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| Volume 11, No. 49 |
September 1-7, 2010 |
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| | C-USA TOURNEY, HERE WE COME | | By Steve Escajeda | |  UTEP is one of the hottest basketball teams in the nation, having reeled off 14 consecutive victories; but the Miners still need three straight wins this week to guarantee themselves a ticket to the NCAA’s big dance.
The No. 21 Miners (24-5), who earned an opening-round bye at the Conference USA Basketball Tournament in Tulsa, will take on the winner of Wednesday’s SMU (14-16) vs. Central Florida (14-16) first-round game on Thursday at 8 p.m.
“We’ve prepared all year long for this situation, and now it’s time to go take advantage of this opportunity,” UTEP coach Tony Barbee said.
The Miners closed out the regular season with a last-second 52-50 comeback win over UAB last Saturday, converting the Don Haskins Center from a hoops court to a championship celebration party.
“We’ve won a lot of close games down the stretch, and any time you find yourself in those kinds of situations and find a way to win them – that breeds confidence,” said Barbee. “You feel you can dig yourself out of any kind of hole.”
In fact, winning those close games at the end of the season may work to UTEP’s advantage.
“The schedule makers did us a favor handing us two big games against Marshall and UAB down the stretch,” Barbee said. “It helped keep our sharpness and our focus. Playing hard to the end helps prepare us for the conference tournament.”
UTEP point guard Julyan Stone agrees that the tough games help keep the team on track.
“This game (UAB) was a reality check for us, and I think we’ll be totally focused for the tournament,” he said. “It’s really up to us. This team can win a national championship or we can go out in the first round – it all depends on us.”
Based on their national ranking and regular season league title, there are many who believe the Miners will be in the NCAA Tournament even if they fail to win the C-USA tournament this week.
“I think we’re still in the big dance no matter what happens this week, but we want to win it and get a good seeding,” said UTEP’s leading scorer Randy Culpepper.
With all the success they’ve enjoyed this season, the Miners’ most influential newcomer is convinced he made the right decision to continue his basketball career at UTEP.
“That’s why I came here,” Derrick Caracter said. “I love the place, I love the people, I love the coach and I love my teammates. It’s a great feeling that we did it for all the fans in El Paso.”
As far as the Miners’ path to the tournament championship, the players aren’t particular about their opponents.
“It doesn’t matter what teams we play in the tournament. We’re just going to play hard against everyone,” said backup center Claude Britten. “We’ll all just do whatever we can to help the team win.”
Barbee has seen his team steadily improve from 14 wins his first season to 19 the next and to 23 last season.
“When you build a program with freshmen, there are going to be some growing pains and these guys have the scars to prove it,” Barbee said. “Now we’re starting to reap the fruits of that early labor.
“This is where the program deserves to be and it’s where it deserves to stay.”
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