Miners Handle Arkansas-Pine Bluff

by asalom on Dec 13, 2010 12:46 PM MST in UTEP Miners Basketball

The outcome of the game was decided early on as the Miners jumped to a commanding 33-8 lead in the first 10 minutes of the ball game. The first half was simply an exhibition of the Miner's suffocating defense that we have seen over and over this season. The Miners didn't give the Golden Lions clean shots or passing lanes in those first 20 minutes, and it translated into a 48-21 halftime lead. The second half got a little sloppy with careless turnovers, but the Miners handled their business at put this one in the books with a 77-54 final.

Jeremy Williams led the way for the Miners with 15 points and 6 rebounds. Christian Polk knocked down some big threes on his way to a 14 point night, and freshman John Bohannon looked like anything but a freshman with his 12 points and 12 rebounds. He definitely continues to improve on a daily basis. Claude Britten chipped in 9 points, as did Randy Culpepper on a slow 2-10 shooting night. Julyan Stone who finished with 6 points, 5 assists, and 3 rebounds moved past Tim Hardaway as UTEP's all time leading assist man. The Miners outrebounded the Lions 40-34, and had 22 more assists than Pine Bluff.

The one bad note was the 22 turnovers the Miners had, many of which came in the final 20 minutes. Although its hard not to be happy with a 23 point win, Tim Floyd was a little upset with his teams efforts in the second half. "Playing with the lead, we just didn't have the same sense of urgency, we were just not playing as hard". The Miners will definitely need to learn how to stay aggressive even with a lead, as the teams we face ahead will capitalize on the mistakes that the Golden Lions couldn't take advantage of.

Overall, it was a good performance by the Miners that needed just a little fine tuning. There's no doubt the score could've been 97-54, and although the purpose of the game isn't to embarrass your opponent, you still need to have your head in the game for 40 minutes not 20. Up next for the Miners is a 7:05 tip Wednesday with the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks. Monroe comes into the game with a record of 3-7 with wins over Southeastern Oklahoma St, Jacksonville St, and Centenary. The Warhawks are averaging only 59 points a game, while shooting a cold 38% from the field. They are led by Junior guard Fred Brown who comes in averaging 15 points 3 rebounds and 3 assists. Tickets are still available so come out and be loud.

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22 turnovers- yikes-

It was nice to see Bohannon get his first double double and to see him be namd C-USA Freshman of the Week. This game and the UL-Monroe games will help Bohannon get his footing before C-USA play and Texas Tech who doesn’t have great big men right now but will be much stronger than these opponents obviously.

Axes Up. Miner Rush - For UTEP Miners Fans

by Adrian Mac on Dec 13, 2010 12:55 PM MST reply actions

I liked Bohannon's play as well

Granted, he still get’s pushed around, but I like the fact that he is going after rebounds and making an effort to score. He needs to cut down on turnovers, though, but hopefully Floyd will straighten him out. They might seem harsh, but I feel that Bohannon plays with more heart than Moultrie. I am curious to see the type of player that Bohannon will turn into, some people seem to think David Van Dyke.

by Minersfan on Dec 13, 2010 6:06 PM MST up reply actions

I have high hopes for this kid.

I understand the points about his lack of thickness and his hesitancy, but once he gets some experience under his belt he will be a force. He has all the skills to be a great player, and Coach Floyd and also Coach Foster will help him utilize those skills. One of my favorite things about him is his decision making. A lot of Big Men get the ball inside and feel that they have to shoot the ball, they end up getting triple covered and commit offensive fouls or Turnovers. Bohannon has his share of his mistakes, but he also realizes that if its not there he should send the ball back out to the perimeter.

I would have liked to have Moultrie here this year, but apparently he didn’t want to be here. I don’t know what his reasons were, but if he left because Floyd was coming then he missed out. He would have been a centerpiece of this team and would have developed his skills to a higher level. Bohannon is a pleasant surprise in my eyes, I am glad he realized the opportunity that he was given when Floyd took the head job.

by jakeprobst on Dec 13, 2010 6:15 PM MST up reply actions

The Van Dyke Comparison is a good one-

I’m not sure that Bohannons shown the intense shot blocking skills that DVD Had- but conversely I think he has more upside offensively than DVD did.

Axes Up. Miner Rush - For UTEP Miners Fans

by Adrian Mac on Dec 14, 2010 9:45 AM MST up reply actions

Definitely

I hadn’t been too impressed with Bohannon, mostly because of his size and strength, but last night I saw him make some moves that actually show he’s getting acclimated to D1 ball. Granted it was A-PB, but still I’ll take 12 and 12 from John any night.

We should take care of Louisiana Monroe, and although Texas Tech is better than these teams, we should still beat them as well. Especially at home. I hate to look ahead (then again I love to), but we should be 9-2 heading to Provo. The way I see it if we win there we’ll be in the top 25 soon after that. Something crazy to think about considering how we felt about the team in the exhibition games. They’ve definitely grown and continue to grow under Floyd.

by asalom on Dec 13, 2010 1:02 PM MST reply actions

I know this has nothing to do with UTEP, but

I need somewhere to rant….How can San Diego St be ranked 10th in the nation??? They are 10-0 with their best wins being St Mary’s, and Wichita St. Yes, they beat Gonzaga too , but the zags are struggling this year at 4-5. I’m not sure how you make it to being 10th in the nation. Look for them to continue moving up also, as they don’t have a test until January 8th and 12th when they go to Utah before returning home to play UNLV. The Aztecs could very well be 16-0 by that point and who knows maybe near the top 5. Crazy.

by asalom on Dec 13, 2010 1:09 PM MST reply actions

I want to take a look at SDSU's schedule to see who they've played and beat

What’s their RPI? I know the MWC has some good depth in basketball this year- if they are a fraud they will be exposed in due time.

Axes Up. Miner Rush - For UTEP Miners Fans

by Adrian Mac on Dec 13, 2010 2:43 PM MST up reply actions

I've watched a few of their games and I think they are legit, they may not have done enough to get the #10 ranking, but I think they are good enough to have be ranked #10.

by jakeprobst on Dec 13, 2010 4:06 PM MST up reply actions

You see, I haven't seen any of their games this season

So I can’t really say anything- thanks for the insight though.

Axes Up. Miner Rush - For UTEP Miners Fans

by Adrian Mac on Dec 13, 2010 4:23 PM MST up reply actions

I dont know

They beat Green Bay by 9, and San Diego Christian by 19. Is San Diego Christian a High School?? OVERRATED. I’m saying it now. (Not saying they aren’t good, just don’t think top 10).They’re probably going to be 16-0 on January 8th and ranked in the top 5. January 8th they’re at UTAH, then go home to play UNLV, then at New Mexico, at home against the AFA, then at BYU. My opinion is, they’re going to drop 3 or 4 of those 5 games and drop close, if not out, of the top 25.

by asalom on Dec 13, 2010 4:37 PM MST up reply actions

I think SDSU is a legit Top 25 team, but not a top 10 team. But UNLV is the best team in the MWC.

Yes, I too think they are a little overrated at #10. The fact that they barely beat Green Bay is suspect, since GB got killed by IUPU. They did beat Wich St., which played UCONN down the wire. I think they are a Top 25 team, but not Top 10. I think the best team in the MWC from what I have seen is UNLV. UNLV has played harder teams (Wisc, VT, and Louisville) than BYU or SDSU. The interesting thing about the MWC is that last year the conference had good quality OOC victories and sent 4 teams to the NCAA tournament, and they tanked (especially New Mexico). Will the same happen again this year? The MWC’ s best chance in my opinion is UNLV; they are the last team in the MWC to go to the sweet 16 (2007), and I think they have the best coach in that conference Lon Kruger.

by Minersfan on Dec 13, 2010 5:59 PM MST up reply actions

Good points. Either way I think it is clear that the MWC is the best mid-major conference right now. Even after conference realignment they will be a power.

by jakeprobst on Dec 13, 2010 6:06 PM MST up reply actions

Agreed

The MWC is definitely the best mid-major conference. Realtimerpi.com has the MWC ranked the 6th best bball conference. Ahead of the A-10, and Pacific. The site has the A-10 ranked 7th, the colonial is 8th, the pac-10 is 9th, the ivy league is 10th, followed by the horizon league, conference usa, and the missouri valley conference.

I know this doesn’t necessarily mean too much, but the top four in the MWC are 35-2 at this point. Conference USA’s top 4 our 23-4.

by asalom on Dec 14, 2010 1:30 PM MST up reply actions

IMHO, C-USA deserves to be higher ranked than this.

I know it’s early and everything but the IVY League? I realize Cornell was good last year, and I also realize that Princeton knocked off Tulsa, but Tulsa is not going to be anywhere near as good as they were last year. Cornell has lost some games they should have won.

C-USA has been pretty solid this year near the top. I see more consistency in this league than I do at the top of the Ivy League, the Horizon League, and even the A-10 (who I honestly think is overrated)

A lot of this has to do with Memphis being so dominant, but it would also help if the bottom of the league wasn’t so bad.

by jakeprobst on Dec 14, 2010 7:29 PM MST up reply actions

Not soooo fast my friends....

I’m not buying that MWC is the best mid-major….yet. There’s way too much speculation going on right now with teams and their projected RPI’s and schedule strengths (I know, somewhat redundent), but we also saw TU go from ranked #1 in the country last year to out of the top 25 and ending with an opening round loss in the tournament last season. That’s a large fall from grace in just a couple of months. Way too many games left to be played.

by MinerMike on Dec 13, 2010 7:18 PM MST reply actions