Big Second Half Lifts UTEP over Men's Basketball
11/19/2008 5:17:00 AM | Men's Basketball
EL PASO, Texas --- UTEP exploded for 57 second-half points, and was keyed by a 13-2 run to overcome a halftime deficit and win 96-71 over Georgia Southern Tuesday night at the Don Haskins Center.
The Miners stay perfect at 2-0 while the Eagles even their mark at 2-2.
“I think we need to understand how important it is to be mentally tough on the road and we're not there yet,” said GSU head coach Jeff Price. “We've got a lot of tough road games to go. We hung in there for quite awhile but they went on a spurt and I thought we caved in. We just can't cave in in those situations. We couldn't get back in the game.”
UTEP was actually more accurate shooting the ball in the first half, hitting 56.0% in the opening 20 minutes and 51.4% in the final period, but converted nine GSU turnovers into 16 points in the second half and hit 18 free throws.
A Randy Culpepper 3-pointer at the 17:12 mark of the second half started a 13-2 run that turned a 47-45 deficit into a commanding 58-49 lead.
The Miners trailed by no fewer than six points the rest of the way.
“We made a couple of careless turnovers,” said Price. “They shot the ball well in the second half and got us out of our zone and we had to go man-to-man and they attacked the basket really well.”
Culpepper sparked the UTEP offense in the first half with 24 points while Stefon Jackson scored 24 of his 26 after halftime. Culpepper finished with a game-high 35.
For Georgia Southern, junior Antonio Hanson (Fort Worth, Texas) finished with 17 points on 5-of-12 3-point shooting and dished out four assists. Senior Julian Allen (Waterbury, Conn.) and junior Sandy Perry (Perth Amboy, N.J.) added 15 each and freshman Ben Drayton III (St. Mary's, Ga.) added 11 off the bench.
Sophomore Willie Powers (Gainesville, Fla.) contributed 10 points and had a team-high five assists.
The Eagles shot 55.2% from the field in the opening period to take a 41-39 lead at halftime.
Georgia Southern does not return to the court until Saturday, Nov. 29 when they host Austin Peay State at 2 p.m.
The Miners stay perfect at 2-0 while the Eagles even their mark at 2-2.
“I think we need to understand how important it is to be mentally tough on the road and we're not there yet,” said GSU head coach Jeff Price. “We've got a lot of tough road games to go. We hung in there for quite awhile but they went on a spurt and I thought we caved in. We just can't cave in in those situations. We couldn't get back in the game.”
UTEP was actually more accurate shooting the ball in the first half, hitting 56.0% in the opening 20 minutes and 51.4% in the final period, but converted nine GSU turnovers into 16 points in the second half and hit 18 free throws.
A Randy Culpepper 3-pointer at the 17:12 mark of the second half started a 13-2 run that turned a 47-45 deficit into a commanding 58-49 lead.
The Miners trailed by no fewer than six points the rest of the way.
“We made a couple of careless turnovers,” said Price. “They shot the ball well in the second half and got us out of our zone and we had to go man-to-man and they attacked the basket really well.”
Culpepper sparked the UTEP offense in the first half with 24 points while Stefon Jackson scored 24 of his 26 after halftime. Culpepper finished with a game-high 35.
For Georgia Southern, junior Antonio Hanson (Fort Worth, Texas) finished with 17 points on 5-of-12 3-point shooting and dished out four assists. Senior Julian Allen (Waterbury, Conn.) and junior Sandy Perry (Perth Amboy, N.J.) added 15 each and freshman Ben Drayton III (St. Mary's, Ga.) added 11 off the bench.
Sophomore Willie Powers (Gainesville, Fla.) contributed 10 points and had a team-high five assists.
The Eagles shot 55.2% from the field in the opening period to take a 41-39 lead at halftime.
Georgia Southern does not return to the court until Saturday, Nov. 29 when they host Austin Peay State at 2 p.m.
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