Miners Go Cold in 45-39 Loss to Southern Miss

As the temperatures across the borderland plummeted, so did UTEP's field goal percentage in Hattiesburg.  The Miners shot an embarrassing 30% in the 45-39 loss to the Golden Eagles.  Southern Miss didn't exactly light it up either, but they played well enough down the stretch to earn the hard fought victory.

UTEP's six point halftime lead evaporated as quickly as an El Paso snow dusting with the poor second half performance.  Julian Washburn's jumper with 12:52 to go gave UTEP a 29-24 lead.  The Miners did not hit another field goal until the 3:45 mark.

UTEP settled for way too many jump shots and did little to drive the ball or work it inside.  It was an ugly performance, and their road woes continue.  The Miners will close out the week Saturday night against NMSU in Las Cruces.

Floyd had this to say about his teams' woes:

“It’s always frustrating when you don’t make shots.  But at the same time, I’m very pleased with how hard our guys played on the defensive end.  It was not like Houston, where we did not do anything on the other end.”
“I was pleased with some of our offensive board work in the first half.  We didn’t get many in the second.  In games like this, where you’re struggling scoring and shooting, you’d love to have second chance opportunities.  We just fired up way too many threes, probably the most we’ve taken all year long.”