Location, location, location

After falling short in overtime to Houston on the road 81-76 Jan. 28, the Miners look to bounce back and capture their first road win against Rice Feb. 1 at Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston.

"It was tough. We felt like it was a winnable game because we played well for about 35 minutes there," sophomore guard Michael Perez said. "There is always that five-minute stretch where things don't go our way or the way that we game planned or practiced and came up short."

Rebounding is what UTEP has struggled with the most and they are facing a team who ranks 52nd overall in the nation with 37.7 boards a game. Junior forward Arsalan Kazemi leads the way, averaging a double-double with 11.3 rebounds and 13.1 points per game.

"They got a good team this year from a lot of their good guys coming back. Kazemi is one of their best players and he is also a returning player," Perez said. "It is going to be a tough team because they play a screen and roll game, and they will be tough to defend. It will be hard to win on their home court, but we feel it is another winnable game."

The Owls also have another player who is averaging double-digit scoring in junior guard Tamir Jackson‘s 11.4 points. He did not play against Tulane due to a one-game suspension by Conference-USA for a flagrant foul in the game against Memphis.

Rice is coming off an 88-74 win Jan. 28 against Tulane, while UTEP lost to the same team Jan. 21 58-66 on the road. In that game, the Owls shot 50 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from beyond the arc. While their top scorer Kazemi was quiet that game producing just six points, senior guard Connor Frizzell added 22 points and sophomore center Omar Oraby finished with 16 points.

"Rice has gone through a transformation in terms of the players they have played in the last two weeks," head coach Tim Floyd said. "They have guys that were not in their top scoring that are now second and third (Jackson and Frizzelle). They started playing a 7-2 center (Oraby) that is very effective and they changed their game defensively. These guys have provided a real spark recently, and are different then what we scouted four weeks ago."

The Miners are in desperation of a road win because of what it would mean to them.

"We got another chance to get our first win of the season and we not only want to prove to other people in this conference, but to ourselves that we can win on the road," Perez said. "We have what it takes to do that so we are going to continue to work hard and game plan to get ready for Rice (Feb. 1)."

With a short week of preparation, the Miners are soaking in everything they can practice.

"We just watched film on them so we just know a little bit on them, but not too much," freshman center Cedrick Lang said. "The coaches know more so we will go over that soon. I know they do a lot of screen and roll stuff so we are going to be working a lot on that this week as well as their coverage…We need that road win."

In regards to that short week, Floyd knows it is going to be more about focusing on his team rather than the opposition.

"We understand that Rice is a terrific shooting team, they have size, it is another opportunity at a road game but right now it is more about us being able to sustain for 40 minutes on the road," Floyd said.

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