Fertitta Center, Houston; Thursday, 8 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Houston goes up against UTEP in a non-conference matchup. UTEP knocked off UC Irvine by six on Tuesday. Houston lost 61-55 to Oklahoma State on Sunday.
SAVVY SENIORS: Houston's Nate Hinton, Quentin Grimes and DeJon Jarreau have combined to account for 49 percent of the team's scoring this season and have scored 54 percent of all Cougars points over the last five games.BRILLIANT BRYSON: Bryson Williams has connected on 66.7 percent of the 15 3-pointers he's attempted and has made 8 of 12 over his last five games. He's also made 82.5 percent of his foul shots this season.
UNBEATEN WHEN: Houston is a perfect 5-0 when the team makes eight or more 3-pointers. The Cougars are 1-3 when the team hits fewer than eight threes.
PASSING FOR POINTS: The Miners have recently converted baskets via assists more often than the Cougars. Houston has 38 assists on 70 field goals (54.3 percent) over its past three contests while UTEP has assists on 45 of 58 field goals (77.6 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: The disruptive UTEP defense has forced opponents to turn the ball over on 24.8 percent of all possessions, the 26th-best rate in the country. Houston has a forced-turnover percentage of only 15.9 percent through nine games (ranking the Cougars 337th among Division I teams).
