TU Hoping Third Time's the Charm vs. UTEP

Originally Published: Mar 11, 2010 11:7 PM CDT

Bobby Lewis
Oklahoma Sports Mobile Journalist

TULSA, Oklahoma – Tulsa’s survival act will be put to the test again in the Conference USA tournament when the Golden Hurricane takes on the UTEP Miners on Friday. Tulsa has had to battle back from halftime deficits in each of its league tournament wins this week.

UTEP handled Central Florida easily in round two Wednesday night. The Miners have won 15 straight games. That streak includes a pair of wins over the Golden Hurricane.

In early February, the Miners downed TU at home 73-59 behind a Derrick Caracter double-double. Jeremy Williams added 15 for UTEP as they overtook Tulsa for the league lead.

Jerome Jordan scored 20 points for Tulsa, but the rest of the team struggled against UTEP’s quicker defenders. Nobody besides Jordan scored more than seven points in the loss.

Two weeks later in Tulsa, the Golden Hurricane saw its spirited second half effort fall short again against the Miners. Ben Uzoh’s 22 points weren’t enough, as Doug Wojcik’s club fell at home, 78-70. The loss was the third straight for TU after starting 8-2 in conference action.

Randy Culpepper shined for the Miners, scoring 29 points against the Golden Hurricane. The junior is averaging over 18 points per game this season and scored a career-high 45 points against Eastern Carolina in February.

Friday the two will meet again with potential NCAA tournament berths on the line. Tip time from the BOK Center is set for 3 p.m. The winner will advance to the conference championship game on Saturday.