Floyd set for rematch with Houston

Following a dismal start on the road, head coach Tim Floyd lectured another page from his coaching book to his players.

"Like coach says: boys play at home, men play on the road," senior forward Gabriel McCulley said.

The Miners will continue the hunt for their first road win of the season, Jan. 28 when they head to Houston to face the Cougars for the second and last time of the regular season.

"Houston is a good team. We beat them last time we played them and I am sure they are looking for a little payback at home," McCulley said. "This is not going to be easy at all. We have to really work this week to try and get that win in Houston."

The first meeting against conference-foe Houston was Jan. 7 at the Don Haskins Center, which UTEP won 70-50. The Miners had three players score in double-figures led by McCulley's 22 points, sophomore center John Bohannon's 14 and 11 boards and freshman guard Julian Washburn's 19.

UTEP was able to contain the Cougars' top two leading scorers holding to eight total points. Sophomore forward Alandise Harris had two points and junior forward Jonathon Simmons finished with six. Not one player from Houston's starting five scored double-figures.

"I know it is not going to be like the last game we played here. They are at home and we beat them last time so they are going to want to beat us at their place," Bohannon said. "We just got to get it together and need to get that one stop for the first road win. The one stop that championship teams have. We just need to get over the hump and get one of those."

The Miners are sitting at 0-6 on the road. They lost their last game to Tulane 66-58 Jan. 21 in New Orleans.

"I tell them to keep at it, stay in there and keep working to get better," McCulley said. "We have five more opportunities and we are going to get one on the road. It will come. All we have to do is play on the road like we do at home."

With McCulley being the lone senior, the team has looked for him to rally them to a road victory. However, McCulley seems to have troubles on the road himself, scoring just 17 points combined in the last three road games. Against Tulane, he shot 40 percent and he finished with only four points.

"I have not been aggressive on the road as I have been at home. It is just something about the UTEP fans that play a role with me," McCulley said. That is something I am going to have to change. If I want to lead this team, it is going to have to start with me."

Houston is coming off an 82-76 win over East Carolina and both Simmons and Harris scored 19 apiece. UTEP also beat East Carolina 70-56 Jan. 18 at the Don Haskins Center.

"They got their head up with a recent win," Floyd said. "They had looked like a team that could compete for a league title looking at how they could rebound and they were scoring about 80 points a game. They are a lot like us with a lot of youngsters and a lot of turnovers."

Despite UTEP's 8-3 record at home, Floyd feels that his team is giving up too much defensively at the Don Haskins Center.

"It has been the worst defensive team that I have coached," Floyd said. "You can see that on the defensive boards, second chance opportunities, defensive field goal percentage, 3-point field goal percentage for opponents and we are last in the league. Is it quickness, foot speed, inexperience or strength? These are things we are asking ourselves."

Frankie Rodriguez may be reached at prospector@utep.edu.