A NEW YEAR: UTEP launches its 85th season of men’s basketball on Friday, hosting NCAA Division II Western New Mexico ... UTEP is coming off a 27-8 season and second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance ... the Miners have won their last six season openers and 17 of their last 18 overall ... overall UTEP is 60-24 in season openers (41-3 in its last 44) ... the Miners are 45-2 when opening a season at home since 1947 ... UTEP is 26-2 in home openers in the Don Haskins Center ... the only losses came during the 1986-87 and 1998-99 seasons to Oregon State and New Mexico State, respectively ... UTEP is opening a season in El Paso for the 41st time in the last 44 years and for the fifth year in a row.
ABOUT THE MUSTANGS: Western New Mexico is a school of 2,500 located in Silver City, N.M., 126 miles from El Paso ... the Mustangs are 0-1 in 2005-06 after dropping a 93-84 decision at New Mexico Highlands on Wednesday ... WNMU fell behind 48-31 at the half before outscoring NMHU 53-45 in the second period ... four players scored in double figures for the Mustangs, including senior swingman Matt Enriquez who poured in a game-high 25 points ... Enriquez is an El Paso native who played his prep ball at Bel Air High School ... his is one of two native El Pasoans on the WNMU roster, joining freshman guard/forward J.J. Galberth who prepped at Parkland High School ... senior forward Mike Sells (19 points), sophomore guard Trey Clarkson (12 points) and sophomore forward Casey Crevelone (12 points) also produced double-digit points in the loss to NMHU ... the Mustangs were outrebounded 39-27 and shot 41 percent to NMHU’s 53.1 percent ... WNMU finished 6-21 last season and 1-14 in the Heartland Conference ... the Mustangs have four returning starters including Enriquez, who averaged 17 ppg a year ago ... Western New Mexico is coached by Mark Coleman (St. Lawrence University 83), who has a 13-42 mark in his third season at the helm of the program ... his overall coaching record is 97-158 (12th season).
SERIES NOTES: UTEP leads the series 25-5 ... the Miners have won the last 13 meetings between the schools, and 16 of the last 17 matchups overall ... UTEP and WNMU are facing one another for the first time since Feb. 1, 1994 -- a 74-71 Miner victory in the Don Haskins Center ... prior to that, the schools hadn’t met since the 1970-71 season.
THE LAST MEETING: Antoine Gillespie scored 28 points, propelling UTEP to a 74-71 victory over Western New Mexico on Feb. 1, 1994 in the Don Haskins Center ... Gillespie made just eight of his 19 shot attempts, but cashed in on 12 of 13 free throw tries ... the Miners had to rally from a 50-49 deficit with 9:16 to play ... after Gillespie put UTEP ahead 51-50 on a pair of free throws with 9:01 remaining, the Miners did not trail again ... Gary Taylor led WNMU with 26 points ... the Mustangs shot 50 percent from the floor while limiting UTEP to a .436 field goal percentage ... UTEP also committed 17 turnovers ... the Miners dominated the Mustangs on the boards, 42-23, with Hector Gonzalez and Gillespie each snaring 10 rebounds ... Ralph Davis joined Gillespie as a UTEP double-figure scorer with 18 points.
M*A*S*H UNIT: UTEP has a banged-up backcourt heading into the season opener ... three players are expected to miss the Western New Mexico game with various injuries ... senior Miguel Ayala has been shelved with a nagging knee injury ... sophomores Vernon Carr and Kelvin Davis are recovering from tibial tendonitis and a fractured foot, respectively ... only two scholarship guards (Kevin Henderson and Edgar Moreno) saw action in UTEP’s exhibitions versus Abilene Christian and Lubbock Christian ... walk-on guards Josh Gutierrez and Riley Lambert saw six and 10 minutes of action, respectively, in the exhibitions.
BUT I HAVE SOME GOOD NEWS: Freshman guard Stefon Jackson is expected to make his season debut on Friday against the Mustangs ... Jackson has missed two weeks of practice due to a death in the family in his hometown of Philadelphia ... he was a third team all-prep school selection last year at Lutheran Christian Academy ... Jackson averaged 19 points, six rebounds and five assists during the 2004-05 campaign, earning All-State and All-Area recognition ... Jackson’s nickname is D.J. (for “draining jumpers”).
WHAT WE LEARNED FROM THE EXHIBITIONS: UTEP should be a much more balanced offensive team than it was last season ... a year ago, the Miners received 59 percent of their points from three players (Omar Thomas, Filiberto Rivera, Jason Williams), with Thomas scoring 27 percent of the team’s points ... in the two exhibition games, six players collected at least nine points per game and four had double-figure averages ... six players scored in double digits in at least one exhibition game (Kevin Henderson, Will Kimble, Edgar Moreno, Maurice Thomas, John Tofi, Williams) ... Henderson and Williams were the only Miners to score in double figures in both exhibitions ... newcomers combined to score 55 percent of the team’s points, pull down 48 percent of the rebounds and dish out 55 percent of the assists.
WHAT WE LEARNED FROM THE EXHIBITIONS, PART II: UTEP has the potential to be a much better rebounding team than it was in 2004-05 ... the Miners dominated both Lubbock Christian (56-35) and Abilene Christian (36-28) on the boards ... UTEP had a +14.5 rebound margin in the two exhibitions ... the Miners enjoyed a 29-14 advantage on the offensive glass led by John Tofi and Jason Williams (five offensive boards each) ... the starting backcourt of Kevin Henderson and Edgar Moreno combined to pull down eight rebounds per outing ... last season, the usual starting backcourt of Filiberto Rivera and Giovanni St. Amant averaged 4.5 caroms between them ... Henderson and Moreno teamed to average 3.5 offensive rebounds in the exhibitions (Rivera and St. Amant averaged 0.7 offensive boards a year ago) ... last year, UTEP’s rebound margin was a miniscule +1.5 and the Miners were outboarded in 18 of 35 games (40-22 by Utah in the NCAA Tournament).
WHAT WE LEARNED FROM THE EXHIBITIONS, PART III: The Miners probably won’t enjoy the same ridiculous success at the free throw line as they did during the 2004-05 season ... UTEP led the country in free throw accuracy a year ago, draining a school-record 79 percent of its attempts ... however, the departed Filiberto Rivera and Omar Thomas combined to shoot 85 percent from the charity stripe ... without Rivera and Thomas, UTEP shot 43.5 percent (20-for-46) from the foul line in the exhibition games versus Abilene Christian and Lubbock Christian ... the good thing is, exhibition opponents shot 48.1 percent from the charity stripe ... the free throw shooting bug bit everyone but Kevin Henderson in the exhibition contests ... Henderson was a perfect 4-for-4 from the stripe ... Jason Williams, a career 70.8 percent free throw shooter entering the season, was 7-for-15 (.467) from the line in the exhibitions.
AND THERE’S MORE: For a team with so many new players -- and a brand-new starting backcourt -- UTEP had an impressive 40-24 assist-to-turnover ratio in the exhibition games ... the Miners committed 10 turnovers against Lubbock Christian, and 14 versus Abilene Christian ... Jason Williams, who had 180 miscues in 67 career games entering the year, turned the ball over just twice in the exhibitions with an 11-2 assist-to-turnover margin ... Kevin Henderson’s assist-to-turnover ratio was a solid 10-3 and Edgar Moreno’s was 9-5.
THE KID CAN PLAY: Forward Maurice Thomas showed signs of being an impact freshman in the exhibition victories ... the Philadelphia native -- and former teammate of Stefon Jackson at Lutheran Christian Academy -- averaged 12.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in 21.5 minutes off the bench ... Thomas made 60 percent (12-of-20) of his shot attempts and also registered a pair of steals ... he had 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting in 22 minutes off the pine versus Abilene Christian on Monday.
A NEW LEAGUE: The Miners will be competing in the relaunched Conference USA this season after spending the previous 36 years as members of the Western Athletic Conference ... UTEP won eight WAC regular season titles (1970-1983-1984-1985-1986-1987-1992-2004) and five WAC tournament trophies (1984-1986-1989-1990-2005) ... UTEP is beginning its third conference affiliation during the 2005-06 season ... the Miners were also a part of the Border Conference from 1935-62 ... UTEP enjoyed independent status from 1962-69 prior to joining the WAC.
BACK IN THE FOLD: The Miners return 43 percent of their scoring, 58 percent of their rebounds, 38 percent of their assists, 64 percent of their blocks and 51 percent of their steals from the 2004-05 season ... UTEP has eight returning letterwinners (Miguel Ayala, Vernon Carr, Kelvin Davis, Josh Gutierrez, Will Kimble, Brent Murphy, John Tofi, Jason Williams) and two returning starters (Tofi and Williams).
ANOTHER NCAA RUN?: UTEP is seeking its third straight NCAA Tournament appearance ... the Miners dropped narrow decisions to higher seeded Maryland (86-83) and Utah (60-54) in the first round of “The Big Dance” the last two years ... the Miners earned seven consecutive NCAA Tournament bids under legendary coach Don Haskins from 1984-90.
20-20 VISION: The Miners have won 20 games or more in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1991-92 and 1992-93 ... UTEP hasn’t registered three straight 20-win campaigns since reeling off seven in a row from 1983-90 ... the Miners’ 51 victories over the last two seasons are their second-most in a two-year span ... UTEP won 52 games over the course of the 1985-86 and 1986-87 seasons.
BREAKING DOWN THE SCHEDULE: UTEP’s 2005-06 slate features 16 home games, and as many as 12 games versus teams that advanced to postseason play last season ... highlighting the non-conference schedule are trips to 2005 NCAA Tournament participants New Mexico (Nov. 26), Texas Tech (Jan. 1) and Syracuse (Jan. 4) ... the Miners and Lobos will be renewing a long-running series that has been dormant since 1999 ... UTEP will host 2005 NCAA squads Louisiana Lafayette (Dec. 11) and Pacific (Dec. 20) as well ... UTEP will face Houston, SMU and Tulsa two times each in league action ... the Miners will meet East Carolina, Marshall, Memphis, Rice, Southern Miss, Tulane, UAB and UCF once in conference play ... the Conference USA Tournament will be held March 8-11 at the 18,400-seat FedExForum in Memphis, Tenn.
DOMINANCE IN THE DON: The Miners have won nearly 80 percent of their games in 28 years in the Don Haskins Center ... UTEP has posted a 379-113 record (.770) since the facility opened on Feb. 3, 1977 ... over the last two years, UTEP has registered a 32-3 mark in the friendly confines of “The Don” ... the Miners have played before 15 sellout crowds during that span and averaged over 10,000 spectators per game (over 11,000 in conference games) ... UTEP will play its 500th game in the venue on Dec. 28 at the State Farm Sun Bowl Basketball Tournament.
A VETERAN CLUB: UTEP has eight seniors on its 2005-06 roster including transfers Tremaine Fuqua and Edgar Moreno, who are in their first and final season with the Miners ... Fuqua transferred to UTEP from Oklahoma State and Moreno transferred from Texas ... senior forwards John Tofi and Jason Williams have played in 94 and 67 games, respectively, for UTEP ... Tofi has started 74 games over the last three years, while Williams has started every game over the last two seasons ... the Miners have posted a 51-16 record (.761) with Williams in the starting lineup ... Tofi is 72 points shy of becoming the 28th Miner to score 1,000 points ... he ranks eighth on the UTEP career charts in blocked shots (82), and ninth in field goal percentage (.516) ... Tofi can etch his name onto UTEP’s top-10 rebounding list by pulling down 70 boards this season ... Williams is 227 points away from joining the 1,000-point club ... with 35 assists and 12 steals in 2005-06, he will tie for 10th place on both career charts.
DOC’S GREAT START: Doc Sadler’s 27 victories during the 2004-05 season marked the best total by a first-year Miner coach ... in fact, only six coaches have won more games in their initial season heading up a Division I-A program ... Sadler had a better first-year win total than many coaching greats, including Bob Knight, Rick Pitino, Tubby Smith, Tom Izzo, Eddie Sutton, Gary Williams, Kelvin Sampson, Mike Krzyzewski and Bill Self.
SPEAKING OF MILESTONES: The 2005-06 season marks the 40th anniversary of the 1965-66 national champion Miners ... on March 19, 1966, UTEP -- then known as Texas Western College -- stunned heavily favored Kentucky, 72-65, to claim the crown in College Park, Md. ... on that day, Texas Western’s Don Haskins made history by becoming the first coach to start five black players in the title game ... Kentucky had an all-white starting lineup ... the 1965-66 Miners are the subject of a major motion picture, Glory Road, which is scheduled to be released on Jan. 13, 2006 ... the Walt Disney picture stars Josh Lucas as Haskins, Derek Luke as Bobby Joe Hill and Academy Award-winner John Voight as Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp.
UTEP PICKED FOURTH: The Miners are projected to finish fourth in Conference USA this season, based on the preseason coaches’ poll ... UTEP tallied 111 points in the poll ... Memphis is the unanimous favorite to capture the league crown, scoring 144 points and all 12 first-place votes ... UAB has been picked second (126 points) and Houston third (119) ... Rice and UCF are picked to tie for fifth place with 76 points ... SMU (64 points), Southern Miss (56), Tulsa (52), East Carolina (44), Tulane (42) and Marshall (26) round out the poll.
MORE PRESEASON HONORS: Senior forward Jason Williams has been appointed All-Conference USA by Lindy’s and The Sporting News preseason magazines ... CBSSportsLine.com recognizes senior forward John Tofi as a preseason all-conference player ... UTEP was picked second in C-USA by Athlon Sports, and fourth by Lindy’s, The Sporting News and Street & Smith’s yearbooks.
FALL SIGNEES: Guard Malik Alvin, forward Victor Ramalho, center Jeremy Sampson and forward Tavaris Watts have signed national letters of intent to play basketball at UTEP beginning with the 2006-07 season ... Alvin will have four years of eligibility with the Miners, while junior college transfers Ramalho, Sampson and Watts will each have two years with the program ... Alvin has been rated an honorable mention high school All-American by Street & Smith’s preseason college basketball magazine. The 5-11 Philadelphia native is listed as the 12th-best senior in the state by Pennsylvania Prep Report. He earned second team All-Public League and sixth team All-Philadelphia/Eastern Pennsylvania/South Jersey honors last year at Simon Gratz High School. Alvin has averaged 16.9 points in 41 career games as a prep ... the 6-8 Ramalho has been pegged the ninth-best power forward prospect in the junior college ranks by Lindy’s preseason college basketball magazine. He plays for South Plains College in Levelland, Texas. The Santa Cruz, Brazil product had averages of 20 points and nine rebounds as a senior at Socidade Tabajara High School in Brazil ... Sampson and Watts both come to UTEP from Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, Fla. ... Sampson is in his first season with the Hawks after playing his freshman year at Daytona Beach Community College. The 6-10 Sampson prepped at Atlantic High School in Daytona Beach ... the 6-8 Watts earned second team All-Conference and All-Freshman honors a year ago. Watts played for two years at Burlington Cummins High School in Burlington, N.C. following two seasons at Eastern Guilford High School in Gibsonville, N.C.
MINERS ON NATIONAL TV: Four UTEP games have been picked up for national telecast during the 2005-06 season ... ESPN2 will carry the Miners’ game at preseason league favorite Memphis (Feb. 22) ... CSTV will air matchups with Houston (Feb. 1 and Feb. 25) and UAB (Feb. 8) ... CSTV and CBS have coverage of the Conference USA Tournament.
LOOKING AHEAD: UTEP will host UT Permian Basin on Monday at 7:05 p.m. before embarking on its first road swing of the year at New Mexico (Nov. 26) and New Mexico State (Nov. 30).
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