UTEP takes on Louisiana Tech tonight on the road with stakes high
UTEP (19-7, 11-3 C-USA) and LA Tech (21-7, 12-3) will battle at 6 p.m. MT from the Thomas Assembly Center with a national television audience (FOX Sports 1) watching.
The winner will have the inside track to the C-USA regular season championship.
UTEP will have a watch party at the Corner Tavern off of Cincinnati with Miner specials and prizes for attendees.
“They just defended us at a high level and really frustrated us where every shot was challenged,” UTEP coach Tim Floyd said of the first game at UTEP earlier this season. “I thought they did a better job in every area of the game, from defending inbounds plays to scoring in their own inbounds plays … all of the little nuances of the game. We were beaten by a better team that day.”
The Miners will need to clean up their ball movement and overall crispness offensively to turn things around in the rematch.
“We were defended at a high level by those guys. And whether or not we can respond and play better offensively will be a big key in this game,” he said. “They had not been a great rebounding team when we saw them and they matched us on the glass, killed us there. They just really beat us in every phase of the game.”
The Miners, however, have improved tremendously since then and are playing their best basketball of the season while riding a seven-game winning streak. They have also fashioned a 12-3 road mark over the last two campaigns.
“I think that we have had a really good road mentality,” Floyd said. “And every game on the road, you’d better be jacked up. You’d better not be afraid, you’d better not be scared. And I don’t think our guys will be. I think we have to play with poise though, and that’s a key word. You have to not get outside of yourself and make sure you take care of the ball. But at the same time, use that energy that you have on the glass and defensively.”
The Miners have now played 15 games that were decided by seven points or less – five during this winning streak – and Floyd said that should serve his team well heading into the stretch run and the Conference USA Tournament.
“This time of the year, if you’ve won close games and been in close games, I think you’re going to be better served as a result of it,” he said. “We have won some games in a row now and I think our guys do have the belief in what they have to do to win games if they’re down or up.”
Sophomore center Matt Willms, who missed the last six games with a stress fracture in his foot, returned to practice on Monday and may be available when the Miners lace `em up for the Bulldogs.
“It’s great,” Floyd said. “I think we’ve got to incorporate him correctly. Depending on where his conditioning is, how long he can play hard, all of those things. And his comfort level with coming back.”
Source: UTEP
