Miners Looking to Extend Win Streak in Sun Bowl Tourney

UTEP Miners

UTEP Notes For Howard Game (PDF)

Undersized and undermanned, the UTEP Miners have won three straight games to carry momentum into this weekend's 56th Annual WestStar Bank Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational. They'll chase their first title since 2014 when the ball is tipped up against the Howard Bison on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Haskins Center.

Joining UTEP (4-6) and Howard (2-11) in the tournament are North Dakota State (5-6) and UNC Wilmington (2-7), who will square off at 5 p.m. on Thursday. The consolation game is on Friday at 5, with the championship to follow at 7.

The Miners, who were down to eight scholarship players in Tuesday's 72-66 triumph over Incarnate Word, may add Isiah Osborne to their mix this weekend. The sophomore guard has been battling strep throat.

"He looks skinnier than I do and probably more out of shape than I am, and that's hard to beat," UTEP Interim Head Coach Phil Johnson said. "But I just told him to get some running in here and get your strength back. Hopefully we'll try to bring him back into the fold and he'll play some this week."

The Miners have averaged 78.7 points per game during the win streak, shooting 49.1 percent from the field and 75 percent from the line. They scored 32 points off turnovers on Tuesday, their top total in a game in eight years.

"We're not a finished product by any means," Johnson said. "In fact, I told our team we're probably playing somewhere near 30 percent what I think we can play on both ends of the floor, and particularly defensively. And with that said, we gave up [28] points in a half [on Tuesday] and I thought it was poor. I thought it was not as good as it needs to be. But I'm happy with the win, and we're getting ready for a tremendous event. I think all four teams are good teams. I don't care what the records are. I look at Howard and who they've played in these guarantee games to raise money against Georgetown, Indiana and many others, and how they have hung in there and fought hard. We have watched film of them. I'm really impressed with their talent and the job that they're doing."

The Bison has played 10 of its first 13 games on the road. Howard has split its last two games, beating Washington Adventist at home on Dec. 14 (76-65) before dropping a 62-60 decision at Jacksonville State on Dec. 18. Freshman guard R.J. Cole has taken a big bite out of the Bison offense, averaging 20.4 ppg (Howard averages 68.2 ppg as a team). Cole, who prepped at St. Anthony High School in Union, N.J., is shooting 36 percent from the field, 33.7 percent from outside (team-leading 32 three-point field goals) and 83.5 percent from the line. He scored his season-best 30 points versus Washington Adventist and has compiled 27 points twice (against Indiana and Jacksonville State). Sophomore guard/forward Charles Williams is second on the team in scoring (18 ppg), while freshman forward Zion Cousins produces a team-high 7.6 rebounds per outing. The Bison has been a good free throw shooting team (.735 percentage), but has struggled on the boards (-8.3 rebound margin). This is a young squad as four of the top five scorers are freshmen.

After Howard, the Miners will face either UNC Wilmington, which went to the NCAA Tournament and won 29 games last season, or North Dakota State, which is coming off a 19-victory campaign.

"We'll have to play very well to have a chance to win any games in this event," Johnson said.

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