The UTEP Miners men’s basketball season came to an end tonight with a 61-56 loss against the Fresno State Bulldogs in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational (CBI).
Reminiscent of the loss against the Southern Miss in the Conference USA quarterfinals last week, the Miners had trouble shooting the ball. Shooting 36 percent in the first half, followed by 35 percent in the second half the Miners shot a ghastly 18 for 51 from the field.
UTEP head coach Tim Floyd chalked the loss up to guard play, something that has plagued the Miners all season long.
“Offensively we were very inefficient,” Floyd said. “This game came down to guard play and their guard play was much more efficient than ours. If you look at the comparatives it is apparent. We didn’t shoot it for percentage and they were more efficient then we were.”
Junior guard C.J. Cooper had another off game from a shooting standpoint, but was very good at facilitating the ball in the second half. Cooper racked up five assists in the second half and a total of seven for the game with only one turnover.
The two main contributors of the night were no other than junior guard Julian Washburn and senior forward John Bohannon. Both players combined for 34 points- which is a little over 60 percent of the Miners point total of 56.
The Miners now end their season with a 23-11 record and finishing the last 10 games with a 5-5 record. The Miners season was nothing short of tumultuous with players coming in and out.
In lieu of that Coach Floyd had a response to the player personnel and the Miners need of improvement for next season.
“We will just have to go back and improve our product and get guys better,” Floyd said. “We’re going to have to go and get another big with the loss of John (Bohannon) and we will have to sure up our perimeter for next season.”
Javier Cortez may be reached at [email protected].
