Derrick Caracter's game winning dunk against UAB (Image: Jeff Taylor)

The #21 UTEP Miners relied on a last second dunk by junior Derrick Caracter to defeat the UAB Blazers Saturday night at the Don Haskins Center.UTEP overcame a 14 point deficit early in the second half to notch its 14th straight victory. After a cold shooting night from UTEP’s usual suspects, namely Randy Culpepper, Miners reverted to their stifling defense to get them back into the contest. UTEP leads CUSA in opponents field goal percentage at 38.8% and didn’t disappoint on Saturday holding UAB to 36% shooting. But, it was UTEP’s 37.5% shooting that caused concern until a spark plug was inserted to give life into the C-USA champs.

The spark plug?  Junior guard, Myron Strong, continues to provide solid minutes coming off the bench. “Our offense was anemic in the first half,” said head coach Tony Barbee, “(but) our defense kept it relatively close so that we can be at arm’s length and a big part of that was Myron Strong.” While the rest of the team shot 31% from the field in the first half, Strong would shoot 67% in the first and finish shooting 75% for the game, including 67% from 3 point land. The Memphis native finished the night leading UTEP scorers with 15 points and also contributed with 3 rebounds.

The compliment to the Strong performance was the solid Caracter in the low post. Junior forward, Derrick Caracter, would fall victim to early foul trouble and would only log in 4 minutes of play in the first half. After making the necessary adjustments at halftime, Caracter would fully utilize the 18 second half minutes he played culminating to the game winning dunk. “Coach told Julyan to make a play, we ran ‘UTEP’, and I happened to be open,” recounted Caracter. “My man helped out on him (Stone) and he passed me the ball and I just tried to go up there with as much power as I could.”

It was more than just “being open” while Coach Barbee describes why Derrick happened to be at the right place at the right time. “Julyan was the key, but so was Derrick. He continued on to his second assignment. His first assignment was to get Julyan Stone open. His second assignment was to get to the backside of the rim. He could have screened and stopped but he screened, got Julyan open, and ran to the backside of the rim.” Caracter would finish the night with 13 points and 6 rebounds, all in the second half.

Again, the Miners needed “someone to step up” and they got it from Myron Strong. Culpepper, Moultrie, Williams, all struggled Saturday night but it’s UTEP’s special depth that sealed another close victory and a historic run for the 2009-10 edition of UTEP basketball. The Miners have now won 4 contests in which they’ve had to overcome deficits of 10 points or more this season. This team has found a way to win despite any setbacks and it’s testament to their championship approach to the season.

UTEP will now travel to the Conference USA Tournament where they will face the winner of the UCF/SMU matchup on Thursday.

Miner Illustrated Stats and Notes

-Leading Scorer: Strong 915)
-Leading Rebounder: Moultrie (8)
-Field Goal %: 37.5%
-3pt Shooting: 27%
-FT Shooting: 46%
-Assist to Turnover ratio: .69 (11:16)
-MI Stat(s) of the Game: Points off turnovers, 21-8 UTEP; Bench scoring, 27-7 UTEP

Notes:

-UTEP has won its 14th straight, the first time since the 1985-86 season
-Miners have finished the conference home slate undefeated for the 15th time since 1950 and first since the 2005-06 season
-UTEP handed UAB its second loss in games decided within 5 points (the other team being Memphis this past Wednesday)
-Miners have a 6-5 game advantage in the series and a 5-1 edge in games played in EPT
-Controversy Note of the Game: UAB coach, Mike Davis, was livid after Caracter’s dunk citing that UTEP had rushed the court with time still on the clock and should have been called for a technical foul. Davis would pursue the referees after the game demanding an explanation and recalled the conversation to reporters later, “They told me that if the team thought the game was over, then they wouldn’t call a technical foul.” UTEP coach Barbee would offer a different take on the situation when asked about it in the press conference room after the game. “There was a timeout called so guys coming onto the floor wasn’t an issue. The confusion was with the officials and there wasn’t confusion, they were just taking their time to make sure they had the clock right.”