UTEP came out on this chilly January night and did what was necessary.

The Miners did what they wanted to do, did what they needed to do - dusting undermanned Houston Baptist 72-44 Monday night in front of 6,608 fans in the Don Haskins Center.

It was a win the Miners had to have as they get ready to dip back into Conference USA play Wednesday night at Tulsa, a win that gives UTEP a

9-6 record. The Miners also needed to play well for a pair of reasons: one, to keep getting better, keep their roll going; and two, so they could let everyone play and not force key personnel to log too many minutes two nights before the Tulsa test.

"That was a nice win for us," UTEP coach Tim Floyd said. "We should have won the game. Our personnel was better ... and we haven't always been able to say that this year. It was a game we would like to have had earlier in the season. That way we could have gotten Malcolm Moore and Hooper Vint and Twymond Howard some much needed minutes earlier in the season. But I like the way all those guys who came off the bench played. They didn't try to perform but came in to play, play the way we play.

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And they were able to extend our lead."

The Miners, who got in a practice session Monday morning, were able to play an even dozen players in this one and no one played more than 23 minutes. Julian Washburn and McKenzie Moore played 22 minutes each. Cedrick Lang, Jacques Streeter and Konner Tucker all played 23 minutes each. C.J. Cooper logged 21 minutes and John Bohannon played just 14 minutes. The crew should be rested and ready for Tulsa.

Tucker was again almost flawless from a shooting standpoint, making 4-of-5 from the field (1-of-2 from 3-point land) and 3-for-3 from the free throw line to finish with 12 points. Washburn and Lang each had 11, Bohannon had nine points and Moore had eight points, eight rebounds and three blocks.

"That was a game we should have won," said Cooper, who knocked down 3-of-5 from beyond the arc to finish with nine points. "But we came into it and played as a team and it was a good team win. "I finally got into my rhythm (shooting) and it felt good. Even playing defense, I felt I was able to defend the way we are supposed to defend."

And Tucker said, "This was a game we wanted everyone to play in and everyone contributed. It was a good team win."

The Miners led this game 31-21 at the intermission and Houston Baptist, now 4-13 on the season, had actually outrebounded UTEP, 20-17. But

UTEP plopped this game on easy street early in the second half and scrambled back to outrebound the Huskies 43-37.

"I like the way we rebounded in the second half," Floyd said. "And we made more free throws (18) than they shot (11) and that's what we want. Of course, we should have done those things because we are bigger and stronger and more athletic than they are. It was a good win."

It was, in short, simply what was necessary.

Bill Knight may be reached at bknight@elpasotimes.com; 546-6171. Follow him on Twitter @BillKnightept

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