Glory times

Think back. When has it been this good in Utepia?<p>

UTEP won a road game vs. a nationally ranked (No. 25) UAB 74-65 in double overtime Saturday. It was a road game. It was the third straight Conference USA road win in a row; UTEP had lost its previous 13 games against nationally ranked teams.<p>

And, late in this season, it put UTEP in a tie with UAB and Tulsa for the conference lead. When was the last time?

Statistics could go on and on.<p>

But there's some nitty-gritty for the 15-5 Miners, who are 6-1 in C-USA and 15-5 overall. So here's why the Miners won - again! It was because the nationally ranked Blazers were afraid to go inside against UTEP. We saw this start happening at the University of Central Florida last weekend. The Miners now have a name for themselves as in-the-lane cloggers; it is the biggest, tallest team in some two decades, you know.<p>

Early in Saurday's game, UAB could get inside for layups and bankers, as have others of late. In the second half UTEP continued to play its tighetest inside defense in many, many years. Just clog it up. That's what UTEP does. And UAB didn't make a befy of outside shots. That was the difference - overall.<p>

Now UTEP coulda/shoulda won the game in regulation. But a game-winning drive-and-score was negated because Arnette Moultire (take some laps, Arnette) interfered with the basket. Keep your mitts off, Arnette, and UTEP wins in regulation.<p>

In the overtime, the chance to win at near-buzzer time was blown when (shades of past teams) Jeremy Williams stepped out of bounds and gave UAB a last-second shot, which it missed.<p>

But in double-overtime, UTEP dominated all the way. It was finally a pounding.

1) On the road.<p>

2) Against No. 25 in the nation.<p>

3) When it meant tying for the conference lead - clutch, clutch. clutch<p>

What's next?<p>

OK, home games Wednesday and Saturday vs. more UABs. First Houston, which beat UTEP in Houston, and then  league favorite Tulsa Saturday.<p>

Tough games? Yes. For oldtimers, this is when the good BYU and Utah teams would come to El Paso.<p?

 But that was long ago. that was yore. Now, for the first time since heydays of Minerdom , this UTEP team is poised to handle a big game.<p>

Comments

[Pepto Bismol]

This game was a WAR from the very start of the game.

Miners made their free throws… kept their composure… and didn’t panic in the 2nd half when UAB made their comeback. Once again, Caracter was HUGE with 20 points and 12 rebounds for Utep.

UAB, on the other hand, was horrendously cold(27%) from the field and looked disjointed. Their leading scorer, Elijah Millsap threw up bricks all night(3 for 16) and finished with 9 points.

Props to the Miners.

Discuss at the newest Utep sports board(Is Sarah Palin a Utep fan? See the video)... txelpaso.proboards.com

[Prospero]

GREAT WIN! Barbee frustrates me when he gets those technicals though! He could have single handedly lost us the game! BUT UTEP B-ball's got me excited now!

[lowell]

all good think come to thou you wait....so let fill "The Don" on Wednesday and show the team, we back them.....Barbee show he can win, and the player belive in him....so come on fan let do the same.......

[Oz]

Actually, I noticed the team huddle together once Barbee was awarded the T. After the technical, they played solid defense and caused a turnover. It seems they were inspired with the technical. Sorta reminded me of good old Haskins getting a technical to get his team rattled up. Now lets get revenge for our loss in Houston.

[Raul]

I agree, plus the refs seemed to biased towards the home team til that technical foul. It did fire up the team and the refs seemed to be alot more fair after that. It was a good old Haskins tactic that worked. Great move by Barbee this time.

[Lowercase Ray]

Good start to the second half of conference play. UTEP has beaten two of the best teams in CUSA; in Memphis and UAB. The next two games at home will offer UTEP the opportunity to get into the drivers seat. First they need to redeem their loss at Hofeinz Pavillion by defeating Houston on Wednesday. Then comes the next big game, Tulsa at home. Who will take the upper hand in CUSA, UTEP or Tulsa? Mean while, UAB and Memphis will be having a big game of their own this Wednesday; as they play each other in Memphis. Should UTEP beat Tulsa, with UTEP having beaten both teams, a loss by either could have dire consequences for either team.

The first half of CUSA play established which are the top teams; with UAB, UTEP, Tulsa and Memphis rising to the top. This second half of CUSA play will probably narrow it down to one top team. This will be in part because they'll be playing each other frequently. UTEP plays Tulsa twice and UAB one more time. Memphis plays Tulsa twice and UAB twice. So hang on to your seats as this next half of conference play could get bumpy; whee!!! Go Miners!!

[Prospero]

True, yeah i guess you guys are right. Sometimes a technical can help pump up the team a little bit.

[stahala]

Suddenly things are very interesting.

[Lorenzo]

Derrick Caracter was a man among boys yesterday. It looks like this team has found its identity and confidence. Houston should give us a good game, they ALWAYS do. Can't say enough about this team right now. If UTEP can win C-USA outright, I think we'd get a tourney bid for sure. But I like Barbee's 1-game-at-a-time approach. 5 home games left... LET'S PACK THE DON!!

[Bill Herrmann]

As a Blazer fan, I want to extend congrats to the Miners on a tough road win. Your guys were just too big, too quick, too athletic and too good. They outhustled us, which is rare. I still thought we would win until our PG broke his nose in regulation. Johnson is our only PG and is the heart and soul of UAB. I have no idea how we can compete at Memphis without AJ. Caracter played with a lot of character, as he was in obvious pain, but he was a monster when called upon. UTEP is now the favorite in CUSA and should be a powerhouse next year.

[Lowercase Ray]

Bill,
That's very big of you to offer up congrats on a very hard fought game. UAB gave UTEP all they could handle. Best wishes on getting AJ healthy again.

SM,
Congrats to NMSU on beating LA Tech. They've definitely been on fire since starting WAC play and are now tied for the conference lead. As a Miner Fan there is a selfish reason for wishing to see them do well. NMSU has now raised their RPI to 82, thereby erasing UTEP's loss to them as a bad loss and turning our win against them into a good win. UTEP is now with four good wins (UAB being a double good win ($$)) and only the Houston loss as a bad loss. This has all worked to raise UTEP's RPI to 74.

Whether UTEP can bring themselves into a position to be a NCAA bubble team will depend on what they do from here on out. Taking care of business against teams they're suppose to beat and hopefully winning against the high RPI teams left of Tulsa, Marshall and UAB is all they can do for now.

[AggieFan]

Congrats to UTEP for getting to the top of CUSA. Excellent. I think the pieces are all coming together for the Miners.

An interesting side note, my NMSU Aggies are also tied for the No.1 position in the WAC. And if I'm not mistaken, UNM is tied for the lead in the Mountain West Conference.

When was the last time that the Miners, Lobos and Aggies were tied for the lead in their respective conferences in the middle of the conference schedule? Can't remember if it's happened before.

[michael]

i like how everyone all of a sudden decides to want to be gaint miner fans when you should have been filling the don from the beginning. the miners arent winning because of their fan base they are winning in spite of it. its nice to see a packed house but wish band wagon riders would have jumped on sooner

[dave]

i like how everyone all of a sudden decides to want to be gaint miner fans when you should have been filling the don from the beginning. the miners arent winning because of their fan base they are winning in spite of it. its nice to see a packed house but wish band wagon riders would have jumped on sooner

Posted by: michael | January 31, 2010 at 05:46 PM

-------------------------

You call entire list of bloggers who wrote the above 12 responses are "all the fans" of the Miners. Really? Is that all the fans the Miners have? Wow. Funny, I see Oz, Lorenzo, Lowercase Ray, and Raul posting on these blogs a lot. Heck, even AggieFan, who is a fan of loser NMSU, gives props to the Miners pretty consistently.

No worries though. The other four or so bloggers will disappear after the Miners lose again, leaving you to pat yourself on the back at the lack of support shown the Miners.

Yawn.

[2myeye]

Joe, I disagree. Again. That last drive that Julyan took coast to coast was, I believe, intended to be an alley-oop to Arnett. It just went in, and Moultrie was just putting the exclamation point on it. The ref's saw it differently that's all. That should have ended the game right there. I am happy the Miners just kept coming. This could be fun.

[stahala]

What's with people talking about fan support on a blog? Anyone who takes the time to write, or even just read, about UTEP sports obviously cares more than the normal fan. So by putting posts like "Lets fill the Don!" is preaching to the choir. There is a core of die-hard fans of about 5000 that are there for just about every game with the other two or three thousand being a varying crowd. And of that 5000 about 20 or so take the time to post their thoughts here and we are preaching to these 20 about fan support?
Anyone who knows me will say I'm the biggest UTEP fan they know, hands down. Being a die-hard UTEP fan is just not for everybody, it is just something that I am without even trying. Anyways I welcome all bandwagon fans, it makes me very excited when people that dont normally care about UTEP suddenly start bleeding Orange. We shouldnt discourage bandwagon fans from hoping on just cause we posters are chained down to this wagon and will never be getting off. Why do losers like dave and michael feel that they must boast that they are true fans, and others are not?

[stahala]

Instead of doing homework I decided to see who, in my opinion, is worthy of an at-large bid(if the season ended today) and came up with 39 schools. I know UTEP should be on that list, but on paper with only their schedule and record to look at(which was the only evidence I had to make this list), they wouldn't be. Here is:
WAC-Louisana Tech
WCC-GONZAGA, ST MARY
IVY-CORNELL(does ive league have a tournament?)
HORIZON-BUTLER
CUSA-TULSA, UAB
SEC-KENTUCKY,VANDERBILT,TENNESEE, MISS ST, OLE MISS
BIG10-Michigan ST, OHIO ST, PURDUE, WISCONSIN
BIG SOUTH-COASTAL CAROLINA
OHIO VALLEY-MURRAY ST
BIG EAST-SYRACUSE,VILLA,GEORGETOWN, W VIRG,PITTS
BIG 12-TEXAS, KANSAS, MISSIOURI, Kansas ST
MWC-UNM,UNLV,BYU
MISSIOURI VALLEY-N IOWA, WITCHITA ST
ACC-DUKE, MARYLAND, VIRGINA, FLORIDA ST, GeogriaT
A10-TEMPLE, XAVIER
MAA-SIENA
Thats 16 out of the 33 conferences. If all 16 conferences tourney champs are on this list that means 9 additional teams will get on this list of at large worthy, and UTEP is inside that 9(or can easily work inside that 9 by seasons end). Point being UTEP getting an at-large bid is on the hopes that teams not on my list do not win their conf tourneys. So I think the chances of UTEP getting into either the NCAA or NIT tourney is at 90%, NCAA at 75%(considering there is also a good chance we wont need an at large).

I also think we should setup one of those online pools where we can fill out our brackets online and see which poster(or joe) wins. No money, just bragging rights on the line. Tell me what ya think.

[RJ]

LRay--

Thanks for the update on the RPI rankings.

Interesting that now we have to pull for the teams we beat to do well, because im still not sure we make the NCAA's if we dont win the CUSA tourney.

I dont want to look ahead too much, but i've done the math and see us with at least 3 more losses
and about 23-24 wins.

A loss at TU, a clunker on the road (Marshall),and a CUSA tourney loss.

I'll be the first to say I was shocked we won Saturday, but that makes these upcoming games that much bigger. Now we really have to step on the throats of Houston and Tulsa, especially at home.

This is when some Miner teams of the past went full throttle and started a push for the conference title, but there have also beentimes when our guys have laid an egg.

Im thinking this team is different for some reason, they seem to have a little more toughness and the close losses at the beginning of the year helped them get ready for CUSA Play.

Hopefully im not wrong.

[Joe Muench]

Re: [Joe on utepia] 2myeye submitted a comment to Glory times

There was no alley so Moultrie should not have oopps-ed

[just a thought]

Congratulations on that huge win. Miners played well despite some home cooking in AL. What's up with that shot clock malfunction? I bet if the Miners had the clock frozen for that long someone/anyone would have noticed earlier. Also, Millsap should have been ejected for that uppercut to the ribs because rules are rules.

Miners still have to work on rebounding and free throw shooting to shore up their weak spots. Also Moultrie needs to play bigger/tougher. If they win Wed the Don just might sellout Sat...

[SM]

Lowercase - Thanks for the congrats. I think both the Aggies and Miners are playing to their potential, which is a good thing coming down the stretch. Of course, I think the Miners have a higher ceiling this year than the Aggies. I think the Aggies are an NIT team (unless they win the conference tourney), while the Miners are an at-large bid team that could win a game in the NCAA tournament.

The key to going on a roll is talent and confidence (swagger, as the youth call it). Both the Aggies and the Miners have that, though, I wish my Aggies could get Gillenwater for the home stretch.

Great wins for both teams. Hopefully, this will be the first time in many years that the Miners, Aggies, and even the Lobos (ugh) make it to the post-season. For selfish reasons, that would obviously bode well for the Aggies' RPI.

[javi]

all i can say is that if da haskins center is not above 10000 el paso should be ashamed

[just a thought]

Javi,
The reason I said "might sellout" is because everyone needs to remember this is El Paso. The land of:

1) My wife wants me to go to this thing with her tonight...

2) My honeydew list made me tired today.

3) The Miners have a game today?

4) I'm going to a movie.

5) Going to make it a blockbuster night.

6) I'm out of town Saturday...

7) Got church in the morning.

8) I'm going out Saturday night and I need time to get ready.

9) I'm setting up for my Super Bowl party. I've been a Saints fan fovever.

10) It's on TV isn't it?...

No real excuse for Wednesday but we need to win that night for a large Saturday crowd. Keep in mind the Texas vs. Nation game is Saturday afternoon and that alone could hurt attendance. If Stull gives everyone special pricing at Texas vs Nation the Don will be packed with players/NFL types.

[Pick Ax]

Stahala:

Baylor is left out. They are a top 25 team who recently beat the highly overrated horns...

JAT:

You forgot to mentioned.

1.1 I'm watching the Cowboys season in review.

I'm sure it is playing somewhere

We welcome all fans here diehards or bandwagon. We need them all. Pack the DON. Pass it on...

Pick Ax

[stahala]

Youre probably right about Baylor considering they just beat Texas. But I think Baylor may still get left out. When an unranked UTEP got an at large bid, #24 Utah did not make the NCAA tourney. So a Top 25 ranking does not guarantee an at large bid. Baylor is definitely in that next nine I was talking about so they should get in. I know more people would agree with you than me, but at this point in the season that's where I have it. And my list will change every week. By the way, major props to UTEP getting 7 votes in the AP Top 25 poll.