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UT San Antonio’s Keon Lewis hit a three-pointer with four seconds to go to tie the game up at 54 and seemingly send it into overtime. Then, Florida International’s Dennis Mavin banked in a half-court shot to beat the buzzer and send the Cougars into the next round of the Conference USA Tournament.
UTEP will play FIU tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. in the Legacy Arena at the BJCC. The second-seeded Miners will face the Cougars for a second time this season, this time with the winner advancing to the semifinals of the conference tournament and the loser most-likely having their season ended.
“We’re healthy and we’re excited,” said UTEP coach Tim Floyd. “Those are two things that have to be in place for you to have any kind of opportunity.”
The first meeting between the two squads took place in Florida, with the Miners narrowly escaping with the victory 67-64. In that game UTEP had four players score in double digits, but allowed two Cougars to score over 20 points on the night.
Mavin scored a game-high 23 points and Daviyon Draper scored 21, while the rest of the FIU players scored a combined 20. UTEP was led by Vince Hunter’s 18 points—C.J. Cooper, Earvin Morris and Hooper Vint also scored in double-figures. No points were bigger in that game though than freshmen Omega Harris’ put back with under a minute to play.
“Florida International had us beat, 64-63, with 22 seconds to go,” Floyd said. “And we got a tip-in from a point guard (Harris) who was supposed to be back on defense.”
On paper the matchup greatly favors UTEP. The Miners have a 21-9 record, while FIU came into the tournament with more losses than wins on the year. With today’s win the Cougars have an unimpressive overall record of 16-16.
The Miners rank among the top five in Conference USA in both scoring offense and defense. UTEP averages 69.4 points per game—fifth best in the league—and allows opponents to score an average of 63.3 points per game—third in conference. FIU is fifth in scoring defense allowing opponents 65 points a game, but is the worst scoring offense among those still alive in the tournament averaging just 62.3 points per game.
Still, Floyd and the Miners know better than to take any team lightly, especially in the post season.
“I have been down the road enough to know that any of these teams can beat you because of what’s at stake,” Floyd said. “You can never underestimate the will of your opponent, what they’re comprised of and what’s at stake for them.”
The Cougars, although unimpressive offensively as a team, do have one of the top scorers in the league. Coming into the tournament, Mavin was the third best scorer in Conference USA, averaging 17.1 points per game. The senior guard scored 15 points, got nine rebounds and recorded five assists today against UTSA.
The task of guarding Mavin will probably be assigned to senior Julian Washburn. The six-foot-eight guard from Dallas, Tx., was just named the Conference Defensive Player of the Year and has guarded the most talented scorers in Conference USA throughout his career usually making them a non-factor in the game.
This year Washburn’s defensive assignments have ranged from guarding a player like Florida Atlantic’s Marquan Botley atfive-foot-10, to Rice’s Seth Gearhart, who is listed at six-foot-seven. He limited Old Dominion’s Trey Freeman—C-USA Newcomer of the Year, first team all-Conference and second leading scorer in the league—to just six points in the one metting this year between Miners and Monarchs.
Washburn’s play will be key for UTEP’s success in this postseason, but the performances of the Miners’ other guards will also be crucial.
“Generally guard play carries you through these (games),” Floyd said. “You have to have guards that can go play for three days, guards that can play in a lot of different situations.”
After a wild game to kick off this year’s Conference USA Tournament, the Miners now know who their first will be on the road to returning to the NCAA Tournament. It will be the first of what they hope will be three games, against three different opponents with unique styles, personnel and set of challenges, but with that same exact goal.
“We’re going to have to win three games against a variety of opponents,” Floyd said. “We’re going to have to be resilient.”
The game will be televised on the American Sports Network. It can be seen in El Paso on Time Warner Digital Cable Channel 1248 and over the air channel 14.2. The game is also scheduled for streaming on www.americansportsnet.com.
Luis Gonzalez may be reached at [email protected].
