McCree serves as unsung hero in Tech's win over UTEP

RUSTON – The box score from Thursday's game hardly does any justice to Louisiana Tech forward Erik McCree.

The sophomore's final line reads 14 points and 12 rebounds, his second-career double-double, but his impact on Tech's 77-60 win over UTEP goes far beyond that.

"His performance was more as if he got 23 or 25 points," Tech coach Michael White said after the game. "He was drawing fouls, being really aggressive, drawing help. I thought they had to get where they were keying in on him as much of a rhythm he was in."

The 6-foot-8 transfer from Murray State picked the right player to draw fouls against. From the tip, McCree swarmed UTEP sophomore Vince Hunter, the Miners' leading scorer who is viewed by some as Conference USA's best player, and was responsible for two of the three fouls charged to Hunter in the first half.

McCree completely took Hunter out of the game from the start and his teammates did the rest, holding Hunter to just four points on 2-of-8 shooting.

Turns out Tech's best defense was going straight at Hunter on offense.

"He's a great player," McCree said Friday before Tech's practice. "I wanted to go at him and make him guard. I know he's a great offensive player but I kind of wanted to go out and be aggressive and challenge him."

McCree didn't just challenge Hunter on defense, he challenged UTEP on offense, connecting on seven early points to give Tech a 10-2 lead. Twelve of his 14 points came in the first half, but his presence was still felt inside in the final 20 minutes.

"When we got Erik McCree in a rhythm to start the game, he's coming out and you get Hunter in foul trouble," said senior guard Speedy Smith, who scored 17 points in the win. "It was frustration for the opposite team. For Erik to come out that hot, we kept feeding him and he was taking advantage of every opportunity. I know Vince Hunter wanted to come back at him but he wasn't able to."

McCree and senior guard Raheem Appleby combined for the first 18 points.

Coincidentally, the pair had been in a minor slump of late. All it took were a few shots from McCree, like a wide-open 3-pointer from the corner to start the game and a fadeaway jumper from the top of the key.

The first was what McCree dubbed a great shot, something he's honed in on of late. Instead of jacking up 10 to 15 shots a game, McCree is more precise with his selection rather than relying simply on "good shots."

It's a mentality that will help him play a key role down the stretch as a supporting cast member.

And McCree's perfectly OK with that.

"That's where I came into the season with the mentality of letting those guys get going, and if they need me, I'm there to hit shots and rebound," McCree said. "I don't want to come out too aggressive, but whenever they need me, I'll be there."

McCree tied a career high with 12 rebounds, 11 of which came on the defensive end, thus somewhat giving him a role similar to former Bulldogs Chris Anderson Cordarius Johnson and Jaron Johnson, three players that embraced defense and rebounding inside last season.

"That's really all it is, is trying to get those tough rebounds in a crowd," McCree said. "I know I'm the one that can go get those. We play kind of small, so I know I need to be tough and get those rebounds."

McCree's game doesn't receive much attention, but Tech's coaching staff knew how important he was to the team's success last summer. White even went as far to call McCree the Bulldogs' X-factor.

The staff understood what they were getting with his offense — the ability to shoot the 3-ball, drive the lane and finish near the rim come natural — but they wanted to see what he could do on the defensive end.

Some defensive performances have been inconsistent, but McCree morphs into a different player when he turns up the intensity.

A perfect example was early against UTEP, when pesky defense on the baseline forced a quick foul on Hunter. Then with about six minutes left in the first half, McCree got under Hunter's skin again when Hunter was called for a silly loose ball foul on Joniah White.

"(Hunter's) real aggressive on the offensive glass, defensive glass and scoring when he's down here in the low post," Appleby said. "With him in foul trouble he's less aggressive and that hurts them as a team."

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