CHARLESTON, S. Jordan 1 Retro Australia .C. -- Mississippi State coach Ben Howland knew what was coming. Yet, it still left him shaking his head.Can you believe he ran a triangle and two on November 20? smiled Howland at his longtime friend and one-time LA rival, UTEP coach Tim Floyd.Howland, UCLAs coach from 2003-2013, squared off against Floyds USC teams from 2006 through 2009 with the Bruins winning seven of the 10 matchups. This time, Howland left a winner, too, as Aric Holman scored 18 points and Lamar Peters had 13 points, including a critical four-point play that snapped the Bulldogs from a shooting funk, in a 61-54 victory over the Miners. Mississippi State left with two straight wins and fifth place at the Charleston Classic.Im just excited about our team never quits, never gives up, Howland said.The Bulldogs (3-1) trailed 15-4 early and 43-35 in the second half as they started 1 of 10 from the field. Thats when Peters struck for a 3-pointer and got fouled, which seemingly woke up Mississippi State.Coach always tells me to look for my opportunities, Peters said. I just wanted to do whatever it took to help the team.The 6-foot-10 Holman did, too. His last basket was a thunderous jam with 5:22 to go that broke a 49-all tie. Mississippi State did not trail again.At the end of the day, the main thing was just to keep my team going, Holman said. Get defensive stops because our defense leads to our offense.Dominic Artis scored 15 points and Matt Willms had 12 points and 11 rebounds for UTEP. But the Miners lost their shooting touch in the second half, going just 7 of 26 from the field and missing their final four shots to lose two of their three tournament games.Floyd, critical of his club after their 10-3-81 loss to Wake Forest here Thursday, left much more pleased about what the Miners could become. The defense, he said, improved over the weeks three games and Artis and Willms took control of the attack.That was a real, real positive for us, Floyd said.Howland said he and Floyd were friendly during his time in Westwood when fans of the rivalry wanted only hate for the Trojans.He and Floyd hadnt faced each other since USCs 65-55 win over UCLA in the semifinals of the Pac-10 tournament in 2009. Howland doesnt enjoy facing coaches he considers friends. I hope we dont have to do it again, he said. I really do.Floyd enjoyed seeing Howland this weekend, too.Great respect for him, Floyd said. Mississippi States got the right guy.BIG PICTUREUTEP: The Miners have a dynamic guard in Dominic Artis and a solid post player in 7-foot-1 Matt Willms. But if those two struggle, UTEP is often left forcing shots. Starter Jake Flaggert, a three-point specialist, was just 1 of 7 from behind the arc while Paul Thomas, also a starter, struggled from the field at 3 of 8 and was hurt by foul trouble. The Miners will have to discover a reliable third option quickly.Mississippi State: The Bulldogs are led by sophomore Quinndary Weatherspoon. But when Weatherspoon is off his game, as he was against UTEP, Mississippi State is stuck for reliable shooters. Aric Holman was dominant inside before fouling out with 86 seconds left. Take away Holmans 8 of 10 shooting and the Bulldogs were 13 of 42 from the field.INJURED QBen Howland said leading scorer Quinndary Weatherspoon would have an MRI on his left wrist, injured Friday in Southern Mississippis win over Boise State. We dont know how bad it might be, Howland said. Thats what concerns me.UP NEXTUTEP returns home for a two-game stretch, starting against Southeastern Louisiana on Wednesday night.Mississippi State begins a five-game run at home when it faces Lehigh on Friday night---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org Vans Old Skool Australia Sale . Argentina winger Ezequiel Lavezzi and France midfielder Blaise Matuidi scored, with star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic setting up both despite having a poor game by his high standards. Forward Eduardo gave Ajaccio the lead in the sixth minute after being set up by right winger Benjamin Andre, and the Corsican side looked comfortable in the first half, with the lively Johan Cavalli causing problems with his probing runs from midfield. Adidas NMD Mens Australia . Takahashi, who had a 10-point lead after the short program, received 268.31 points after the free skate to finish 15 points ahead of second-place Nobunari Oda. http://www.salenikeshoesaustralia.com/ne...-clearance.html . Louis Cardinals. Victorino is batting sixth and playing right field after missing two games because of back tightness. At halftime of an eventual Monday night loss to the Indianapolis Colts, New York Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick was pulled following a disappointing 5-for-12 showing that included just 81 passing yards and his 14th interception of the season -- tied for the second most of any QB so far this year. Fitzpatricks 24.6 Total QBR?against the Colts was his second-worst performance of the season (only his 5.5 against the Chiefs in Week 3 is worse), and also the second-worst of his two-season tenure with the Jets.Fitzpatrick has struggled all season and now has been replaced as the starting quarterback twice this season (the first time came after Week 6 when Geno Smith took over, before Smiths injury early in Week 7 necessitated a Fitzpatrick return). All this on the heels of a career year in 2015. What has happened to turn Fitz from the unquestioned starter on a 10-6 team to a twice-benched journeyman who will probably end up on his seventh team in 13 seasons next year?InterceptionsThe most noticeable issue facing Fitzpatrick is his poor interception rate. It isnt so much that the volume of interceptions is off the charts, but when you factor in his low number of attempts compared to QBs who have thrown a similar number of picks, his rate is downright alarming. In a season that is on pace to have the lowest percentage of passes intercepted in league history (2.1 percent, which would break the previous record set last season at 2.4 percent), Fitzpatrick has had 4.1 percent of his attempts picked this season, by far the highest rate of any qualified QB this season (the next--closest is the also-benched Case Keenum at 3. Air Max 97 Womens Sale Australia. 5 percent). This has occurred after back-to-back seasons in which Fitzpatrick he posted near-career-low interception rates of 2.7 percent in 2015 and 2.6 percent in 2014.This year the interceptions have also been especially costly in terms of expected points added. As we have mentioned in the past, not all interceptions are created equal. A deep interception on a third-and-long isnt as damaging as an interception on an early down near the goal line. If we take a look at the quarterbacks portion of the EPA lost on their interceptions, nobody has been more damaging in aggregate than Fitzpatrick.Fitzpatrick has thrown five interceptions in the red zone this season; no other quarterback has thrown more than two. The five red-zone picks are tied for the second-most a QB has thrown in a season since 2001, behind only Jay Cutlers six in 2009. Last season, Fitzpatrick threw only one red-zone pick.Pressure problemsAnother area where Fitzpatrick is down big from 2015 is his performance while pressured. Last year he compiled a 71.5 raw QBR while pressured, the second-best mark in the league (the NFL average last season was 28.9 while pressured), but this season he has a 12.2 raw QBR while pressured, 29th out of 31 qualified quarterbacks.?(The league average is 34.7 this season.)A look at Fitzpatricks week-by-week QBR numbers in 2016:For more from ESPN Analytics, visit the ESPN Analytics Index.? ' ' '