El Paso, TX (My Sportsbook) - The second game of the CBI Championship series will take place this evening, but at a different venue, as the Miners of Texas-El Paso play host to the Oregon State Beavers at the Don Haskins Center.
Oregon State won the first game of this best-of-three series on Monday night, defeating the Miners in a 75-69 final. With the win, the Beavers now have a slim 2-1 edge over UTEP in the all-time series.
The loss snapped a three-game win streak for UTEP, and dropped the team to 6-4 in its last 10 contests. However, the Miners will have the luxury of playing on their home floor where they logged a 12-4 mark this year.
As for the Beavers, the win on Monday was their fourth in a row, all of which had been decided by six points or less. With the recent run, the Beavers are back at .500 for the first time since the end of February. After Oregon State defeated Cal on February 21st, the team closed out the regular season with four consecutive setbacks, including a loss to Stanford in the opening round of the Pac-10 Conference Tournament. Fortunately the team put a halt to the skid when this event began, as the Beavers edged Houston in the first round, 49-45, and followed that with a pair of thrilling overtime victories against Vermont (71-70) and Stanford (65-62).
The Beavers were red-hot in the first game against UTEP, as the team shot a sizzling 60.5 percent from the floor and also connected on 8-of-15 shots from behind the arc. Oregon State was able to grab the six-point win, despite connecting on only 15-of-26 attempts from the foul line and committing 15 turnovers. Roeland Schaftenaar paced the team with 19 points and six assists, while Lathen Wallace added 18 points to go along with six boards. Seth Tarver connected on all eight of his attempts from the floor and finished with 17 points, while Rickey Claitt posted 13 and dished out six assists. Calvin Haynes was ineffective in the win over UTEP, but the sophomore guard still paces the club with his 13.5 ppg. Schaftenaar is the only other player averaging double figures, as the center nets 10.2 ppg. Doing the majority of the hard worker however, has been Seth Tarver who leads the team with 5.1 rpg and 60 steals, while also chipping in 8.1 ppg. Producing offensively has been a problem all year for the Beavers, who come into this matchup averaging just 60.1 ppg.
UTEP's success has been based mainly on the play of Stefon Jackson and Randy Culpepper. Jackson paces the squad with 24.4 ppg, and he grabs 5.3 rpg as well, while Culpepper nets 17.6 ppg to go along with a team-best 66 steals. However, Culpepper has just 63 assists against a team-high 82 turnovers. Arnett Moultrie has turned into a solid option in the paint, as the forward is grabbing a team-best 8.1 rpg while chipping in 8.4 ppg. In the loss to Oregon State on Monday, the Miners shot 44.4 percent from the field, but made only 5- of-18 attempts from behind the arc. Culpepper led the way with 20 points off the bench, while Jackson added 17 points despite shooting a woeful 6-of-21 from the field. As for Moultrie, he tallied 16 points and grabbed six boards for UTEP, which enters this contest averaging a respectable 75.6 ppg.
