UTEP Hosts Tulane Wednesday Night
UTEP (16-4, 4-1 C-USA) and Tulane (12-6, 2-3 C-USA) hook up for the second time in two weeks on Wednesday at the Don Haskins Center. The Miners handed the Green Wave its first home defeat of the season, 69-58, on Jan. 12 at Fogelman Arena. Tulane has lost a couple more games since, falling 76-67 at East Carolina on Jan. 15 and 65-61 at home to Tulsa on Jan. 22.
The Miners are tied for first place in the C-USA standings with Memphis (15-4, 4-1 C-USA). Both teams are 2-0 at home and 2-1 on the road in league play. Tulane is tied for eighth place in C-USA. The Green Wave is 4-4 on the road this season, including 1-1 in conference action with an 85-81 win at Rice on Jan. 5.
UTEP is shooting for its 13th consecutive home win. The Miners have their longest string of victories in the Haskins Center since early in the 1992-93 season (15 in a row). UTEP has won 15 of its last 16 C-USA home games, including 12 straight dating back to the 2008-09 season.
Tulsa dealt Tulane a 65-61 setback on Saturday in New Orleans, despite sophomore Kendall Timmons collecting a double-double (19 points/14 rebounds) and senior Kris Richard joining the Green Wave’s 1,000 point club. Both teams shot 40 percent from the field, but Tulsa was 13-for-15 at the line and Tulane was 10-for-16. The Golden Hurricane also had a 39-30 rebounding edge.
Timmons leads the Green Wave, averaging 17.4 points and 9.1 rebounds per contest. Sophomore guard Jordan Callahan and Richard are each collecting 13.3 ppg.
The Green Wave is first in C-USA in turnover margin (+3.11), second in assist/turnover ratio (1.1) and third in steals (7.1 avg.). Timmons is third in the league in rebounding and steals (1.9 avg.).
Tulane already has four more wins than it achieved last season (8-22) under the direction of first-year coach Ed Conroy, who previously headed up programs at Francis Marion (1997-00) and The Citadel (2006-10).
UTEP leads the series 5-2, and has won four of the six matchups between the schools since joining Conference USA. The Miners are 3-0 versus the Green Wave at the Haskins Center. UTEP topped the Green Wave at home on Jan. 18, 2006 (75-47), Feb. 6, 2008 (66-64) and Jan. 27, 2010 (84-71). The `08 win came on a putback by Claude Britten with 3.5 seconds remaining.
In the first-ever matchup between the schools, Jim Barnes scored 32 points and pulled down 18 rebounds, leading Texas Western College (now UTEP) to a 76-59 win over Tulane on Dec. 20, 1963 at the Arkansas State Tournament in Jonesboro. Barnes was later selected by New York with the first pick in the 1964 NBA Draft.
Source: UTEP Athletics
