THE TIP-OFF: UTEP (7-2) and Georgetown (7-2) meet in the championship game of the 45th annual State Farm Sun Bowl Basketball Tournament on Wednesday in the Don Haskins Center ... tipoff is slated for approximately 7:30 p.m. MST ... Colgate (5-7) and Mississippi Valley State (0-8) will battle in the consolation game of the tournament at 5:30 p.m. MST ... UTEP reached the title game by downing Mississippi Valley State 74-58 on Tuesday, while Georgetown dispatched Colgate 61-45 ... UTEP is vying for its third straight tournament title and 27th overall ... the Miners are making their 38th appearance in the title game ... UTEP hasn’t won the event in three consecutive seasons since 1985-88 (four straight titles) ... UTEP’s overall record in the tournament is 69-20, including 41-16 in the Don Haskins Center ... Wednesday marks UTEP’s 500th game in the Don Haskins Center (385-114 record).
ABOUT THE HOYAS: Georgetown brings a four-game winning streak into Wednesday’s game ... the Hoyas have beaten Fairfield (76-51), Stetson (70-50), Savannah State (78-49) and Colgate in succession ... Georgetown is 3-1 on the road, defeating Navy (72-49), James Madison (73-66) and Oregon (71-57) and losing to 10th-ranked Illinois (58-48) ... the Hoyas return all five starters from last year’s 19-victory squad that lost to South Carolina, 69-66, in the quarterfinals of the postseason NIT ... sophomore center Roy Hibbert leads Georgetown in scoring (14.3 ppg) and blocked shots (2.7 bpg) ... the 7-2, 283-pound Hibbert is also averaging 6.6 rebounds while shooting 62.5 percent from the floor and 81.3 percent from the charity stripe ... senior forward Brandon Bowman and sophomore forward Jeff Green are chipping in with 9.9 and 9.8 points per outing, respectively ... Georgetown limits opponents to 54.8 points per game and 39.7 percent shooting while forcing 13.6 turnovers per game.
SERIES NOTES: The series is tied 2-2 ... the teams met previously during the 1985-86, 1986-87, 1990-91 and 1992-93 seasons ... UTEP is 1-0 versus Georgetown in the Haskins Center, downing the fifth-ranked Hoyas 78-64 on Dec. 27, 1985 ... Georgetown has been ranked in the top-10 of the Associated Press poll heading into three of the previous four matchups between the schools ... the Miners and Hoyas have met once in tournament play ... Georgetown claimed a 71-44 victory over UTEP in the second round of the 1993 postseason NIT in Washington, D.C.
PROUD PROGRAMS: UTEP won the 1966 national title as Texas Western College ... to this day, UTEP is the only school in the state of Texas to claim a national championship in men’s hoops ... Georgetown captured a national crown in 1984 ... the Hoyas advanced to the NCAA Tournament Final Four in 1943, 1982, 1984 and 1985 ... UTEP has made 16 NCAA Tournament appearances, won nine conference regular season titles and five conference tournament championships ... Georgetown has won six BIG EAST regular season titles, six BIG EAST tournament trophies and appeared in the NCAA Tournament 22 times.
THE LAST MEETING: Georgetown ended UTEP’s season with a 71-44 victory in the second round of the postseason NIT on March 23, 1993 in Washington, D.C. ... the Miners never led, falling behind 38-10 at the half and 52-13 with 14:33 to play ... Joey Brown scored 16 points to lead four Hoyas in double figures ... Othella Harrington added 15 points, Robert Churchwell 11 and John Jacques 11 for Georgetown, which held UTEP to 25 percent shooting (16 percent in the first half) ... the Hoyas outrebounded the Miners 46-34 led by Harrington (13 boards) and Duane Spencer (10) ... Ralph Davis scored half (22) of UTEP’s 44 points ... Antoine Gillespie added 10 points for UTEP ... only five Miners scored in the game ... Georgetown shot 42 percent for the game and made 21-of-28 free throw attempts ... the Miners were 18-for-21 from the charity stripe led by Davis (8-for-9).
LAST GAME: UTEP built a 24-point lead early in the second half before holding off a late rally and beating Mississippi Valley State, 74-58, in opening round play of the State Farm Sun Bowl Basketball Tournament on Tuesday ... only seven Miners saw extensive action, as senior forward Brent Murphy only played one minute due to illness and senior center Tremaine Fuqua was out with a toe injury sustained in practice ... John Tofi scored 19 points, Edgar Moreno 14, Jason Williams 13 and Kevin Henderson 11 for the short-handed Miners ... UTEP turned a 17-12 lead into a 34-15 bulge with a 17-3 run over 6:53 in the first half ... the Miners led 42-25 at halftime, shooting 55.2 percent in the opening stanza ... a free throw by Moreno gave UTEP its biggest lead, 55-31, with 14:22 to play, but the Delta Devils continued to peck away and pulled to within eight points, 62-54, with 3:41 remaining on a three-pointer by Tychicus Snow ... UTEP put the game away by scoring 11 of the next 13 points, including three-pointers by Henderson and Miguel Ayala ... Jesse Taylor scored 20 points for Mississippi Valley State, which was making its third appearance in the State Farm Sun Bowl Basketball Tournament in the last five years ... the Delta Devils were outrebounded 32-24 and committed 20 turnovers, somewhat offsetting 52.4 percent shooting in the second half.
UTEP IN THE C-USA STATS: UTEP leads Conference USA in scoring defense (61.2 ppg), field goal percentage (.469), assists (18.8 apg) and assist/turnover ratio (1.42) ... the Miners are second in scoring margin (+14.1 ppg) and field goal percentage defense (.385) ... UTEP is third in three-point field goal percentage (.361), rebounding margin (+5.6 rpg), steals (10.2 spg) and turnover margin (+4.11).
SENIORS BATTLING FOR SCORING LEAD: With 19 points versus Mississippi Valley State last night, John Tofi passed fellow senior Jason Williams for the team scoring lead ... Tofi is averaging 14.9 points this season and Williams is averaging 14.8 ppg ... the last time UTEP’s top two scorers were separated by less than half of a point was in 1986-87, when Jeep Jackson and Chris Sandle both averaged a team-high 12.9 points (Mike Richmond was close behind at 12.7 ppg).
RECORD BOOK WATCH: Senior forward John Tofi ranks 24th in career scoring (1,062 points) ... within reach is David Van Dyke (23rd, 1,077 points) ... Tofi is also seventh in blocked shots (91), tied for eighth in field goal percentage (.519) and 10th in rebounds (651) ... senior forward Jason Williams is tied for 10th in steals (101) and tied for 11th in assists (246) ... within reach on the steals list are Eugene Costello (tied for eighth, 103 steals) and Kimani Jones-Young (tied for eighth, 103 steals) ... within reach on the assist chart are William Smith (10th, 248 assists) and Eggie McRae (ninth, 251 assists).
FAST FACTS ON WILLIAMS: Senior forward Jason Williams has led UTEP to a 58-17 record over the last three seasons ... UTEP is 9-0 when he scores 20 points or more in a game (2-0 this season) ... the Miners are 17-0 when he leads the team in scoring (3-0 this season) and 39-8 when he scores in double figures (6-0 this season) ... after starting the first 72 games of his UTEP career, Williams has come off the bench for the last three contests ... he has averaged 13.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists since returning from a one-game suspension on Dec. 11 ... Williams has improved his three-point percentage from 32.0 as a sophomore to 34.7 as a junior and 54.5 (6-for-11) this season ... over his last four games, Williams is 4-for-6 (.667) from beyond the arc ... Williams needs 109 points to become the 29th member of the UTEP 1,000-point club ... he is the first forward in school history to dish out 100 assists in two seasons (112 in 2003-04, 101 in 2004-05) ... if he garners 100 assists again this season, he will become the first Miner to log 100 dimes in three consecutive years since Prince Stewart did it as a sophomore (1988-89), junior (1990-91) and senior (1991-92) ... Williams has had at least one steal in 23 of his last 25 games ... he did not record a theft against Pacific last week, ending a streak of 13 games in which he had at least one steal.
FAST FACTS ON TOFI: Senior forward Jason Tofi is only the 12th player in school history to amass 1,000 points and 600 rebounds ... he has had a double-double in four of the last seven games, averaging 16.3 points and 10.6 boards during that span ... he has four double-doubles this season after totaling five in his first three years as a Miner ... Tofi has scored in double figures in five consecutive contests for the first time since Dec. 8, 2003 - Jan. 8, 2004 (career-long seven game streak in double figures) ... UTEP is 27-6 over the last three seasons when Tofi scores in double figures (5-2 in 2005-06) ... Tofi has been on the floor for 30+ minutes in seven straight games for the first time as a Miner ... his previous long string of 30-minute games was three, twice during the 2002-03 season and once in 2004-05 ... averaging 9.8 rebounds, Tofi is trying to become the first Miner to average both a double-double and 10 rebounds in a season since Terry White in 1981-82 (10.1 ppg, 10.3 rpg) ... Tofi has played in 103 games for the Miners and made 83 starts.
FREE BASKETBALL: UTEP has gone to overtime in two of its last four games ... the Miners lost to Louisiana-Lafayette, 65-59, on Dec. 11 and beat Pacific, 72-66, on Dec. 20 ... the school record for overtime games is five during the 1994-95 season ... UTEP is now 51-33 all-time in overtime, including 18-10 in overtime games at the Don Haskins Center.
HENDERSON HELPING IN OTHER WAYS: Junior guard Kevin Henderson is trying to find his shot ... after hitting 50 percent of his field goal attempts last year at San Bernardino Valley College, Henderson has hit just 23 percent of his shots in his first season in a Miner uniform ... he has shot 50 percent or better just twice this season ... on Dec. 17 versus New Mexico State, he made three of his six field goal tries ... last night against Mississippi Valley State, he was 4-for-7 (.571) from the floor and 3-for-4 (.750) from three-point range ... the three trifectas were a season-high ... with his shot not going down, Henderson has found other ways to help his team ... on Dec. 20 against Pacific, he had his best all-around performance of the season with nine points, five rebounds (four offensive), seven assists and a career-high seven steals ... the seven steals are tied for the second-top game total in school history ... over the last three games, Henderson has had 13 steals to surpass Edgar Moreno for the team lead with 24 (2.7 per game) ... Henderson is second on the team with 41 assists (4.6 per game) ... despite his struggles from the field, Henderson is the Miners’ second-best foul shooter at 71.4 percent ... Henderson has had more assists than turnovers in six of nine games, and has had two turnovers or fewer in seven of nine outings ... he is coming off his first error-free game of the season (in 33 minutes) against Mississippi Valley State on Tuesday.
BETTER TO GIVE THAN RECEIVE: UTEP is averaging 18.8 assists per game this season ... at their current pace, the Miners would shatter the school record for assists per game (16.3) established a year ago ... UTEP has had 18 assists or more in seven of nine games, and 20+ on three occasions ... the Miners set a school standard with 29 dimes against UT-Permian Basin on Nov. 21 ... the previous record of 28 assists was achieved on three occasions, most recently on Nov. 16, 2001 versus Arkansas-Pine Bluff ... three Miner players are on pace to dish out 100 assists this year -- Edgar Moreno (43 currently), Kevin Henderson (41) and Jason Williams (33) ... UTEP has never had three players record 100 assists in a season ... the closest the Miners have come to achieving this milestone was in 1990-91 when Johnny Melvin had 102 assists, Gym Bice had 101 and Henry Hall had 93 ... the Miners have had more assists than turnovers in all but one game this season (at New Mexico) ... over the last two seasons, UTEP has registered more assists than turnovers in 37 of 44 games ... only two of the 13 Miners who have seen action this season have more turnovers than assists (Will Kimble, Maurice Thomas) ... the current guard rotation of Henderson, Moreno and Miguel Ayala has teamed for a sparkling 101-51 assist-turnover ratio.
MORENO ROUNDING INTO FORM: Senior guard Edgar Moreno’s season got off to a slow start as he recovered from late-summer hernia surgery ... lately, though, he has resembled the player who tied for the team scoring lead (17 ppg) on the Miners’ August trip to Spain ... Moreno has shot 53.7 percent (22-for-41) from the field and 46.7 percent (7-for-15) from three-point land over the last five games ... he has scored in double figures in three of the last four games, averaging 12.5 ppg during that span ... Moreno’s minutes per game have also escalated from 27.4 in the first five contests to 34.8 in the last four as his conditioning continues to improve ... he is first on the team in assists (4.8 apg) and second in steals (2.3 spg) ... Moreno is in his first and final year as a Miner after transferring to UTEP from the University of Texas.
DOMINANCE IN THE DON: UTEP is 6-1 at home this season and 38-4 in the Don Haskins Center since the start of the 2003-04 season ... UTEP is 22-2 in non-conference home games since 2003-04 (14-2 under Doc Sadler) ... the Miners have posted an all-time record of 385-114 (.771) in the Haskins Center, which opened on Feb. 3, 1977 ... the Miners have averaged 77.4 points per game at home this season while allowing an average of 60.0 for a scoring margin of +17.4 ppg ... UTEP has held four of seven home opponents under 60 points this season ... under Doc Sadler, UTEP has limited 11 of 25 home opponents to less than 60 points ... opponents are shooting 38 percent from the field and 37.7 percent from three point territory at UTEP this season ... UTEP’s rebound margin is +5.6 at home in 2005-06 ... UTEP has forced 132 turnovers in seven home games (18.9 avg.), while committing just 88 turnovers (12.6 avg.).
WHO PLAYS WELL IN THE DHC: Six Miners are averaging at least eight points per game at home this season, led by Jason Williams (15.7 ppg) ... John Tofi is averaging 15.3 ppg, Stefon Jackson 15.0 ppg, Edgar Moreno 10.1 ppg, Miguel Ayala 9.4 ppg and Kevin Henderson 8.3 ppg ... Williams is shooting 63.2 percent from the field and is 6-for-9 from three-point land at home ... Moreno is shooting 52.7 percent from the field and 42.1 percent (8-for-19) from three-point range at home ... on the road, Moreno is shooting 27 percent (4-for-15) from the floor and has missed all three of his attempts from beyond the arc ... Williams, Moreno and Kevin Henderson are all averaging at least 4.5 assists per game in the Haskins Center, and Henderson is averaging 3.1 steals per home contest ... twenty of UTEP’s 22 blocked shots this season have come in home games, with Tofi and Will Kimble both recording seven rejections on the home floor.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WINNING AND LOSING: UTEP has averaged over 13 more points per game in its wins than its losses ... the Miners have a rebound margin of +7.3 per game in their seven victories, and a negative rebound margin (-0.5) in their two defeats ... UTEP has also forced nearly 19 turnovers per game in its wins, compared to 12 per game in losses ... three Miner players (Miguel Ayala, Will Kimble, John Tofi) have higher scoring averages in losses than in wins ... Ayala is averaging 17.0 points in losses, 9.0 in wins ... Jason Williams is averaging 15.7 points in victories and 8.0 points in defeats (Williams did not play in the loss to Louisiana-Lafayette while serving a suspension).
MINERS CONTROLLING THE GLASS: UTEP has outrebounded eight of its first nine opponents this season ... the only team to outrebound the Miners was Louisiana-Lafayette by a 44-41 margin on Dec. 11 ... UTEP has had 40 rebounds or more in six games ... last season, the Miners managed 40+ boards just seven times in 35 contests ... UTEP’s current rebound margin of +5.6 is its best since 1981-82 (+6.5) ... six Miners are averaging over three rebounds per game, including guards Miguel Ayala (3.0 rpg) and Kevin Henderson (3.3 rpg).
MINERS STRUGGLING AT THE LINE: UTEP is shooting 65.4 percent from the line this season -- a year after leading the nation in free throw accuracy at 79.2 percent ... UTEP’s current free throw percentage is its worst since 1997-98 (.652) ... three Miners are shooting better than 70 percent from the foul line -- Miguel Ayala (.833), Kevin Henderson (.714) and John Tofi (.707) ... UTEP guards are shooting 69.7 percent (46-for-66) from the charity stripe collectively, and frontcourt players are shooting 63.3 percent (88-for-139) ... freshman forward Maurice Thomas ranks second on the team in free throw attempts (37) despite averaging only 16.2 minutes per game ... Thomas is averaging 10.1 free throw attempts per 40 minutes of play ... over the last two games, the Miners have made 74 percent (37-for-50) of their freebies ... UTEP shot a season-high 81.3 percent (13-for-16) from the charity stripe on Nov. 30 at New Mexico State ... the Miners have gone to the line 25 times or more in each of their last five contests ... during that span UTEP has shot 135 foul shots (27 per game), while opponents have attempted 65 (13 per game) ... the Miners have made more free throws (91) than their opponents have attempted (65) over the last five outings ... the last time UTEP shot 25+ free throws in five straight games was from Dec. 6, 2003 - Jan. 8, 2004 (eight straight games).
OPPONENTS BOMBING AWAY: UTEP foes are averaging 22.4 three-point attempts per game ... since the advent of the three-point line during the 1986-87 season, only once have Miner opponents averaged over 20 three-point tries in a season (20.3 in 1998-99) ... six of UTEP’s nine opponents in 2005-06 have attempted at least 21 three-point shots, including a season-high 31 tries by Louisiana-Lafayette on Dec. 11 ... the 31 three-point attempts by the Ragin’ Cajuns were the most by a Miner foe since Oklahoma Panhandle State launched 32 bombs on Dec. 12, 2004.
THE SNIPER: Senior guard Miguel Ayala has attempted 51 shots this season -- and 47 have come from beyond the three-point line ... for his career, 212 of his 254 field goal attempts (83 percent) have been trifectas ... Ayala has now made 82-of-212 three-point tries (.387) in 42 games for the Miners ... with two more three-pointers made, Ayala will tie for 14th place on the school’s career chart ... hampered by a sprained ankle, Ayala was held scoreless in 28 minutes versus Pacific on Dec. 20 ... it marked only the fourth time in his Miner career -- and the only time this season -- that Ayala has failed to score ... he has made at least one three-pointer in 26 of his last 30 outings ... Ayala has shot 50 percent or better from three-point range 15 times in his Miner career, and scored in double figures on 16 occasions.
KEY STATS UNDER SADLER: UTEP is 14-1 under coach Doc Sadler when holding foes to less than 40 percent shooting ... only three teams (New Mexico, Pacific, Mississippi Valley State) have shot 40 percent or better against the Miner defense this season ... UTEP’s defensive field goal percentage is .385 ... the Miners haven’t held opponents to less than 40 percent accuracy since 1973-74 (.381) ... UTEP is also 27-1 under Sadler when scoring 70 points or more, and 13-0 when holding foes under 60 points.
STEALING IS LEGAL HERE: UTEP is averaging 10.2 steals per game in 2005-06 led by Kevin Henderson, who has 24 thefts (18 in the last five games) ... Henderson has had at least one steal in eight of nine games, and three or more on four occasions ... Edgar Moreno has posted three or more takeaways in three games, including five against Mississippi Valley State last night ... Moreno has eight steals over the last two contests ... UTEP has never averaged 10+ steals per game in a season ... the Miners set the school record by averaging 8.9 thefts per contest during the 1986-87 campaign ... UTEP has recorded 10 or more steals in six games this season, posting a 6-0 mark ... the Miners had double-digit steals in only five games all of last season.
A NEW LEAGUE: The Miners are 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.
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).
A SPECIAL YEAR: 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, scheduled to be released on Jan. 13 ... 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.
MINER NUGGETS: UTEP’s bench is averaging 26 points per game ... the Miners have had an edge in bench points in six of nine contests ... freshman forward Maurice Thomas’ 12 free throw attempts against Pacific on Dec. 20 were the most by a Miner reserve since Omar Thomas went to the line 13 times versus Maryland in the first round of the 2004 NCAA Tournament ... Jason Williams’ 24 points off the bench against Pacific were the most by a Miner player since Omar Thomas collected 32 off the pine at Louisiana Tech on Feb. 26, 2004 ... only five players scored versus Pacific, the first time that has happened since Feb. 3, 2005 at Tulsa ... UTEP is 10-2 in December under coach Doc Sadler ... UTEP trailed by eight points twice (8-0, 10-2) before rallying to beat Pacific, marking the fifth game under Doc Sadler that UTEP has overcome deficits of eight points or more to win. Last season the Miners trailed Arizona State by 10 points, IPFW by 10 points, Hawaii by nine points and San Jose State by 11 points before battling back to win all four games ... UTEP has led in every game this season, and led wire-to-wire on two occasions (both victories over New Mexico State).
LOOKING AHEAD: The Miners will begin a demanding stretch of three straight road games on Jan. 1 ... UTEP will play at Texas Tech on Jan. 1, Syracuse on Jan. 4 and open conference play at SMU on Jan. 11 ... Texas Tech and Syracuse are the third and fourth teams on the UTEP schedule that played in last year’s NCAA Tournament ... the Miners are 1-1 against 05 NCAA teams, losing to Louisiana-Lafayette (65-59 in overtime) on Dec. 11 and beating Pacific (72-66 in overtime) on Dec. 20.
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