Miners hang on to win Conference USA title

The addition of forward Derrick Caracter to this year's team has helped improve the UTEP basketball team as a result of his play. After his performance down the stretch against Marshall, he has now helped the team win a title.

Caracter carried the Miners in the game's final minutes against the Thundering Herd and helped lead  UTEP to an impressive 80-76 road victory at the Cam Henderson Center March 2. The loss snapped Marshall's seven-game winning streak.

Randy Culpepper led the Miners with a game-high 32 points while making seven of 11 3-pointers. Caracter finished with 18 points and four blocks, including 10 points in the game's final five minutes. Off the bench, Claude Britten pitched in 14 points.

For Marshall (22-8, 10-5 C-USA), it was their frontcourt that led the way. Forward Tyler Wilkerson led the Thundering Herd with 22 points and 16 rebounds while forward Hassan Whiteside finished with 20 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks.

With the win, UTEP (23-5, 14-1 C-USA) claimed an outright share of the Conference USA regular season title for the first time. It also marked the first outright regular season conference title since 1987, when the school was still a part of the Western Athletic Conference.

The first 10 minutes of the contest were very close as the Miners managed to build a modest five-point advantage before enduring a big Marshall run that changed momentum. With the Thundering Herd trailing 21-16, their defense was successful in containing the Miners and a 20-5 run ensued, which gave Marshall a 36-26 lead just before halftime.

A Culpepper 3-pointer trimmed the deficit to seven points at the break, but that shot foreshadowed the impact he would have to start the next half. With UTEP trailing 38-31, Culpepper caught fire, making three 3-pointers on consecutive possessions, capping the last one off with a four-point play to give the Miners 41-38 lead.

UTEP built their lead to as many as 11 points at 62-51 with nine minutes remaining before Marshall mounted a rally. The Thundering Herd retook the lead following a 21-6 run that put them on top 72-68 with four minutes left in the game.

Caracter and Jeremy Williams rallied the Miners back to end the game, combining to score 10 of the team's final 12 points, including a go-ahead basket by Caracter to give UTEP a 78-76 lead with 36 seconds remaining. Marshall turned the ball over in their next possession and Culpepper iced the contest with two free throws.

The Miners wrapped up the road portion of the season having won their final seven games away from the Don Haskins Center, tying a school record for consecutive wins. Overall, UTEP is currently riding a 13-game winning streak, which is tied for the second longest active streak in the nation through the games of March 2.

UTEP will finish up the regular season at the Don Haskins Center March 6 when they take on the third-place UAB Blazers at 7:05 p.m.

Herman Rojas may be reached at prospector@utep.edu.