GAME NOTES: As one of the weakest teams in Conference USA this season, the Florida Atlantic Owls are set to host the Miners of Texas-El Paso on Thursday night at FAU Arena.

The Owls are next-to-last in the C-USA standings with just one win in eight opportunities. On Tuesday night, the team took a tumble against in-state rival FIU by a score of 64-56. The setback was the third in a row and the seventh in eight outings overall.

As for the Miners, they find themselves in the top half of the league standings, tied with Old Dominion with six wins in nine chances. The team was in action last weekend versus Middle Tennessee at home and managed to secure an 83-70 win, the second straight victory for the program.

FAU won the only previous meeting between these two teams, posting a 71-69 triumph last season in Texas.

Against Middle Tennessee, the Miners scored the first points of the game and never trailed, thanks to a stellar 12-of-16 shooting behind the 3-point line as well as 27-of-34 accuracy at the free-throw line at home in the Don Haskins Center. Julian Washburn tallied 18 points to pace five players in double figures, followed by Vince Hunter with 17 and C.J. Cooper 12 points to go along with five assists. Cedrick Lang recorded a double-double consisting of 11 points and 10 rebounds, followed by Earvin Morris with 10 points in a reserve role for the group.

A starter in all but one of the nine conference games thus far, Hunter leads the offense for the Miners with 15.1 ppg stemming from his 55.4 percent shooting from the floor, which is almost as good as his lackluster 60.0 percent at the charity stripe. But considering he is also first on the glass with 9.1 rpg, you can't be too hard on Hunter these days. Morris and Washburn check in with 13.3 and 10.2 ppg, respectively, as the team generates a solid 70.4 ppg, compared to 63.2 ppg for the competition.

Two nights ago, FAU was a paying a visit to FIU and recorded just seven field goals in the first half, shooting 2-of-12 behind the 3-point line and failing to get to the free-throw line even once, en route to the eight-point setback. Justin Massey tried to give the visitors a fighting chance with 16 points, while Justin Raffington recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds in vain. Marquan Botley tacked on 11 points and four assists and Kelvin Penn a game-high 11 rebounds, but without a single point.

On Tuesday night, Solomon Poole converted just 4-of-19 shots from the field as he finished with eight points, yet he is still the leading scorer in conference play for the Owls with his 14.9 ppg. Shooting under 30 percent from the floor in those eight decisions, Poole brings the entire unit down below 39 percent in league action. Botley (13.4 ppg) is another one who is struggling from the field at under 36 percent, but that hasn't stopped him from averaging close to 13 field goal attempts per night.

The Owls may be at home for this meeting, but by no means does that give the group an advantage over the Miners, especially when you consider how balanced the UTEP offensive attack can be when everything is going right.