Jan. 8, 2015
Final Stats |
Photo Gallery by Michael Patrick Reese 
Louisiana Tech 58, UTEP 45 (Box Score) 
Raheem Appleby scored 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting as Louisiana Tech showed why it's the preseason favorite in Conference USA by handling UTEP in the Don Haskins Center, 58-45, on Thursday night.
The Bulldogs (11-4, 2-0 C-USA) dominated the Miners (10-5, 2-1 C-USA) for most of the night. They came into the game with a rebound margin of -7 on the season, but won the battle of the boards 36-34. They held UTEP to 12 points and a .217 field goal percentage in the second half. They outscored the Miners 30-14 in the paint.
The crowd of 8,653 had little to get excited about outside of an 11-2 run by the Miners to close the first half. That tied the game at 33, but it was all Bulldogs over the final 20 minutes.
The 45 points were the fewest by UTEP in a home conference game since a 65-43 loss to SMU on March 1, 2003.
"I think you have to credit Louisiana Tech. They really guarded us," UTEP coach Tim Floyd said. "They did a great job. I thought they were much more aggressive. I thought they guarded the dribble. I don't think we did. I think they offensive rebounded, went back and chased it in the first half. That's an energy/effort look that we didn't present on the other end. They just went back and pounded us on the glass. They played with a lot more effort."
After a 7-0 run extended a 21-18 Bulldogs lead to 10, the Miners closed the first half with a flurry and deadlocked the game on a three-pointer by C.J. Cooper.
The momentum didn't carry over to the second half, however. UTEP took the lead (35-33) on a layup by Vince Hunter with 17:17 to play. The Miners scored four field goals the rest of the way.
Louisiana Tech took advantage, outscoring UTEP 12-3 in a span of 7:28 to turn a 37-37 tie into a 49-40 lead.
The Miners cut it to 5 (49-44) on a Hunter jumper with 5:51 remaining. They scored one point after that. UTEP finished 1-for-7 at the line, with Hunter accounting for the only make at the 1:16 mark following seven consecutive misses.
"We didn't play very smart when it was a five-point game late," Floyd said. "We had a reach out foul on Appleby on an inbounds catch that put him in a one-and-one in a four-point game. We came down and turned it over back-to-back times against the press, which we had not done. They inbounded it and scored and we did not. We turned it over.
"Seniors couldn't make a shot in the second half. They couldn't get anything down. We really struggled and got frustrated. I saw signs of that off of some of our turnovers."
Speaking of the seniors, Julian Washburn was 3-for-11 from the field and C.J. Cooper was 2-for-9. The starting backcourt - Washburn, Cooper and Harris - was a combined 0-for-10 in the second half.
On the bright side, Hunter had his 10th double-double of the season (16 points/11 rebounds) and Earvin Morris continues to shoot lights out (3-for-5 from three-point range).
Erik McCree scored 13 points and Alex Hamilton 11 for Louisiana Tech, with Kenneth Smith dishing out eight assists in support of Appleby, who didn't play against the Miners last year in El Paso.
"Appleby is a hell of a player," Floyd said. "He got off tonight. We were trying to shade him and not let him catch it. It bewilders me how a guy you're trying to not let catch [the ball] scores 22 points. I guess he would've scored 50 had we let him catch."
Neither team got to the line much, but the Bulldogs were able to capitalize on their opportunities (5-for-5).
"Sometimes it's who you play and this is a very good Louisiana Tech team," Floyd said. "Scoring 89 against this team a year ago shows that they made better adjustments. They scored 58, so I guess we did something right on the defensive end. You give up 58 at home and you expect to win. We just weren't very efficient."
The Miners, 5-4 in their last nine C-USA home games, can't afford any more slippage in the Don Haskins Center and will need to go to work starting on Saturday against Southern Miss at 7 p.m.
