Miners Stone The Herd, Win 82-74
by asalom on Mar 3, 2011 12:42 PM MST
in UTEP Miners Basketball
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PrintIt was a great night in the Don Haskins center. A night in which we said farewell, to a group of 8 great seniors. OK, well not exactly farewell as they'll still be playing here in the C-USA tournament, but still a special night. The first few minutes of the game were back and forth, but the Miners took a 12-11 lead on a Claude Britten Jumper with 15 minutes to go in the first half, and the they wouldn't give it up again. Coach Tim Floyd and his crew brought in a solid game plan of attacking the paint early and often. It worked out great, as the Miners enjoyed a 37-29 lead at the half.
In the opening minutes of the final twenty, the Miners were able to extend their lead out to twelve, but the Herd would not go quietly. A 19-10 run would bring the Herd within three at 55-52 with about 12 minutes to go. After the Miners created a bit more space, Marshall would once again make a nice run to get it back to 67-63, but they were outlasted as UTEP would score 7 of the next 8 points to take the lead back into double digits at 74-64. In the end, the Miners scored a nice 82-74 victory over a solid Marshall team on senior night in the Don Haskins Center.
The Miners were led by Randy Culpepper who had 24 points, and 7 assists. Christian Polk and Claude Britten both had 12 points of their own, and Jeremy Williams had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Fellow seniors Wayne Portalatin, and Gabe McCulley put up 7 and 5 points respectively. Of course, there's still one missing. Our senior PG from Goletta, CA, Julyan Stone. Stone had another amazing performance nearly racking up a triple double with 12 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists. Marshall was led by Tirrell Baines who racked up 22 and 11, while DeAndre Kane went for 20 and 7.
The key to this game was very simple. Get it in the paint. With Randy Culpepper driving to the bucket, and Claude Britten down low in the post it was hard not shoot a high percentage. The Miners shot an amazing 60% from the field, while holding the Herd to a luke warm 38%. Let's get one thing straight. This was far from the best defensive performance of the year, especially on the defensive glass. Marshall stayed in this game by dominating us on the boards. In the end it was a 47-31 advantage, including 24 offensive rebounds that led to 22 second chance points.
One thing that may have affected the Miners' ability to rebound was the rarely played zone that they ran for the majority of the night. It did however, force the Herd into taking 28 threes, knocking down a handful of them early in the second half that kept them close. But, as the saying goes, you live be the three, you die by the three. In the end not nearly enough threes went down for Marshall and they found themselves leaving El Paso with their first loss in six tries.
Next up for the Miners (22-8, 10-5) is a road trip Dallas to take on SMU in Moody Coliseum. The Mustangs dropped a close one last night in Orlando, and another close one last Saturday in Huntington. They won't be an easy task, and after one game at their usual start time, the Miners will be back to an unusual one with a 1:00 p.m. mst tip. No TV has been announced, but that could still change. As always, you can hear the game, called by the voice of the Miners on 92.3 the Fox.
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Fatigue
Has anyone else quietly pondered the possibility that the UTEP’s core players are exhausted? Look at the minutes Williams, Culpepper, Stone and Polk log every game. It’s late in the season plus UTEP played 3 last week and will play their second game this week on Saturday. Floyd isn’t confident in his bench to let them see a lot of minutes.
For instance, last week’s game against Memphis. In the first half UTEP’s man defense ran and attacked the ball. The result turned into a nightmare for Memphis as they started making unforced turnovers and, sorry to say, looked beaten. But the second half, while UTEP did pull away slightly, the Miners were definitely slower on defense. And while not seeing the game against Marshall, Asalom pointed out the Miners played a lot of zone defense. Zone allows players to rest. While UTEP held Marshall to 29 first half points gave up 45 in the second!
Maybe I’m alone in this thinking and maybe I’m totally wrong. But as I see it, during the C-USA tourney UTEP may have to play a bunch more games in an even shorter amount of time. And worst of all, UTEP might get smeared in the Don.
Anyhow, if I’m wrong let me have it. But the minute totals on the box scores and the way they play in the second half, I see dark clouds on the horizon.
You're right on
Our core players are playing a ton of minutes, and with the style of defense that we play they have to be extremely tired point. Especially Randy, he’s our main player (obviously) in our offensive sets, and he is constantly running off picks back and forth along the baseline. All game long. That HAS TO take its toll.
I don’t think that there is any chance we get smeared on our home court. These guys are good, and these guys are seniors. They will get it done. Not saying we win it all, but we will certainly be highly competitive in the conference tourney.
ok i dont knw
these are 22yr athletes. I remember when i was 22 i would go out n party till 3am n wake up n go to work at 7 like nothing ever happened. If they were freshman ok yes maybe but these are seniors who work out everyday for the past 10 yrs or so
UTEP Players' Condition(ing)
UTEP’s players have looked fine over the last few weeks. They are at an age where they can play with the time they’ve had between games to recover. The tournament may raise issues, but every team will have those issues due to back to back to back play dates.
My concern is more over Culpepper carrying such a heavy offensive load, Gabe McCauley’s inability to play without making excessive stupid fouls, Claude Brittain failing to get in shape although he’s been in the program for four years, a teamwide inability to concentrate and make free throws, and a generall attitude that it is all right to coast whenever UTEP gets a ten point lead or more.
This is a small team physicallly, due to the “bigs” inability to ever get in good game shape and to play with fire 100 % of the time. As a result, Floyd gives up on them too quickly and goes with those guys who always play hard. I’d rather see Portalatin bounce people around and foul out than force the excess minutes on the other players. At least he always plays hard. Brittain is wasting his talent by loafing and refusing to get in game shape. Da*n shame; he’ll be thinking “what if?” the rest of his life. Bohannon is a freshman and consistency is an issue, but Floyd has to have some faith in him because some size is necessary and someone has to play next year.
This is a fun team to watch and their success is due to their hard work and good coaching. However, they have physical limitations and the conference is deep this year, regardless of what the national press thinks. Also, the officiating in this league is pathetic. Every game the officials play too significant a role. They need to collectively swallow their whistles and let the players decide who wins.
I agree for the most part, but you can't rag on Claude. He has medical condition that limits his ability to saty in for long amounts of time. He could definitely afford to lose a few pounds but he would still have the same problems.
"BCS does not apply to basketball. It's football. You can't tell me Memphis is a mid-major. You can't tell me UTEP, with its history of players, crowd attendance and NCAA Tournament berths, is a mid-major. Same for Gonzaga and St. Mary's - it doesn't apply. These are high-major programs that can play. All we can do is win games and hope others recognize. … We should pass the eye test - if anybody ever watches us." - Tim Floyd
I agree that they've logged a lot of minutes....
But also believe that should we be able to secure a first round bye, that will pay huge dividends in the tournament and provide our squad with some much needed rest. It would be nice to have JBo, Mikey and some of the other bench players finish the game and steal some minutes from our starters. JBo and Mikey should be plenty rested after their self-imposed bye week. Julyans knees could use the recovery time. Regadless, the “W” is the most important thing only good things will come from it if we take care of business.
I agree with EPRAIDER for the most part
But I still think they’re tired. I mean granted they are 22, but anyone will get tired playing the style of ball the Miners do for forty minutes. Especially Julyan and Randy. Like I said Randy is ALWAYS moving, offense and defense, and Julyan has some knee issues that I’m sure have taken their toll as well. Not that they are too tired, but I don’t think anyone can argue that they aren’t exactly fresh.
E-mail to Dallas alumni
The UTEP Alumni Association received this message from our friends in the Athletics Department. They are counting on US to help push the Miners toward a victory.
“The Dallas alumni group does a great job getting fans to the SMU games. Can you please impress on them that this is a critical game Saturday in terms of positioning for the Conference USA Tournament. With a win we will clinch a top-4 seed and a first round bye in the tournament. We would only have to play Thurs., Fri. and Sat. and not 4 days in a row, which makes it very difficult to win when guys like Culpepper and Stone are playing 40 minutes every night. Our NCAA Tournament chances certainly get a major boost with a win over SMU. Hoping for another great turnout from UTEP fans in the Metroplex on Saturday at 2 p.m. central.”
Thanks,
Jeff Darby
Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations
UTEP
Ok, Dallas Miners… let’s rise to this challenge! Tickets will be sold for a few hours more:
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