rice will face one another twice in league play.
The Owls have won six of the previous 10 matchups between the schools in Houston, but the Miners are 2-0 versus Rice at Tudor Fieldhouse (formerly Autry Court) with a 67-58 victory during the 2008-09 season and a 59-53 win a year ago.
UTEP's Tim Floyd will be coaching against Rice's Ben Braun for the 10th time on Wednesday. Floyd is 6-3 against Braun-led squads, with six of the previous matchups taking place when Floyd was at USC and Braun was at Cal. Another transpired during the 1991-92 season when Floyd was at New Orleans and Braun was coaching at Eastern Michigan.
THE LAST MEETING
Julyan Stone scored a career-high 23 points, including 15 in the second half, as UTEP slipped past Rice, 59-53, on Feb. 5, 2011 at Tudor Fieldhouse.
With the game tied at 30 early in the sec- ond half, UTEP reeled off 10 straight points to surge to a 40-30 lead on a Randy Culpepper jumper with 12:27 left.
But the Owls weren't done. A 7-0 spurt cut into a 44-36 Miner lead and left the Owls down by one, 44-43, with 8:20 to go.
They trailed 54-52 when star forward Arsalan Kazemi was fouled with 1:47 to play. Kazemi missed the first free throw and made the second, then Stone cashed in on a couple of foul shots to give UTEP a 56-53 lead with 1:22 remaining.
Tamir Jackson and Kazemi missed shots on the other end, and Jeremy Williams gave UTEP some breathing room on free throws with 14 seconds left.
Williams scored 12 points and Culpepper 10 for the Miners, who bottled up Kazemi. He had compiled 14 double-doubles in the first 22 games of the season, but in two games versus UTEP was limited to seven points on 2-for-10 shooting. Kazemi picked up two quick fouls in the game and was limited to 22 minutes.
UTEP IN THE C-USA STATISTICS
(Through games of Jan. 28, 2012)
Category Stat Rank
Scoring offense 65.0 10
Scoring defense 63.5 7
Scoring margin +1.5 11
Free throw % 69.8 4
Field goal % 47.8 2
Field goal % defense 43.6 11
3-point field goal % 35.7 6
3-point field goal % defense 35.0 10
3-pointers per game 5.0 12
Rebound margin -0.3 11
Blocked shots 2.6 11
Assists 14.7 1
Steals 4.9 11
Turnover margin -1.2 9
Assist/turnover ratio 1.1 2
Individual Category Stat Rank
J. Bohannon Field goal % 59.3 3
J. Bohannon Rebounding 7.1 9
G. McCulley Field goal % 60.3 2
G. McCulley Free throw % 73.9 12
G. McCulley Scoring 11.7 19
G. McCulley Steals 1.2 14
M. Perez 3-pointers per game 1.6 14
M. Perez Free throw % 74.6 11
M. Perez Scoring 12.1 17
J. Streeter Assists 4.5 2
J. Streeter Assist/turnover ratio 2.3 2
J. Washburn Field goal % 46.4 13
UTEP IN THE NCAA STATISTICS
UTEP held national top-100 rankings in field goal percentage (33rd, .478), assists per game (52nd, 14.7), personal fouls per game (69th, 16.9), assist/turnover ratio (76th, 1.08) and scoring defense (91st, 63.5 ppg) through the games of Jan. 29. Individually, junior guard Jacques Streeter was 39th in assist/turnover ratio (2.32) and 92nd in assists (4.5 avg.).
MINERS LEAD THE LEAGUE
UTEP tops C-USA in four statistical categories for league games only -- field goal percentage (.496), rebounding defense (28.3 avg.), assists (14.7 avg.) and defensive rebound percentage (.761). From an individual standpoint, John Bohannon is first in field goal
percentage (.690) and defensive rebound average (8.1) for C-USA games.
The C-USA record for field goal percentage in league games is held by Cincinnati, which shot 49.5 percent collectively in a 14-game slate during the 1996-97 season.
BONUS BASKETBALL
UTEP has played two overtime conference games for the first time since 2008-09. The Miners haven't played three overtime league games since the 1994-95 season, when a whopping four WAC contests went into extra periods.
TOUGH WAY TO LOSE
The Miners led by as many as 15 points in Saturday's overtime setback at Houston. It marked the largest lead for UTEP in a loss since they were ahead by 17 points (23-6) before falling to Columbia, 55-54, on Dec. 27, 2002 at the Don Haskins Center.
OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE SPECTRUM
UTEP and SMU are the only C-USA schools to play on the road in five of their first eight league games. Rice and UAB are the only teams to be home for five of their first eight league tilts.
A DOUBLE-DOUBLE FOR NAUGHT
UTEP had been 4-0 this season and 10-1 under Tim Floyd (including 10 straight wins) when a player recorded a double-double until Saturday at Houston, when John Bohannon's 17 points and 13 rebounds were wasted in an 81-76 overtime loss to the Cougars. Bohannon has had four double-doubles in the last eight games, averaging 14.0 ppg and 9.3 rpg during that span.
ALLOWING 80 A RARITY
The loss at Houston marked just the second time this season, and the fifth time under coach Tim Floyd, that the Miners have allowed 80 points in a game. Two of the contests went to overtime, including last year's 100-97, triple-OT setback at UAB. The Miners have lost 20 straight games when giving up 80 points since beating Houston, 87-81, on March 8, 2009 at the Haskins Center.
THIS IS ALSO UNUSUAL
UTEP has allowed a 20-point scorer in back-to-back games for the first time in over a year. Tulane's Ricky Tarrant put 22 on the board on Jan. 21, and Houston's Jonathon Simmons scored 25 on Saturday. In a 10-day span from Jan. 2-12, 2011, the Miners yielded a 20-point scorer in four consecutive games versus Sam Houston State (Gilberto Clavell 21), Tulsa (Justin Hurtt 21), UAB (Cameron Moore 29 & Aaron Johnson 26) and Tulane (Kendall Timmons 20).
ENOUGH TO WIN, ORDINARILY
UTEP scored 76 points at Houston, its top total in a road game this year. The Miners had been held to 60 points or fewer in each of their previous five road outings. In the oddest of stats, UTEP is 0-3 under Tim Floyd when scoring 76 points or more on the road. The Miners lost 100-97 in triple overtime at UAB and 83-76 at East Carolina last season.
NOT ENOUGH FOR ONCE
The Miners dropped to 6-1 this season when their top four scorers -- Michael Perez, Gabriel McCulley, Julian Washburn and John Bohannon -- combine for 50 points or more on Saturday at Houston. The quartet totaled 56 points in the loss to the Cougars.
VERY STRANGE
UTEP is 0-9 this season when it has a field goal percentage in the 40s. The Miners are 9-1 when they shoot 50 percent or better, and 1-1 when they shoot less than 40 percent.
The Miners are 10-5 when they shoot a higher percentage than their opponent, and 0-6 when they don't.
UTEP is shooting 47.8 percent as a team this season, its top effort since 2000-01 (.492). The Miners have shot 50 percent or better in nine of their last 14 contests.
SOLID AT THE STRIPE
The Miners' .698 free throw percentage is their second-best in the last seven years (UTEP shot 71.6 percent during the 2008-09 season). Over the last four games, UTEP has gone 61-for-79 (77.2 percent) from the foul line.
UTEP's hottest free throw shooters of late have been Gabriel McCulley (24-for-29, 82.8 percent in the last 11 games) and Michael Perez (47-for-58, 81.0 percent in the last 14 games). Perez has shot a free throw in 16 straight contests.
McCULLEY CAN MOVE UP ON GAMES PLAYED LIST
When he takes the floor on Wednesday against Rice, Gabriel McCulley will be appearing in his 124th game for UTEP -- tying him for ninth place on the school's all-time list with Tim Hardaway (1985-89), Jeep Jackson (1983-87) and Wayne Campbell (1982-83, 1985-88). The Miners have posted an all-time record of 76-47 with McCulley in the lineup.
STREETER CLOSING IN ON 100 ASSISTS
With 95 assists, junior guard Jacques Streeter is five away from reaching the century mark for the third time. Streeter compiled 142 assists as a freshman and 147 as a sophomore, both at Cal State Fullerton. He is also closing in on 400 assists for his career (384).
