No rest for the weary...

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Jason Williams was soaking in the cold water whirlpool. Brent Murphy was moaning about having the worst case of jet lag ever. Assistant coach James Holland said it was the worst road trip he had ever been on.

The Miners dealt with the effects of a seven-day, three-game swing through northern California and Honolulu on Wednesday afternoon at the Don Haskins Center. UTEP, preparing for Friday night's meeting with Louisiana Tech in the Don Haskins Center, went through a good 90-minute practice session.

"It was good," UTEP coach Doc Sadler said. "We got some running in, got a lot of shooting in, sharpened every area. We spent a lot of time on rebounding, because that will be a key Friday night."

UTEP, 21-7 and 11-4 in the Western Athletic Conference race, is playing catch-up. The Miners finish with three home games. Nevada, 13-2, and with a two-game lead, finishes with three road games. But the UTEP players simply are trying to focus on Louisiana Tech -- and get over the effects of the long trip.

"I think we are a little tired today," junior Miguel Ayala said. "But we need to get working hard, improve for Friday night. I think everybody's a little tired. But everybody has a good attitude, and I feel sure we'll be ready for Friday night."

Williams shrugged, grinned and said, "When I first got on the court today, my knees were a little tight and my legs felt heavy. I'll just get into the cold whirlpool the rest of the week, get my legs back, get the soreness out. We'll be fine. Today was a good practice. Everybody went hard, working on a zone defense -- because we know we'll see plenty of zone Friday. We've just got to come back and do the same thing tomorrow."

The Miners have one more day to recuperate, to work and get ready for the team that dusted them 80-65 on Jan. 29 in Ruston, La. That 15-point deficit (along with Texas Tech's 72-57 win) is UTEP's largest loss of the season. However, the Miners were only six points down with three minutes to play in Ruston.

And now UTEP is simply trying to get ready -- and fresh-legged and rested -- for the final run of the regular season.

 

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Dogged resistance: Louisiana Tech always tough



Louisiana Tech coach Keith Richard believes there's nothing more difficult in the Western Athletic Conference than playing UTEP at the Don Haskins Center.

A year ago, however, Richard and his team nearly pulled off a shocking upset in El Paso. Had it not been for some late sharpshooting by Miners guard Gio St. Amant, including a couple of 3-pointers down the stretch, Louisiana Tech might have left the Haskins Center with a victory instead of a 71-68 loss.

In a rare Friday night WAC contest, the Bulldogs (13-11, 8-6) get their final shot at beating UTEP (21-7, 11-4) in its house.

"It's a tough game to play, as it is for everybody that goes in there," Richard said. "They've been extremely good at home the past two years (29-3). It's a place we haven't had success since our first year in the WAC (86-68 win in 2001-02)."

Louisiana Tech, led by sensational sophomore Paul Millsap (19.7 ppg, 11.8 rpg), sees its chance on the offensive glass Friday night. The Bulldogs are ranked second in the WAC in rebounding margin (plus 2.5).

But Tech is coming off a pair of disappointing losses last week to SMU (WAC) and New Orleans. The defeats ended an impressive string in which the Bulldogs won seven of eight WAC games, including an 80-65 home win against UTEP on Jan. 29.

"We kind of disturbed (UTEP's) offense with our zone," Millsap recalled, "and we took away their 3-pointers. But I don't know if it will be the same game plan this time around."

Richard liked a lot of things about his team's first meeting with the Miners this season.

"The tempo was right for us to have a chance," Richard said. "They're a great free-throw shooting team, and we didn't allow them to shoot 20 or 30 free throws (11-of-15). They also didn't shoot the ball the ball well from 3-point range (4-of-24). All those things had a big impact on the outcome."

 

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Miners begin last homestand


And then there were three.

Three games remain on UTEP's schedule, each important, each irrevocably tied to other scenarios. But with three games remaining, there still is plenty of room for hopes and dreams and all sorts of scenarios.

Tonight is Game 1 of those three. UTEP vs. Louisiana Tech in front of an almost certainly sold-out crowd in the Don Haskins Center (only 225 tickets remained as of late Thursday afternoon).

Nevada leads the Western Athletic Conference race at 13-2. UTEP is second at 11-4. Louisiana Tech is tied with Rice for third, each at 8-6. UTEP has hopes and dreams of catching Nevada for a share of the regular-season title. Louisiana Tech has hopes and dreams of catching UTEP for second place in the WAC chase.

In order for either UTEP or Louisiana Tech to have a chance at those hopes and dreams, they have one thing in common. They must win the remainder of their games.

Rebounding and zone offense. Those should be the keys for the Miners.

Louisiana Tech has Paul Millsap, who is third in the nation in rebounding at 11.8 a game. The Bulldogs also have Wayne Powell, who averages 6.5 rebounds a game. So it will be imperative that the Miners put butts against bodies every time a shot is launched.

In the first meeting between these teams, Louisiana Tech rode the wings of a zone defense to an 80-65 victory against the Miners. UTEP made just 4 of 24 from beyond the 3-point arc, turning that zone into a noose for the Miners.

"Talent-wise, Louisiana Tech is as talented and athletic as anyone in our league," UTEP coach Doc Sadler said. "And they are playing well. They are certainly capable of beating anyone in this league. I would certainly be surprised if we didn't see some zone defense. it was successful last time. We got good shots, we just didn't make them. But the thing of it is, you don't get many opportunities against them because they are such a good rebounding team."

Millsap had 20 points, 16 rebounds and six blocks in that first meeting with the Miners. Powell had 17 points, Donnell Allick had 23 points and Daevon Haskins had 14 points, five assists. UTEP was led by Omar Thomas with 23 points. The Miners were plagued by foul problems in that game. Filiberto Rivera fouled out for the only time in his UTEP career. Jason Williams also fouled out. John Tofi and Will Kimble had four fouls each early in the second half.

"The big key for us is to limit them to as many one shot possessions as we can," Tofi said. "Defensive rebounding will be the key. We also know we will see some zone and we've been working on our zone offense. We have to execute well, move the ball from side to side and take good shots. We do that and we'll be OK."

Rivera, who leads the WAC in assists, assist-to-turnover ratio and free throw percentage, said, "This will be a big test, a big challenge. Last time it was disappointing because we couldn't make any shots. But we've been practicing our zone offense. This game is huge. It's huge. We need to take care of our home court. We're a bubble team (for the NCAA Tournament) right now and we can't afford to lose any games. We will have our great crowd there and it is going to be fun."

And then there were three ... each equally important. And tonight is game one.