As the UTEP was leading 38-25 at the half on the road versus the Houston Cougars this past weekend it looked as if the long awaited road win was well within the Miners reach.
Unfortunately, the Houston Cougars stormed back in the second half and overtime to hand the Miners a crushing 81-76 loss abruptly ending any chance to capture the first road win of the season.
UTEP had their chances and could not take advantage even after playing great basketball for the first 34 minutes of the game.
With six minutes left and the Miners leading 68-60 following a big three-pointer from senior Gabriel McCulley, UTEP seemed to be in control of the game as time was running out on the Cougars.
You knew a run was coming as in most games with two evenly matched teams, UTEP kept Houston at bay for most of the game, but the Cougars just kept plugging away and eventually took a 64-63 lead with just over two minutes left.
Even with McCulley on the bench fouling out with 2:04 in the game the Miners were able to force overtime and almost pulled out the win when C.J. Cooper’s last second three-point shot was disallowed at the regulation buzzer.
Still the Miners had five more minutes to come away with a win and it looked good for another four minutes and 15 seconds in the extra session.
UTEP held a four point lead after a Michael Perez jumper, 76-72 with 45 seconds left in the game, game over, right?
Not so fast, after a defensive lapse and careless turnover on an inbounds pass the Cougars outscored the Miners 9-0 to end the game thus ending any chance to get the road monkey off their backs.
So what happened?
They certainly had their chances they just couldn’t finish off the Cougars at the end of the second half or overtime.
I know fans will make the case that the youth of the team is to blame and you could make a great case as the team’s lone senior was on the bench for the last two minutes of the game and overtime, but I am pretty sure the players won’t use that as an excuse.
Not anymore.
I believe the lack of experience and youth of this team have played a part in the team’s continued struggles on the road, but after 21 games and seven on the road (four in conference play) that excuse won’t hold for much longer.
Road losses to Marshall and Tulsa were not surprising and when looking at the schedule a loss to each team was almost expected based on the returning players for both teams. However, the Tulane and Houston games were extremely disappointing especially with the way the team has been playing offensively. Actually I have to admit this team is further ahead offensively than I thought they would be at this point in the season.
It has certainly been a letdown to see a Tim Floyd coached team struggle so much defensively in the second halves of each of the last four conference losses, but if they can somehow pull out the win at Rice on Wednesday it would give the team the confidence on the road to keep it going for the rest of the season.
I understand playing on the road is no walk in the park and no disrespect to the fan bases at Marshall, Tulsa, Tulane and Houston, but the crowds haven’t exactly been that hostile. Aside from the Marshall game it is fair to say the Miners could be sitting at 3-1 on road in conference play.
Not a comforting thought for UTEP fans especially after blowing a 15-point lead to Houston on Saturday, but the Miners will get another crack in couple days to try and conquer that first road win of the season.
We have all witnessed this team grow over the last twenty plus games with some nice wins at home; now it’s time they prove they can overcome their road woes.
With four more road games on the docket and two against Memphis and UCF, the Rice matchup looms large with only the regular season finale at SMU the last realistic chance to avoid going winless on the road.
The outlook is not looking good and time is not on the Miners side, but I have a feeling Floyd and this squad will get it done sooner rather than later.
Josh Puga can be reached at show@minerillustrated.com or you can follow him on Twitter at @jpuga1966.
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A VERY disappointing loss. As the team travels on the road to top level success, they simply have failed to master step two, learning to win consistently. But I am confident it will come. Tim Floyd is a great coach we are just one or two players away from having a very sucesful team. Whether it is Malcolm Moore or someone else, we are close. An as always, my family and the rest of the Miner faithfull will be there; we have to be there to support OUR team, OUR ONLY TEAM, come rain or shine.
The defensive effort has been there the past few games. The main reason for the defensive lapses you allude to has more to do with UTEP’s depth… or more precisely, lack of depth. Streeter and washburn fouled out vs Tulane. Lang and Bohannon fouled out vs Houston. We don’t have depth on the perimeter or inside to make up for this loss of personnel during games. This led to bad matchups late in both games. I applaud the mix and match job coach Floyd has done with what he has available. The Miners are a few players short of having an excellent squad. Recruiting will fix this. If UTEP can stay out of foul trouble they can beat anyone in the league. But that is the problem. Foul trouble exposes lack of depth. I don’t recall if any Miners fouled out of any home games, but playing at home in front of an inspired crowd can make up for some shortcomings with respect to depth. Best of luck to the Miners the rest of the way. The road wins will come. I think they will win at least one if not two before the CUSA touney. UTEP will be the team no one wants to draw. They are getting better and should peak by tournament time.
Oops. I meant Bo and streeter fouled out vs Tulane. And Lang / McCulley fouled out vs Houston.