We've been alerting all season to watch out in March for Steve Lutz, who has arrived again at the door of the Big Dance, only this time with WKU. Remember, the past two seasons, Lutz steered A&M-Corpus Christi to Southland titles and the Dance. Now, the Tops have regrouped in Huntsville with a pair of thumping wins over NMSU and MTSU, with juco G Don McHenry re-emerging on Friday with 18 points vs. the Blue Raiders. Respect UTEP and HC Joe Golding, who preceded Lutz as the Southland king at Abilene Christian, but we'll see how the Miners recover after being forced down to the wire in a tense semifinal vs. Sam Houston on Friday. Play WKU (CUSA at Huntsville)

Let's hope UTEP learned its lesson in allowing Western to control the pace in a 90-80 points-fest during the regular season. The Miners have prepared for a more languid pace with points totals of 123 and 128 in their CUSA tournament games. The high-octane Hilltoppers' semifinal outing resulted in a modest 139 points. This total is just a tad below these teams' regular season scoring rates, so a do-or-die CUSA finals with both teams feeling pressure could land in the 130s.