Randy Culpepper scored 26 points, 22 in the first half, as UTEP raced to a big lead and coasted to a 69-58 victory over Tulane on Wednesday night in a Conference USA game.
Tulane led 7-4 with just over 3 minutes elapsed, but the Miners (14-4, 2-1) went on a 14-0 run over the next 2:56 for an 18-7 lead. Culpepper had 11 points in that stretch, including three 3-pointers.
UTEP led 40-22 at the half and by 22 points, 46-24, just 1:21 into the second half before the Green Wave (12-4, 2-1), which had won six in a row, began to slowly whittle the lead.
Kendall Timmons scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half, when Tulane shot 48.1 percent (13 of 27) after managing just 26.5 percent (9 of 34) in the first.
Jeremy Williams had 13 points and Claude Britten 12 for UTEP, Christian Polk had all 10 of his in the second half and Julyan Stone had 15 rebounds.
