Texas-El Paso @ Houston preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 14, 2013 ) Houston 69, Texas-El Paso 80

Houston tries to bounce back from an ugly loss when it hosts UTEP on Thursday. The Cougars fell behind by 18 points - "We played like we thought the game started at 3 o'clock," Houston coach Kelvin Sampson told reporters. "It started at 2." - before losing to Oklahoma State 61-55 on Sunday, but there were more fundamental issues that concerned Sampson.

"Playing with a sense of urgency, playing hard and playing with some toughness about you, we haven’t done a good enough job in that area,'' Sampson told reporters. "Play to your identity and the culture of your program. ... We disrespected our program and a lot of the kids who have come through here over the years and that’s disappointing.” The Cougars' four-game winning streak is a part of history as they try to regroup against the Miners, who have won three straight after a 67-61 victory over UC Irvine on Tuesday. "I echo to my guys all year long on being a great defensive team," UTEP coach Rodney Terry told reporters. "With defense, you can win games with defense at home and defense traveling. We don't know how we're going to shoot whether we're at home or on the road, but we know that defense travels. We know if we want to be an elite defensive team, we can win every game throughout the course of the year." Miners junior forward Bryson Williams averages team highs of 19.9 points and seven rebounds after scoring 22 on Tuesday while sophomore guard Quentin Grimes paces Houston at 15 points per game but was held scoreless against Oklahoma State.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, No TV

ABOUT UTEP (8-1): Williams shoots 65.6 percent from the field and is 10-for-15 from 3-point range while providing a team-high seven blocks. Sophomore guard Souley Boum averages 11.6 points in 31 minutes but shoots 36.5 percent from the floor and is 13-for-46 from 3-point range. Sophomore guard Jordan Lathon averages 6.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists after recording 13 points, six assists, five boards and two steals Tuesday.

ABOUT HOUSTON (6-3): Sophomore guard Nate Hinton (13.3 points, club-best 9.2 rebounds) had 11 points and nine rebounds Sunday and is averaging 18.2 points and 10.6 boards in his last five games. Guard Caleb Mills is the American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Week after scoring 23 against Oklahoma and 40 in his last two games, raising his average to 11.4 points. Junior forward Fabian White Jr. (10 points, 6.3 rebounds) has averaged five points and five boards in his last three games.

TIP-INS

1. The Cougars were sixth nationally entering Wednesday in rebound margin at plus-11.2.

2. Williams is shooting 82.5 percent from the free-throw line after going 11-for-14 on Tuesday, and made 27 straight over four games after sinking his first 10 against UC Irvine.

3. Houston and UTEP are in opposite brackets of the Diamond Head Classic, which begins Sunday in Honolulu.

PREDICTION: Houston 77, UTEP 71