Feb. 3, 2012
UTEP-UAB Game Notes
THE TIP-OFF
Following an 0-3 road swing, UTEP (10-12, 3-5 C-USA) returns to the friendly confines of the Don Haskins Center for three consecutive games versus UAB (Saturday), Tulsa (Wednesday) and Tulane (Feb. 11). The Miners are 8-3 at home this season and have won seven of their last eight games in "The Don."
UTEP is 42-8 in C-USA home games since joining the league for the 2005-06 season (7-0 in 2006, 5-3 in 2007, 7-1 in 2008, 5-3 in 2009, 8-0 in 2010, 7-1 in 2011, 3-0 in 2012). The Miners have won 20 of their last 21 C-USA regular season home games dating back to the 2008-09 campaign.
UTEP and SMU are the only C-USA teams that will be home for five of their last eight league games.
UAB brings an 8-13 overall mark and a 3-5 C-USA ledger into Saturday's game. The hard-luck Blazers have lost eight games by eight points or less this season, with five coming in C-USA play. UAB has fared well on the road in league action with wins over Rice (61-60 in overtime) and Marshall (56-49), and a 59-55 setback at first-place Southern Miss.
"NOCHE LATINA" GAME SATURDAY
UTEP players will wear "Mineros" jerseys at Saturday's game. There will also be Mariachi music and Mexican food specials, and the high-wire act ACRODUNK will be performing at halftime. The first 3,500 fans will receive special edition replica jersey Koozies (drink holders).
GIBBS TO BE HONORED
Saturday's Miner Legend is Dick Gibbs, who will be honored at halftime. Gibbs played for the Miners for two years from 1969-71 after transferring from Burlington Junior College in Burlington, Iowa. A 6-5, 210-pound forward, he averaged a team-leading 17.4 points and 10.6 boards as a senior. Gibbs' career rebounding average of 9.7 ranks fourth in school history. Gibbs was a member of the 1969-70 UTEP squad that captured the Western Athletic Conference title and played in the NCAA Tournament.
Gibbs was chosen by Chicago in the third round of the 1971 NBA Draft. He played six seasons in the league with Houston, K.C.-Omaha, Seattle, Washington & Buffalo and had his best season in 1973-74 with Seattle, averaging 10.8 points and 3.1 rebounds over 71 games.
SCOUTING UAB
The Blazers have won three of their last five games, including an 80-69 victory over Houston on Wednesday in Birmingham. Senior forward Cameron Moore scored 25 points and hauled down 13 rebounds, and junior forward Ovie Soko also produced a double-double with 15 points and 11 boards. UAB made 10-of-18 three pointers in the game, as the starting backcourt of Robert Williams, Preston Purifoy and Quincy Taylor was a combined 8-for-13 from beyond the arc.
The preseason C-USA Player of the Year, Moore is averaging 16.1 points and 10.7 rebounds. Both figures rank second in the league. He is also first in C-USA in blocked shots (2.7 avg.) and minutes (36.6 avg.). UAB's second-leading scorer, sophomore guard/forward Jordan Swing (11.1 ppg), is out for Saturday's game with a broken right hand.
UAB is third in C-USA in scoring defense, allowing 61.2 points per game. The Blazers are 12th in scoring offense (59.6 ppg).
THE SERIES
The teams have split 12 previous meetings. Last season's 100-97, triple-overtime win by UAB in Birmingham snapped a three-game winning streak for the Miners in the series. UAB had won the previous four matchups between the schools.
The last three games between the Miners and the Blazers have been memorable. UTEP swept UAB during the 2009-10 season, winning 74-65 in double overtime in Birmingham, and 52-50 in El Paso on a last-second dunk by Derrick Caracter. UTEP holds a 5-1 edge in games played in El Paso.
THE LAST MEETING
Cameron Moore buried a three pointer with two seconds left as UAB outlasted UTEP, 100-97 in triple overtime, on Jan. 8, 2011 in Birmingham.
The Miners led for most of regulation, then fell behind before rallying to force the first and second overtimes on three pointers by Christian Polk and Randy Culpepper.
UTEP lost three frontcourt players (John Bohannon, Gabriel McCulley, Jeremy Williams) to five fouls and ended the game with reserves Claude Britten and Isaac Gordon joining starters Culpepper, Polk and Julyan Stone on the floor.
Britten gave the Miners a lift in the extra sessions, hitting 6-of-8 shots and scoring 14 points.
The Miners took three separate three-point leads in the third OT but couldn't hold on. Preston Purifoy's three pointer tied it at 97 with 1:32 remaining.
Culpepper led the Miners with 34 points. Stone added 14 points, six rebounds and nine assists, and Polk scored 12 points.
Moore scored 29 points - including 15 after regulation - and Aaron Johnson added 26 for UAB.
The loss snapped UTEP's 15-game Con-ference USA regular season winning streak.
UTEP IN THE C-USA STATISTICS
(Through games of Feb. 1, 2012)
Category Stat Rank
Scoring offense 65.4 10
Scoring defense 64.1 8
Scoring margin +1.3 10
Free throw % 70.3 4
Field goal % 47.6 2
Field goal % defense 43.7 11
3-point field goal % 35.9 5
3-point field goal % defense 35.2 9
3-pointers per game 5.0 12
Rebound margin -0.4 11
Blocked shots 2.9 11
Assists 14.6 1
Steals 5.0 11
Turnover margin -1.0 8
Assist/turnover ratio 1.1 2
Individual Category Stat Rank
J. Bohannon Field goal % 59.3 2
J. Bohannon Rebounding 7.3 9
G. McCulley Field goal % 58.9 3
G. McCulley Free throw % 75.9 10
G. McCulley Scoring 12.3 16
G. McCulley Steals 1.2 13
M. Perez 3-pointers per game 1.6 14
M. Perez Field goal % 44.5 15
M. Perez Free throw % 74.6 12
M. Perez Scoring 12.2 17
J. Streeter Assists 4.6 t2
J. Streeter Assist/turnover ratio 2.3 3
J. Washburn Field goal % 46.6 12
J. Washburn Scoring 11.0 23
HALFWAY THERE
The Miners are part of a three-way tie for seventh place in the C-USA standings as the second half of the league slate commences on Saturday. UTEP, UAB and Houston are all 3-5 in conference play. The Miners split the season series with Houston and face UAB only once, making Saturday's game potentially pivotal in terms of conference tournament seeding.
THREE IN A ROW
UTEP will play three consecutive C-USA home games for the first time since joining the league in 2005. The last time the Miners were home for three conference games in a row was during their last year in the WAC (2004-05), when they faced Louisiana Tech, SMU and Boise State in succession in late February and early March. UTEP won all three games.
THREE IN A ROW ... IN THE WRONG DIRECTION
UTEP's three-game losing streak ties its longest of the season. The Miners also dropped three consecutive contests from Nov. 19-29.
UTEP has lost three straight C-USA games for the first time since the 2007-08 season, when it was beaten by UAB (88-81), SMU (99-96 in double overtime) and Southern Miss (96-70) in succession. The Miners haven't lost four conference regular season games in a row since 2002-03.
A ROLLERCOASTER OF A ROAD TRIP
UTEP's most recent three-game road jaunt to Tulane, Houston and Rice produced 21 ties and a whopping 47 lead changes. The Miners led Tulane five minutes into the second half, Houston with under a minute to go in overtime and Rice in the final half-minute, but came up on the short end of the scoreboard on all three occasions -- losing by a grand total of 15 points.
The 26 lead changes versus Rice marked the most for UTEP in a C-USA game, eclipsing the 23 at Marshall on Feb. 20, 2008.
RICE GAME PRODUCED SEASON-HIGHS
UTEP's 77-75 loss at Rice on Wednesday produced several statistical superlatives. UTEP established season-highs for steals (nine), blocks (nine) and points off turnovers (22). The Miners dropped to 9-2 under Tim Floyd when scoring 20 or more points off turnovers in a game; the other loss was at BYU last season when they scored 25 off Cougar miscues.
BACK-TO-BACK DOUBLE DOUBLES FOR "BO"
Sophomore center John Bohannon is the first Miner to post consecutive double-doubles in two years. Bohannon followed up his 17-point/13-rebound effort at Houston on Jan. 28 with 18 points and 12 boards at Rice on Wednesday. The last UTEP player with back-to-back double-doubles was Derrick Caracter versus UAB, Houston & Tulsa in late January and early February of 2010.
"BO" ON A ROLL
John Bohannon has averaged 17.0 points and 11.0 rebounds in his last five games, with three double-doubles during that span. Overall Bohannon has compiled five double-doubles in his last nine contests. With five double-doubles (points/rebounds) this season, Bohannon has the most by a UTEP player since Derrick Caracter's seven in 2009-10, and tied for the ninth-most by a sophomore in school history.
Most Double-Doubles by a Sophomore
Player Season No.
Jim Forbes 1971-72 14
David Lattin 1965-66 10
Anthony Burns 1978-79 9
Terry White 1979-80 9
Marlon Maxey 1989-90 9
Nolan Richardson 1960-61 8
Phil Harris 1966-67 8
Charlie Brown 1956-57 6
John Bohannon 2011-12 5
Stefon Jackson 2006-07 5
"BO" BLOCKS
John Bohannon registered five blocks at Rice on Wednesday, most by a Miner since Tavaris Watts had five versus Texas Southern on Nov. 14, 2008. Bohannon is the fourth UTEP player to post five blocks in a game since 2000, joining Watts, Brian Stewart and John Tofi. Stewart had three games with five or more rejections over the course of the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons, and Tofi swatted five shots against SMU on Jan. 28, 2006.
(DOUBLE) DOUBLE-DOUBLE TROUBLE
UTEP had two players with double-doubles at Rice on Wednesday for the first time since March 2, 2011, when Julyan Stone (12 points/12 rebounds) and Jeremy Williams (10 points/10 rebounds) turned the trick against Marshall. This time around, John Bohannon (18 points/12 rebounds) and senior forward Gabriel McCulley (23 points/10 rebounds) both achieved the feat.
McCulley's 23 points were a career high. It marked the second double-double of his career, and the fourth time he has secured double-digit boards. McCulley also established UTEP highs for field goal attempts (15), free throws made (seven) and free throws attempted (eight) versus the Owls.
WASHBURN FINDS CONSISTENCY
Freshman swingman Julian Washburn has scored in double figures in four straight games for the first time in his young career. During that stretch he has averaged 14.3 ppg with a .535 (23-for-43) field goal percentage, .500 (5-for-10) three-point field goal percentage and .750 (6-for-8) free throw percentage. Washburn is the second highest-scoring freshman in C-USA (11.0 ppg) behind Tulane's Ricky Tarrant (13.9 ppg), and ranks third among C-USA rookies in steals (1.1 avg.).
OPPONENTS HAVE 20-POINT SCORERS
While the Miners have traditionally done a fine job containing other teams' top scorers under coach Tim Floyd, they've run into a bit of a rough patch over the last three games. During that span Tulane's Ricky Tarrant (22 points), Houston's Jonathan Simmons (25), and Rice's Arsalan Kazemi (20) & Jarelle Reischel (20) have all put 20 points on the board. On Wednesday at Houston, UTEP yielded a pair of 20-point scorers in a game for the first time since Jan. 8, 2011 at UAB, when Cameron Moore (29 points) and Aaron Johnson (26) combined for 55 points in the Blazers' 100-97, triple overtime win. The last time UTEP surrendered 20 points to two players in a regulation game was on Dec. 23, 2010 at BYU (Jimmer Fredette 25, Jackson Emery 23).
HOME COOKIN'
The Miners are 8-3 at home this season and 27-6 in the Haskins Center under coach Tim Floyd. UTEP's scoring margin at home this season is +8.2 ppg. The Miners are shooting 48.6 percent from the field, 36.2 percent from three-point range and 69.7 percent from the line in the Haskins Center. UTEP's rebound margin at home is +5.6, including +14.7 in C-USA games.
Gabriel McCulley has particularly loved playing in "The Don" this season. He has averaged 16.6 ppg at home, shooting 72.2 percent from the floor, 55 percent from beyond the arc and 78.3 percent from the charity stripe.
FREE THROW PERCENTAGE CLIMBS
By going 14-for-17 at the charity stripe on Wednesday at Rice, UTEP pushed its season free throw percentage above 70 (.703) for only the second time in seven years. The Miners shot 71.6 percent from the line during the 2008-09 season. Over the last five games, UTEP has gone 75-for-96 (78.1 percent) from the foul line.
UTEP's hottest free throw shooters of late have been Gabriel McCulley (31-for-37, 83.8 percent in the last 12 games) and Michael Perez (47-for-58, 81.0 percent in the last 15 games). Perez's streak of 16 straight games with a free throw attempt was ended on Wednesday at Rice, although he did hit a three pointer for the 16th game in a row.
MINER NUGGETS
Gabriel McCulley can appear in his 125th college game on Saturday, tying him for seventh place in school history with Dave Feitl (1982-86) and Stefon Jackson (2005-09) ... junior guard Jacques Streeter has 390 assists in a college career that started at Cal State Fullerton. Only three players in UTEP history (Julyan Stone, Tim Hardaway, Prince Stewart) have 400 dimes ... UTEP's top four scorers (McCulley, Michael Perez, Julian Washburn, John Bohannon) have all been in double figures in back-to-back games for the first time this season ... UTEP is 20-1 under Tim Floyd when shooting 50 percent or better and 21-3 when outrebounding opponents ... the Miners' bench strength has really been sapped of late with two big men (Malcolm Moore & Hooper Vint) out for the season with injuries and freshman forward Cedrick Lang's playing time limited with a stress fracture in his foot. UTEP's bench was outscored 19-2 at Rice on Wednesday, and the two bench points were a season-low ... Floyd's career record in his 18th year as a collegiate head coach is 362-202, including 35-22 at UTEP, with 12 postseason tournament appearances.
