UTEP is on the brink of something special -- but two obstacles are looming ... two very formidable obstacles.
The Miners have topped the 20-win barrier, they have cracked the Top 25 and they have clinched at least a share of the Conference USA title.
Now they are in Huntington, W. Va., ready and eager to face the first of those two obstacles -- the Marshall Thundering Herd.
Marshall is writing its own special basketball script. The Thundering Herd are now 22-7 on the season, 10-4 in Conference USA play. They have come out of virtually nowhere, riding the high-flying wings of 7-foot freshman Hassan Whiteside. The Herd are 15-2 this season at home and they have won seven straight games. Their only home losses? They lost to UAB 61-59 and to Memphis 75-72. Since that time, they have won at UAB and won at home against Tulsa.
The Miners, of course, are 22-5 overall and 13-1 in Conference USA play. A win tonight in West Virginia will give the Miners an outright conference championship. The Miners have won 12 straight games going into tonight's obstacle. If they cannot get it done tonight, they will face obstacle No. 2 Saturday night in the Don Haskins Center -- UAB ... 23-5 UAB.
UTEP coach Tony Barbee was not happy at all with his team's performance in their 78-64 win over Rice Saturday night.
"We can't go over to Marshall with the frame of mind we're in," Barbee said. "You don't want to start creating bad habits this time of
year. This will be a hard game with a quick turnaround. And Marshall is really playing good basketball right now."
Marshall certainly is playing well, leading the conference in scoring average (79.3 points per game), scoring margin (plus 13.4 points per game), field goal percentage (.479 percent) and 3-point field goal percentage (.383 percent).
Individually, senior Tyler Wilkinson leads the Herd in scoring, averaging 13.6 points a game. He also averages 6.8 rebounds an outing. Sophomore Damier Pitts leads the team in assists, averaging 4.6 per game.
But the real story for Marshall is the work of the 7-foot freshman, Hassan Whiteside. He averages 13.2 points a game, ranks second in the conference in rebounding at 8.9 a game and leads the entire nation in blocked shots, averaging 5.5 per game. Whiteside has 12 double-doubles this season, but more impressively he has three triple doubles -- double figure points, rebounds and blocks. In Saturday night's win over UCF, Whiteside had 14 points, 11 rebounds and 13 blocks. He actually broke Marshall's career blocked shots record with Saturday's effort. He now has 159 blocks in less than one season.
All that aside, Marshall barely survived UCF Saturday night. The Thundering Herd slipped past UCF 121-115 in triple overtime.
But they won and here they are -- large obstacle number one looming between UTEP and something special.
"Marshall is a good team and we know they feel they are as good as we are," UTEP point guard Julyan Stone said. "They are going to want to step up and show the nation they are better than us. We've got to get our defense and our defensive effort back."
And Miner forward Jeremy Williams said, "We've got to get back and focus on the little things, the things that have gotten us here -- rebounding and toughness."
Despite Saturday's sub-par performance, the Miners are still soaring. Randy Culpepper leads the team in scoring, averaging 18.0 points a game. Derrick Caracter is averaging 14.1 points, 8.8 rebounds a game. Williams averages 10.7 points, 5.0 rebounds a contest. Arnett Moultrie averages 10.4 points, 6.9 rebounds and Christian Polk is averaging 10.1 points a game. Stone is averaging 6.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists a game.
Barbee took his team on the long trip to Huntington on Sunday and practiced at Marshall on Monday -- getting them as rested and ready as possible for this big obstacle.
Everything has tumbled into place for the Miners over the past few weeks. Or, perhaps, the Miners have simply played well, played hard, played with toughness and talent and forced everything to tumble into place. And now they are on the brink of something special.
Two obstacles loom. And the first obstacle will be staring them down at tipoff tonight in West Virginia.
The Miners have topped the 20-win barrier, they have cracked the Top 25 and they have clinched at least a share of the Conference USA title.
Now they are in Huntington, W. Va., ready and eager to face the first of those two obstacles -- the Marshall Thundering Herd.
Marshall is writing its own special basketball script. The Thundering Herd are now 22-7 on the season, 10-4 in Conference USA play. They have come out of virtually nowhere, riding the high-flying wings of 7-foot freshman Hassan Whiteside. The Herd are 15-2 this season at home and they have won seven straight games. Their only home losses? They lost to UAB 61-59 and to Memphis 75-72. Since that time, they have won at UAB and won at home against Tulsa.
The Miners, of course, are 22-5 overall and 13-1 in Conference USA play. A win tonight in West Virginia will give the Miners an outright conference championship. The Miners have won 12 straight games going into tonight's obstacle. If they cannot get it done tonight, they will face obstacle No. 2 Saturday night in the Don Haskins Center -- UAB ... 23-5 UAB.
UTEP coach Tony Barbee was not happy at all with his team's performance in their 78-64 win over Rice Saturday night.
"We can't go over to Marshall with the frame of mind we're in," Barbee said. "You don't want to start creating bad habits this time of
year. This will be a hard game with a quick turnaround. And Marshall is really playing good basketball right now."
Marshall certainly is playing well, leading the conference in scoring average (79.3 points per game), scoring margin (plus 13.4 points per game), field goal percentage (.479 percent) and 3-point field goal percentage (.383 percent).
Individually, senior Tyler Wilkinson leads the Herd in scoring, averaging 13.6 points a game. He also averages 6.8 rebounds an outing. Sophomore Damier Pitts leads the team in assists, averaging 4.6 per game.
But the real story for Marshall is the work of the 7-foot freshman, Hassan Whiteside. He averages 13.2 points a game, ranks second in the conference in rebounding at 8.9 a game and leads the entire nation in blocked shots, averaging 5.5 per game. Whiteside has 12 double-doubles this season, but more impressively he has three triple doubles -- double figure points, rebounds and blocks. In Saturday night's win over UCF, Whiteside had 14 points, 11 rebounds and 13 blocks. He actually broke Marshall's career blocked shots record with Saturday's effort. He now has 159 blocks in less than one season.
All that aside, Marshall barely survived UCF Saturday night. The Thundering Herd slipped past UCF 121-115 in triple overtime.
But they won and here they are -- large obstacle number one looming between UTEP and something special.
"Marshall is a good team and we know they feel they are as good as we are," UTEP point guard Julyan Stone said. "They are going to want to step up and show the nation they are better than us. We've got to get our defense and our defensive effort back."
And Miner forward Jeremy Williams said, "We've got to get back and focus on the little things, the things that have gotten us here -- rebounding and toughness."
Despite Saturday's sub-par performance, the Miners are still soaring. Randy Culpepper leads the team in scoring, averaging 18.0 points a game. Derrick Caracter is averaging 14.1 points, 8.8 rebounds a game. Williams averages 10.7 points, 5.0 rebounds a contest. Arnett Moultrie averages 10.4 points, 6.9 rebounds and Christian Polk is averaging 10.1 points a game. Stone is averaging 6.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists a game.
Barbee took his team on the long trip to Huntington on Sunday and practiced at Marshall on Monday -- getting them as rested and ready as possible for this big obstacle.
Everything has tumbled into place for the Miners over the past few weeks. Or, perhaps, the Miners have simply played well, played hard, played with toughness and talent and forced everything to tumble into place. And now they are on the brink of something special.
Two obstacles loom. And the first obstacle will be staring them down at tipoff tonight in West Virginia.
