UTEP is finishing this season like it was supposed to finish - not very good. Bunch of freshmen and sophs. But what in the world is up with the team that only a week ago had a four-game winning streak against some of the best teams in Conference USA? And then losing Wednesday to so-so Rice 68-61 in The Don before a good crowd of 8,268. It was a game between two 7th-place C-USA teams. UTEP looked 7th place.
Missed close shots by both teams. Not so good at the free-throw line by UTEP. Passes through fingertips by both teams- until Rice got it together in the second half. And then Rice got hot at the free-throw line to stave off any home-team comeback.
Now there is a two-game losing streak in Utepia and one regular-season game to go. The record is at 14-15 overall record and a 7-8 in C-USA.
Coach Tim Floyd turned up as the central character Wednesday. He made a point to criticize his team for a hustle-type lapse late in Saturday's loss at Central Florida. No hustle? What? So he benched three starters for about the first 6 minutes of the first half. But that didn't prove to be a catalyst or a mental spark.
Then, when Rice went on the game's only "streak" for either team late in the game, Floyd got back-to-back technicals and Rice made the free throws to go up by 9 .
Good times mostly prevailed this season. But I'm not seeing the Miners going anywhere but into next season. When the coach gets upset at hustle at UCF, and then there's a loss to another team of freshmen ...
Huff. Puff. The Miners' energy seems drained.
The game tonight counted for nothing. The team knows that, so what do you expect from a bunch freshmen? I'd rather see them playing hard in the conference tourney rather than see them waste energy in these no-impact, last few games.
Going forward, UTEP has two tournament options. Win the CUSA tourney, which is not completely out of the question given the Miners won't be feeling any pressure and have some young, energetic legs, OR buy a seat on the CBI bus.
CUSA tourney conference championship is a long shot. Anything can happen though. The CBI is a real possibility since the Miners are as close to being CBI poster children as any team in the country and have been very willing to go that route. Plus they have a venue that the CBI folks like.
Whether the Miners deserve to continue playing with such a middling record, well, that is another question entirely. I am not in favor of rewarding mediocrity but UTEP administration might be in the mood to extend that charity to the team. They certainly have in the past.
Posted by: A fan | February 29, 2012 at 10:03 PM
This game did count for something big time. Seeding, and the matter of having to win 3 games or 4 next week. Tall, tall order to win 4. I'll root and hope for the best, but an early exit wouldn't surprise me unfortunately. I think this team has peaked.
Posted by: madmangunner | February 29, 2012 at 10:41 PM
A fan:
I'm not sure what you're talking about, but this game was huge in terms of seeding, we could have possibly moved into the 6th seed, but now we are locked into a matchup with Houston who always gives us trouble opposed to someone like Tulane or ECU.
Should we somehow win that game, then we get Memphis in the quarterfinals...not a good scenario at all. Tonight's loss was terrible.
Posted by: rj | February 29, 2012 at 11:21 PM
Joe, you are the worst of fair weather fans. Were you even at the game last night. Rice is not a so-so team.
Floyd's double technical was the last trick in the hat. And it failed.
It was just one of those nights.
Anything can happen at tourney time.
Posted by: Three seconds | March 01, 2012 at 06:17 AM
Alright, so we're not going to be the hottest team going into the tourney, and therefore we probably wont be dancing either. Excuse me for thinking we could beat Rice and UCF, after being on a 4-game win streak that included wins over Memphis, S. Miss, and Tulsa. The good thing is, when it comes CUSA tourney time, at least we know we have a legitimate chance of beating any team in CUSA on any given day. It's going to be extremely hard to put together a string of wins, but anything is possible. GO MINERS!
Posted by: Stahala | March 01, 2012 at 09:20 AM
You can blame the refs for god awful calls and no calls, but realistically speaking the Miners look tired and uninspired. They've far exceeded my expectations going into this season, but right now they're not playing like underdogs with nothing to lose. Hopefully that inspiration will come back in time for the conference tourney. As of now we're the 8th seed and would play 9th seed Houston. Winner of that game gets top seed Memphis. Destiny? Not expecting the Miners to win the conference tourney, or even play in any postseason tourney for that matter. However, wouldn't it be sweet to knock off Memphis once again and send them to the NIT.
Posted by: Miner Maniac | March 01, 2012 at 10:05 AM
The truth is that the Miners are competing and keeping games close. That is the best you can expect from a young mid-major team. Some of the close games will be won and some lost. In time, Floyd and his staff ( who are excellent coaches ) will have this team winning 20 games a year on a regular basis and the miners home record will skyrocket. It takes time so be patient. No fair weather fans!
Posted by: David | March 01, 2012 at 11:51 AM
The Miners have accomplished a lot this year given their youth and inexperience. They will be a dangerous team come tournament time and can be counted on to give a great effort. I would not be surprised at all to see them in the CUSA tourney finals with a shot to win a the end.
Good luck Miners and best wishes to Miner fans. Hope to see your team pull off the upset.
Posted by: Aggie Fan | March 01, 2012 at 02:37 PM
Tim Floyd does it again. I'm tired of watching this guy make the game all about him. He continuously does things that brings the focus on himself rather which in turn takes the focus away from the team. What on earth was he thinking benching the starters on such an important game? Then he gets two "T"'s and the team loses by two. It's just too painful to watch.
Posted by: Adrian | March 01, 2012 at 03:23 PM
To Adrian,
Did you watch the UCF game? It was pretty clear what Floyd was doing last night. He was sending a message to his starters for the dismal performance in Orlando. Tafoya, Cheda, and Ragland did a heck of a job along with Streeter and Lang. They played up to the first media timeout and gave us a one point lead. They scored more points combined through the first media timeout than the team scored through the halfway point of the first half at UCF! Too bad Floyd didn't pull his starters again last night when things were going south. Maybe it would have woken up the starters sooner.
As far as Floyd getting ejected, you didn't understand what he was doing. Floyd WANTED to get ejected! He wanted to fire up his team, and it nearly worked. We closed the gap to two points before losing the game at the end. You want to blame the loss on Floyd's two technical fouls? Without them, we would have lost by much more. The team up to that point was entirely deflated. Floyd's outburst (deserving so), not only woke up the Miners, but finally the refs, who started calling things more in the Miners favor.
Need to understand the game of basketball better son.
Posted by: Miner Maniac | March 01, 2012 at 04:18 PM
as a former miner(68-72) i can't believe that we are so far gone from being relevant. what league will we be in? still CUSA? when i was there the WAC was great,rival games with UNM,Arizona,BYU and Utah-man that was a million years ago-oh well i'm gettin old
Posted by: s ward | March 01, 2012 at 06:35 PM
s ward. Check back with that relevant statement at this time next year, will you? As far as which league...hey buddy, the times are changing. Any of those teams you listed still in the WAC? For that matter how many teams in the nation are still playing in the same conference they were playing in back in 68-72?
Posted by: madmangunner | March 01, 2012 at 10:09 PM
madmanngunner,
Unless the Miners have some real talent coming in, much better than what we know about in the wings, then they won't be a top-conference team next year. I see them being about 4th place in conference. The year after is about when they should blossom.
Posted by: Morgan | March 02, 2012 at 04:59 PM
Miner Maniac
If the players aren't focused on the game that is the coaches fault. Perhaps it is because his antics are constantly getting his name in the papers rather than his team. If he got ejected to get his team fired up it didn't work end of story. The only thing that matters in wins and losses.
I understand enough about the game to know that Tim Floyd inherited a CUSA championship team and in two short years has turned it into a loser. He was handed the keys to a Cadillac and tried to turn it into a dump truck. Again, he wants it to be all about him.
Posted by: Adrian | March 05, 2012 at 11:39 AM