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GAME NOTES: The Texas-El Paso Miners will try to keep their hold on the top spot in the Conference USA standings today, as they tussle with the Tulsa Golden Hurricane at the Reynolds Center.

Since losing their lone league game at Houston on January 13th, the Miners have reeled off nine straight wins to move atop the C-USA chart at 10-1. The team was last in action a week ago, when it posted a 100-76 victory over East Carolina. UTEP is now 19-5 overall and just one victory shy of posting its second straight 20-win campaign.

Tulsa meanwhile, had been hanging around the top spot until a recent slump that includes two straight losses and three in the past four games. The Hurricane are still 8-4 within the conference, but this game could have been a lot bigger if not for a 64-58 loss at Marshall on Wednesday.

The Hurricane lead the head-to-head series with UTEP, 26-12, despite the Miners grabbing a 73-59 victory in a meeting earlier this month.

The Miners have plenty of weapons at their disposal, as five players are currently scoring in double figures. Randy Culpepper leads the way with 17.6 ppg and he is also defensive presence, racking up a team-high 42 steals. Derrick Caracter adds 14.2 ppg and a team-high 9.0 rpg to the mix, while Jeremy Williams logs 11.0 ppg and 5.2 rpg. Christian Polk and Arnett Moultrie round out the group with 10.9 and 10.5 ppg, respectively. In the squad's prior outing, Culpepper poured in 45 points behind 9-of-12 long-range buckets to lead UTEP in a rout of East Carolina. The total tied for the second-highest in both UTEP and C-USA history. Caracter tacked on 13 points and nine boards for the Miners, who went 15-of-27 from beyond the arc.

Tulsa was outscored at the foul line, 21-11, and from long distance, 15-3, as it suffered a 64-58 setback at Marshall earlier in the week. Ben Uzoh guided the club in defeat with a 22-point effort, while Jerome Jordan notched a double-double of 13 points and 15 rebounds. The team's most versatile player, Uzoh heads the Hurricane in scoring (15.8 ppg) and assists (4.5 apg), to go with 5.0 rpg. Jordan, a seven-foot center, brings 15.1 ppg and a team-high 8.5 rpg to the table, while Justin Hurtt nets 13.7 ppg on the strength of 39.7 percent shooting from downtown.

The Hurricane have had some struggles of late, but they have won 15 games at home and that doesn't happen by accident. Expect a big effort from Tulsa and a much needed win over the streaking Miners.