The Cougars host UTEP Miners at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Hofheinz Pavilion, their last home game until March 2 when Marshall visits.
The Cougars hope to rebound from a discouraging 88-85 loss to Tulane, in which they gave up a 19-point second half lead, and a win against Conference USA rival UTEP would boost their C-USA record to 4-6.
The last meeting between these two teams was in the first round of the C-USA Men’s Basketball Tournament that took the full 40 minutes and an overtime to decide. The eighth-seeded Miners pulled away with a 67-62 victory, eliminating the Cougars from the tournament.
This time, the Miners will have to contend with freshman forward Danuel House, who filled the stat sheet against Tulane with 10 points, eight rebounds, six assists, three blocks and three steals. Sophomore forward TaShawn Thomas will continue his campaign to average a double-double for the season with current averages of 15.9 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.
The Cougars will have to find to a way to contain UTEP junior center John Bohannon, who last season averaged 15.7 points and 9.7 rebounds in three games against UH. Sophomore forward Julian Washburn also lit it up by scoring in double figures during all three games, averaging 15 points per game on nearly 55 percent shooting from the field.
Wednesday will mark the second of three bobblehead promotions with the first 1,000 fans to enter Hofheinz receiving commemorative Jim Nantz bobblehead dolls. Nantz, now a nationally-regarded broadcaster with CBS, is an alumnus of the UH golf program.
From 6:30 p.m. until five minutes into the first half of the game, Houston Men’s Basketball legends Otis Birdson, Greg “Cadillac” Anderson, Dwight Davis and Ollie Taylor will sign autographs on the concourse. All four alumni rank among the 25 top scorers in UH history, and all were part of UH postseason basketball, including three NCAA Final Four appearances.