UTEP is hoping to put the skids on a pair of streaks tonight -- its own four-game losing streak and Tulsa's seven-game winning streak.
The Miners have hardly been slumping. More than that, the Miners have just gotten the bitter taste of some hard luck ... losing in overtime at Houston, losing on a shot with two-tenths of a second at Rice and losing 61-60 to UAB when a Miner shot at the buzzer did not drop.
Still, UTEP coach Tim Floyd is going to change things a little.
"We've decided to re-shuffle the deck,"
Floyd said. "Just change things up a bit. We'll give Ced (6-foot-9 freshman Cedrick Lang) a look early and we'll give D'Von (freshman guard Campbell) a look at the point. We hope these guys will give us a different look."
Lang has been limited with a stress fracture in his right foot. He spent most of Tuesday's practice in a hooded sweatshirt, riding a stationary bicycle. Campbell worked with the first unit throughout the practice session. Junior Jacques Streeter, who has started 22 of 23 games, worked with the second unit.
"D'Von's going to start," Floyd said. "Ced might. We want to get him out there before that foot gets too stiff."
Tulsa knows all about streaks. The Hurricane are 14-9 overall and 7-2 in Conference USA play, just
half a beat behind league leader Southern Miss. But back on Jan. 11, when UTEP visited Tulsa, life was far different for the Hurricane. They were 7-9 overall and 0-2 in conference play.
But the Hurricane, leading 41-40, went on an 11-3 run to break open the close game and went on to take a 59-48 win over the Miners.
And away went Tulsa.
And, as for the Miners, they are just eager to play again ... eager to erase all that recent heartache.
"We're all really excited about another opportunity to play again," sophomore guard Michael Perez said. "That's the great thing about basketball. You get another chance pretty quick. We played them pretty well there, but we didn't contain the dribble and we didn't defend the screen and roll very well. We need to improve on those things and hopefully we can get a different outcome."
Freshman Julian Washburn said, "We really want to try and get this one. Hopefully, we don't lose another close ball game. We need to come out hard, dominate early. We need to rebound a little better, switch a little better, guard the three-pointer a little better and, hopefully, we can come out with a win."
Tonight's Miner Legend will be Paul Cunningham, one of UTEP's outstanding defensive players. Cunningham helped UTEP get 84 wins in the first half of the 1980s. Cunningham played in the middle of UTEP's leather-tough 3-2 zone in the 1983-84 season, helping the Miners get off to a 15-0 start. UTEP finished the season 27-4 and went to the NCAA Tournament.
This year's Miner team will be trying to grab some of that magic, trying to turn a losing streak into a winning streak ... and Tulsa's winning streak into a losing streak.
The Miners have hardly been slumping. More than that, the Miners have just gotten the bitter taste of some hard luck ... losing in overtime at Houston, losing on a shot with two-tenths of a second at Rice and losing 61-60 to UAB when a Miner shot at the buzzer did not drop.
Still, UTEP coach Tim Floyd is going to change things a little.
"We've decided to re-shuffle the deck,"
Floyd said. "Just change things up a bit. We'll give Ced (6-foot-9 freshman Cedrick Lang) a look early and we'll give D'Von (freshman guard Campbell) a look at the point. We hope these guys will give us a different look."
Lang has been limited with a stress fracture in his right foot. He spent most of Tuesday's practice in a hooded sweatshirt, riding a stationary bicycle. Campbell worked with the first unit throughout the practice session. Junior Jacques Streeter, who has started 22 of 23 games, worked with the second unit.
"D'Von's going to start," Floyd said. "Ced might. We want to get him out there before that foot gets too stiff."
Tulsa knows all about streaks. The Hurricane are 14-9 overall and 7-2 in Conference USA play, just
half a beat behind league leader Southern Miss. But back on Jan. 11, when UTEP visited Tulsa, life was far different for the Hurricane. They were 7-9 overall and 0-2 in conference play.
But the Hurricane, leading 41-40, went on an 11-3 run to break open the close game and went on to take a 59-48 win over the Miners.
And away went Tulsa.
And, as for the Miners, they are just eager to play again ... eager to erase all that recent heartache.
"We're all really excited about another opportunity to play again," sophomore guard Michael Perez said. "That's the great thing about basketball. You get another chance pretty quick. We played them pretty well there, but we didn't contain the dribble and we didn't defend the screen and roll very well. We need to improve on those things and hopefully we can get a different outcome."
Freshman Julian Washburn said, "We really want to try and get this one. Hopefully, we don't lose another close ball game. We need to come out hard, dominate early. We need to rebound a little better, switch a little better, guard the three-pointer a little better and, hopefully, we can come out with a win."
Tonight's Miner Legend will be Paul Cunningham, one of UTEP's outstanding defensive players. Cunningham helped UTEP get 84 wins in the first half of the 1980s. Cunningham played in the middle of UTEP's leather-tough 3-2 zone in the 1983-84 season, helping the Miners get off to a 15-0 start. UTEP finished the season 27-4 and went to the NCAA Tournament.
This year's Miner team will be trying to grab some of that magic, trying to turn a losing streak into a winning streak ... and Tulsa's winning streak into a losing streak.
