UTEP Silences The Owls 65-53

The UTEP Miners led throughout the majority of the game, and defeated the Rice Owls 65-53.  The Miners are 2-0 on their 3 game home stand which concludes on Saturday against Tulsa. 

UTEP had a solid offensive performance shooting 51% from the field, and made 10 out of 19 three points attempts, shooting 52.6% from downtown.  The Miners did not go to the free throw line too often throughout the evening, and were forced to make their perimeter shots, which they did with tremendous success.  They had no problem with the Owl's zone defense.

UTEP had 3 players score double digit points.  C.J. Cooper led all scorers with 14, while John Bohannon added 11, and Julian Washburn contributed with 10 points.  Rice has been dismal this season winning only 5 games. The Miners led by 19 points in the second half, but allowed the Owls to hang around throughout the game.

Next up for UTEP is a rematch with the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, a team that shut down the Miners back in January by holding them to a season low 42 points.  Following  the UTEP victory Coach Floyd talked about how he would like to see his team go 3-0 during their home stand, he mentioned,