UTEP Surges Past East Carolina 58-47

For those who still don't believe, here's another one for you. The Miners started slow, but weathered an ECU strom, and blew by them to walk away with an impressive 58-47 win.

East Carolina's Akeem Richmond got the Pirates off to a quick start, hitting his first three of four shots from deep to put them ahead 9-2 just 3:24 into the contest.

The Miners would reel off 13 of the next 15 points of the ball game though to quickly go ahead 15-11 six minutes later on a C.J. Cooper three, and while ECU would keep it close for most of the remainder of the first half, the Miners would eventually own a 27-18 lead at the break.

Five straight to open up the second half would get the Pirates within four less than 1:30 in, but the Miners wouldn't fold. By the 13:28 mark they'd have their lead back to nine, and there was no looking back from there.

Big shots by both Cooper and Julian Washburn would allow the Miners to eventually lead by as many as 13, and while the Pirates would continue to fight, the Miners would eventually walk out of Minges with their seventh straight win.

C.J. Cooper continued his stellar play, and led the Miners in scoring with 15 points to go along with 3 assists and just 1 turnover. Julian Washburn finished with 14 points and a pair of rebounds, and John Bohannon had another big night finishing with 12 points and 14 rebounds.

The Pirates were led by Akeem Richmond, who finished with a game high 20 points to go along with 3 rebounds. Paris Roberts-Campbell had 12 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals, but no other ECU player scored in double figures.

The Miners dominated the rebounding battle, owning a 27-9 advantage at the half, and a 42-17 margin for the game. They did have 13 turnovers though, while forcing ECU into just 4, but did shoot 52% from the field, while holding the Pirates to just 35.4%.

The win improves the Miners to 17-6 overall and 7-1 in Conference USA play, and puts the Miners into first place in the league all alone; at least until Southern Miss plays tomorrow night.

No doubt about it, this was another extremely impressive win by the Miners. ECU may not have a great recrod, but it is never easy to win on the road in conference, and the Miners are now 3-0 as far as that is concerned.

Big play from C.J. Cooper, who has really developed into a true point guard, has sparked this team, and the Miners showed some real maturity to continue to play well even when a guy like Vince Hunter was sidelined for the majority of the contest with foul trouble.

John Bohannon is giving exactly what you'd need out of your senior big man, and Julian Washburn is playing his most consistent play in a Miner uniform. Cedrick Lang also continue to impress, and just all around, this team continues to develop into one of the most special Miner teams, possibly of all time!

Up next, the Miners will take on Old Dominion, Saturday in Norfolk, VA. That game is scheduled to tip at 5:00 p.m. MT. No TV coverage is scheduled for the game, but you can catch it live on 92.3 the FOX, and as always covered by us at MinerRush.

Make sure to stay tuned to MinerRush for coverage of all things UTEP sports. Also, make sure to Follow @sbnminerrush on Twitter and as always don't forget to like our Facebook Page. Picks Up, and Go Miners!