Hi 71 / Lo 54
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Hi 71 / Lo 54 |
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Volume 71, Issue 79,
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Sports
UH welcomes UTEP to Hofheinz by BEN GEGENHEIMER
The men's basketball team looks to win its third consecutive game Wednesday night when it faces UTEP, which is tied for the top spot in Conference USA. With an 8-2 record at Hofheinz Pavilion, the Cougars will definitely have the highly coveted home court advantage. UTEP has a record of 12-5, and are 3-3 on the road. After their 69-56 win over Marshall on Saturday, the Cougars find themselves leading the conference in three-point field goal percentage (.360), three-pointers made per game (9.7) and steals per game (12.6). Junior guard Oliver Lafayette is No. 1 in C-USA with 3.4 steals per game after swiping the ball five times against the Thundering Herd. The Cougars will need to continue their offensive success and aggressive defensive play against UTEP, which is 5-0 in conference play.
Senior Forward Ramon Dyer has been the Cougars' most consistent player as of late, averaging 13 points in the last four games. Nada Elsayed/The Daily Cougar The Miners escaped with a 57-53 win over SMU on Saturday in El Paso. They were led by senior guard Miguel Ayala, who scored a career-high 25 points. Ayala also tied a school record with seven three-pointers in the game. However, Ayala's biggest contribution may have come in the final 17 seconds of the contest as he converted 4-4 from the foul line to secure UTEP's four-point victory. Along with Memphis forward Rodney Carney, Ayala was named C-USA Co-Player of the Week as a result of his performance. UH will rely on solid play from its bench against UTEP, just as it did in the win over Marshall. In that game, sophomore forward Sam Anderson came off the bench to score a career-high 13 points, including 11 in the first half. In all, the Cougars received 28 points from non-starters. UH (12-6, 3-3) enters Wednesday night's game averaging 68.3 points in conference games while the Miners are allowing just 60 points in C-USA match-ups. UTEP also leads the all-time series 4-1, the lone loss coming at Hofheinz Pavilion back in the 2002-03 season. Wednesday night's game will be nationally televised on CSTV. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. Admission is free for students who provide a valid UH ID.s Send comments to dcsports@mail.uh.edu |
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