This is one of those games that can either come back to haunt the Cougars, or give them that little push at the end of the season to get that magic seed in the Conference USA Tournament.
Houston’s players know their 1 p.m. matchup against Texas-El Paso (11-4, 2-0 C-USA) is a must-win that pits two talented teams in the conference against each other, but senior guard and UH leading scorer Robert "Fluff" McKiver said that doesn’t make the game any different from any other of the team’s conference games.
"Every game is a big game," McKiver said. "It’s our biggest game of the year because it’s our next game. I feel like we’ve just got to come out and do what we do well.
"The last game showed that if we play defense and play hard like we’re supposed to with that 100 percent intensity, we’ll have a great chance to be successful."
Miners guard Stefon Jackson seemed virtually unstoppable in his last run-in with the Cougars, as he lit the team up for 21 points in UTEP’s 79-71 win in February 2007. The 6-foot-5 guard habitually slashed his way to the rim, drew contact and knocked down free throws to give his team the advantage.
Houston will attempt to slowdown Jackson, who is averaging a career best 23.7 points per game and shooting 49.8 percent from the field.
"We’re just going to come out there and guard him the best we can," McKiver said. "Hopefully we can slow him down in transition. You know he likes to get out on the break. We have to keep them off the offensive boards and just know where he is at all times. That’s what you have to do with great players."
Senior guard Marcus Malone, who had success slowing down last season’s C-USA scoring leader and NBA first-round pick Morris Almond, and sophomore guard Kelvin Lewis will likely take turns handling Jackson on the defensive end, which could be one of the most important tasks of the night.
UH forward Tafari Toney will be in charge of defending the paint against a penetrating Jackson and UTEP’s forwards Victor Ramalho and Tavaris Watts.
Toney established himself as the Cougars scrapper at UTEP last season, when he provided a spark of energy off the bench by throwing down dunks and grabbing rebounds on his way to an eight-point, six-rebound performance.
McKiver said Toney has evolved into one of the Cougars’ most important players on the roster – one of those players whose court presence is a necessity to win games.
"He’s our workhorse," McKiver said. "When he comes out and plays hard, we can run with anybody."
