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UTEP dispatches Tulsa to gain C-USA final

Fri 12th, March 2010

Tulsa, OK (Sports Network) - Randy Culpepper scored 21 points and Arnett Moultrie added 18 to pace No. 25 UTEP to a 75-61 win over Tulsa in the semifinal round of the Conference USA Tournament at the BOK Center.

"I just came out playing aggressive," Moultrie said. "I had it going for me tonight. My coaches kept coming to me and I made good plays for us."

Christian Polk and Derrick Caracter chipped in 13 and 10 points, respectively, for the top-seeded Miners (26-5), whose current winning streak of 16 games has them ranked for the first time since 1992.

In Saturday's conference final, the Miners will face Houston, the last team to beat them back on January 13.

Justin Hurtt tallied a game-high 22 points, while Jerome Jordan posted 11 points and 15 rebounds for fifth-seeded Golden Hurricane (23-11), who were coming off tourney wins over Rice and Marshall.

"I'm really disappointed, but we played hard. All our guys played hard," Jordan said.

Polk scored on three straight possessions in the early going to give UTEP a 15-4 lead less than six minutes into the game.

The margin reached 35-19 after a pair of Moultrie buckets late in the opening half, which ended with six straight Tulsa points to make it a 10-point game.

Shortly after the break, Culpepper drained a three-pointer to spark a 7-0 run, as an overmatched Golden Hurricane club made just one field goal over the first six minutes of the second stanza.

Claude Britten's dunk capped the spurt to make it 49-29 with under 14 minutes left.

UTEP continued to lead by double-digits until Bryson Pope's layup finished off a 11-1 flurry to cut Tulsa's deficit to 69-61 with just over two minutes left.

That bucket proved Tulsa's last, as UTEP held on for the win.

Game Notes

The Miners swept a pair of meetings from the Hurricane during the regular season...UTEP forced 18 turnovers while committing 11...The Miners shot 51.9 percent from the floor, compared to 39.6 percent from Tulsa.