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GAME NOTES: The Texas-El Paso Miners will try to extend their school-record Conference USA winning streak when they head to Reed Green Coliseum in Hattiesburg to take on the Southern Miss Golden Eagles.

UTEP has reeled off 10 straight wins, all in league play, and is searching for its first 11-game overall win streak since the 1991-92 season. The Miners have already clinched a first-round bye in the upcoming conference tourney thanks to Saturday's 78-70 win at Tulsa. They lead second-place Memphis by one game with four to play, and UTEP does hold the tie-breaker.

After starting out 0-4 in league play, Southern Miss has rebounded by winning six of its last eight C-USA games. On Saturday, the Golden Eagles notched a 68-58 win over UCF. They are 2-1 on their four-game homestand which will wrap up tonight.

UTEP holds a 10-4 edge in the head-to-head series with Southern Miss. The Miners have won the last three meetings, including a 56-49 victory on January 16th to kick-start their current win streak.

Nobody in the conference is playing better right now than UTEP junior guard Randy Culpepper, the reigning C-USA Player of the Week for the second week in a row and third time in the last five weeks. Against Tulsa on Saturday, Culpepper posted 29 points in 30 minutes, including 14 of UTEP's final 23 points as the Golden Hurricane were rallying back from a 20-point deficit. His 29 points marked the most scored by a player against Tulsa this season. Twice during the second half of that game, Tulsa managed to cut a 20-point margin down to seven, but Culpepper's came through when he was needed. Derrick Caracter added 16 points for the Miners, who shot 50.9 percent as a team. While Culpepper leads the team with 18.0 ppg on the year, Caracter has been a nice complement in the low post, where he is averaging 14.3 points and a team- best 8.8 rebounds per game. Three other Miners are tallying a shade over 10 ppg.

Gary Flowers leads Southern Miss with 14.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. Angelo Johnson is an 82.1 percent shooter from the foul line who contributes 10.0 ppg. Both players have been in the starting lineup for every game this season. While the Golden Eagles do not boast a deep cast of double-digit scorers, they have developed a reputation as a fierce defensive squad. Opponents are shooting just 40.3 percent from the floor and are putting up only 59.5 ppg against Southern Miss. The UCF Knights managed to shoot a healthy 52.9 percent from the floor in their meeting with Southern Miss on Saturday, but they were held to 58 points as the Golden Eagles won by 10. USM forced 19 turnovers in the victory, while committing only nine. Johnson led the way with 24 points, while Flowers finished with 16 points and seven rebounds.

UTEP popped up at No. 25 in this week's coaches' poll, marking the school's first national ranking in 18 years. Still, the Miners will need all the offense they can muster to knock off a tough Southern Miss squad on the road.