The Tulane Green Wave (12-6, 2-3 C-USA) vs. the UTEP Miners (16-4, 4-1 C-USA)
(The video preview above is courtesy of UTEP Athletics)
The Tulane Green Wave are in El Paso to meet up with the UTEP Miners for the second time in two weeks. Recall that the last time Tulane and UTEP met, in New Orleans on January 12, 2011, they entered the game on a 6 game win streak including back to back wins in C-USA play. Tulsa won at Rice and at home versus SMU before UTEP held them off 69-58. After two more losses, at East Carolina and home verse Tulsa, they now enter a UTEP game hoping to avoid a four game losing streak.
Last time around, UTEP was paced by Randy Culpepper's 26 points, 22 of which came in UTEP's frenzied first half. If you recall, UTEP led 40-22 in the first half. Jeremy Williams had 13, Claude Britten had 12, Christian Polk had 10, and Julyan Stone had 15 boards.
Tulane was led by Kendal Timmons who pitched in 20 points (15 in the second half). Timmons is a 6'5 small forward/guard. Jordan Callahan had 12 points. Note that Tulane, after a cold start, shot a blistering 48.1% from the field in the second half.
Here are some numbers to chew on as we wait for the game tonight (courtesy of KenPom).
| UTEP | TULANE | |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 16-4 (4-1) | 12-6 (2-3) |
| Ken Pom Ranking | 59 | 152 |
| Field Goal % | 46.6% (60th) | 44% (142nd) |
| 2P% | 50.70% | 48.60% |
| 3p % | 37% | 34.40% |
| Free Throw % | 66.20% | 75.90% |
| PPG | 72.8 (99th) | 73.6 (79th) |
| Rebounds per game | 36 (128th) | 34.8 (201st) |
| Assists Per game | 16 (27th) | 13.8 (125th) |
Want the Tulane perspective? Check out the best Tulane hoops blog, Fear the Wave, and the best Tulane forum, Ye Olde Green Wave Forum. Also, here is a link to UTEP's full preview which included this nugget:
UTEP leads the series 5-2, and has won four of the six matchups between the schools since joining Conference USA. The Miners are 3-0 versus the Green Wave at the Haskins Center. UTEP topped the Green Wave at home on Jan. 18, 2006 (75-47), Feb. 6, 2008 (66-64) and Jan. 27, 2010 (84-71). The `08 win came on a putback by Claude Britten with 3.5 seconds remaining.
For the latest UTEP Miners News, follow Miner Rush on Twitter and Facebook.