EL PASO, Texas — UTEP shrugged off their four game losing streak as they defeated Tulsa, 54-43, Wednesday night at the Don Haskins Center. The Miners trounced the Golden Hurricane who was coming off a seven game winning streak by playing some stifling defense by not allowing them an inch of space.

“Nice win, we got off the proverbial snide with four straight losses and guarded our way out of it,” Floyd said. “We really bottled up a lot of their drives with Lang, Bohannon, and McCulley. I like that I like the fact that we rebounded and we’re one of the better rebounding teams in the league and once again our guys played like losing bothered them.”

Sophomore forward John Bohannon led the Miners scored 14 points, while freshman guard Julian Washburn chipped in 13 points and four rebounds. Sophomore guard Mike Perez scored 14 points and had six rebounds. UTEP took advantage of their possession down low by scoring 36 points down in the paint and brought down 38 rebounds.

It was a difficult night shooting for the Miners who only converted 47 percent of their shots from the field, and didn’t make a three-pointer the entire game. The UTEP bench scored 23 points on the night thanks to junior guard Jacques Streeter and Bohannon.

The Miners got off to a hot start thanks to four straight baskets from Washburn. UTEP managed to take care of their fast break chances by converting four of their quick drives at the hoop. The Miners managed to create chances at the free throw line but they didn’t take their shots well by only making 61 percent of them.

“Julian got us going offensively and I like the way the baskets came by him getting the ball to the rim, versus him just settling,” Floyd said. “As a result he shot five free throws and 36 in 21 games, which is not enough by a guy with his athleticism. He didn’t make them, but we’ll work on that next trying to make a free throw or two down the stretch.”

UTEP’s strong defensive helped force the Golden Hurricane into nine turnovers and strained them into only shooting 32 percent from the field. UTEP was able to capitalize their chances under the rim by bringing down 19 boards, and took their chances down low by scoring 20 points in the paint.

Tulsa had a rough night overall shooting the ball making 34 percent of their shots from the field and only making half of their free throws. Sophomore guard Jordan Clarkson led the way for the Golden Hurricane by scoring 16 points and brought down five rebounds, while junior guard Scottie Haralson who chipped in with 13 points.

“I ‘d like to think it was us and they’ll probably say it was them, but I thought we trapped, and I saw some lengthy defensive possessions and some shots taken late,” Floyd said when asked if it was Tulsa having an off night or UTEP playing good defensively. “Tonight we produced things that we have not been able to do.”

UTEP will try to make light from this win as they take on Tulane, Saturday night at the Don Haskins Center.

Gus Contreras can be reached at show@minerillustrated.com or you can follow him on Twitter at @GusContreras21.