GAME NOTES: The first meeting in more than 13 years between the Miners of Texas-El Paso and the Colorado State Rams takes place tonight at the Don Haskins Center, as the schools collide as part of the Sun Bowl Invitational.
UTEP, which has an all-time record of 76-22 in this event over the years, has won the title 28 times and played in the championship game on 40 occasions. This year might be a different story however, with the roster almost completely overhauled with nine newcomers. The team has made some positive strides in recent weeks by producing four wins in five games, the most recent of those triumphs coming against Auburn on Christmas Day, 83-76, as part of the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii.
As for the Rams, they've won just one of their four true road games so far in 2011-12, and that was at Northern Colorado last week in a 92-78 final. The victory was the second in a row for a team that is shooting for its second three-game win streak of the season tonight. The other three true road games for CSU came against Stanford, Duke and Northern Iowa, so those setbacks are certainly understandable.
UTEP has won 46 of the previous 70 meetings between these two teams, taking all but six of the 33 games played in El Paso over the years. The winner of this game will go up against the survivor of the Arkansas-Pine Bluff/Jacksonville State contest on Thursday.
Dorian Green lit up the scoreboard for the Rams against Northern Colorado last week with a career-high 36 points, hitting on not just 11-of-16 shots from the floor, but 8-of-10 behind the three-point line as he paced a total of five double-digit scorers. Wes Eikmeier contributed another 15 points, Will Bell 12, Pierce Hornung 11 points and Greg Smith 10 in just 14 minutes off the bench for the visitors as they shot a collective 13-of-24 behind the three- point line. Now second on the team in overall scoring with 14.2 ppg, Green has been explosive for CSU out on the perimeter where he has made good on an astounding 58.7 percent of his attempts, a mark that is better than all but one of his teammates is shooting from the floor overall this season. Eikmeier (17.3 ppg) has also proven his worth on the outside with 41.8 percent accuracy, with the two players also combining to hand out a total of 53 assists.
UTEP shot a staggering 65.0 percent from the field in the second half, including 5-of-7 beyond the arc, as the Miners left Honolulu on a high note with a win over the Auburn Tigers in the final round of the Diamond Head Classic. John Bohannon led five players in double figures with his 20 points, adding a team-best nine rebounds as well, followed by Michael Perez and Jacques Streeter with 18 and 12 points, respectively. Gabriel McCulley and Cedrick Lang dropped in 10 points apiece for the group, as they made good on 9-of-13 shots from three-point range and 22-of-29 at the free-throw line. Perez leads the team in scoring through 12 games with his 12.4 ppg, making good on 42.2 percent of his three-point tries, while McCulley and Julian Washburn contribute 10.9 and 10.3 ppg, respectively. The Miners are putting up just 65.0 ppg, but at least the defense has managed to hold opponents to 63.9 ppg along the way.
The Rams are going to live and die from three-point range this season, but given how new the UTEP squad is that might not make a difference in tonight's showdown.
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