Tulsa Drops Conference Opener to UTEP

The Golden Hurricane held an early lead, but the Miners battled back to take the lead.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:08 pm

By: News On 6

Originally Published: Jan 5, 2011 10:47 PM CDT

Gerald Goodridge
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

EL PASO, Texas -- After the holding a lead early in the second half, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane dropped its conference opener 69-59 Wednesday to the UTEP Miners.

Trailing 40-39 less than four minutes into the second half, the Miners strung together a 15-7 run – including six by Julyan Stone and Randy Culpepper – to take a 54-47 lead with eight minutes left in the game.

Tulsa responded with four quick points, but the Miners responded with five points back-to-back to close the door on a Golden Hurricane comeback.

UTEP’s Culpepper led all scorers with 29 points, while Christian Polk added 12 and grabbed three boards.

Justin Hurtt led the Golden Hurricane with 21 points, despite turning the ball over six times, while Bryson Pope scored 10 and grabbed five rebounds.

Tulsa will be back in action at 8:05 p.m. Saturday against the Rice Owls to try to notch its first C-USA win.