THE TIP-OFF: UTEP (7-5) and SMU (7-5) rekindle an old rivalry for the first time as members of Conference USA on Wednesday ... tipoff is slated for 6:05 p.m. MST (7:05 p.m. CST) at 8,998-seat Moody Coliseum ... the Miners haven’t played since Jan. 4 and SMU hasn’t seen action since Jan. 3 ... for UTEP, this is the final leg of three straight road games to open 2006 ... the Miners lost at Texas Tech, 61-60, on Jan. 1 and at Syracuse, 69-56, on Jan. 4 ... UTEP is 1-3 on the road this season ... SMU is 6-2 at home with losses to Toledo (72-60) and 12th-ranked Oklahoma (50-47) ... after 36 seasons as members of the Western Athletic Conference, the Miners are in their first year in the new-look Conference USA and playing their initial C-USA league game ... UTEP was 20-16 in WAC openers (16-20 in WAC road openers) ... overall the Miners have lost six of their last nine conference road openers, but did prevail 91-77 at Boise State to tip off the WAC season a year ago.
ABOUT THE MUSTANGS: SMU has gotten a boost from the return of senior guard Bryan Hopkins to the lineup ... Hopkins has played in the last five games after missing the first seven due to academic issues ... since coming back, Hopkins has led the Mustangs to a 3-2 mark while averaging a team-leading 17.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.4 steals ... sophomore guard Derrick Roberts (12.4 ppg), junior forward Devon Pearson (11.8 ppg) and sophomore guard Dez Willingham (11.7 ppg) join Hopkins as double-figure scorers ... Willingham, a transfer from Kansas State, is one of Conference USA’s top newcomers ... he played in 22 games for K-State during the 2003-04 season, making 11 starts ... SMU is coming off a narrow 50-47 loss to 12th-ranked Oklahoma on Jan. 3 at Moody Coliseum ... Willingham netted a career-high 20 points in the setback.
SERIES NOTES: SMU leads the series 13-12, including 7-3 in games played in Dallas ... UTEP has won in its last two appearances at Moody Coliseum (81-71 in 2003-04, 60-55 in 2004-05) ... the Miners’ overall winning streak over SMU stands at four games ... both meetings during the 2004-05 season were decided by five points, with UTEP holding off SMU 79-74 at the Don Haskins Center ... UTEP has never faced SMU in a conference opener.
THE LAST MEETING: UTEP turned a 57-50 deficit into a 65-57 lead with a 15-0 second half run, en route to a 79-74 win over SMU on Feb. 27, 2005 at the Don Haskins Center ... Filiberto Rivera scored seven of his 16 points during the run ... Omar Thomas scored 26 points for the Miners, who shot 57.1 percent from the field -- their best effort in a conference game during the 2004-05 season ... Patrick Simpson scored 22 points and pulled down six rebounds for the Mustangs, who had their four-game WAC winning streak snapped ... the Miners led 33-29 on two free throws by Miguel Ayala with 3:15 remaining in the first half before SMU went on an 8-0 spurt to go ahead 37-33 with 1:25 left on a layup by Derrick Roberts ... the game was tied, 37-37, at the break ... two UTEP starters -- John Tofi and Jason Williams -- played five and nine minutes respectively in the first half due to foul trouble ... SMU took its largest advantage of the night, 57-50, on a jumper by Bryan Hopkins with 12:41 to play before UTEP erupted with the 15-0 run ... the Miners built leads of as many as eight points before SMU closed the gap to three points twice, the last with seven seconds left on a layup by Eric Castro ... Rivera threw a length-of-the-court pass to Williams for a dunk with four seconds to go, putting the game away ... the Miners were outrebounded 18-11 in the first half, but turned the tables in the second period, outboarding SMU 19-11 ... Castro scored 16 points, Hopkins 13, Devon Pearson 10 and Roberts 10 for the Mustangs, who shot 50 percent ... Tofi and Williams each scored 11 points for UTEP.
FROM THE TWILIGHT ZONE: The comparisons between UTEP and SMU are almost uncanny ... both teams are 7-5 overall, 6-2 at home and 1-3 on the road ... both teams have four players averaging double figures in scoring ... UTEP is shooting 45.6 percent from the field and SMU is shooting 44.6 percent ... UTEP’s defensive field goal percentage is .404, SMU’s is .414 ... UTEP has hit 65 three-pointers, SMU has drained 62 ... the Miners have nailed 175 free throws and the Mustangs have connected on 177 ... UTEP has committed 162 turnovers and forced 196, while SMU has 165 giveaways and 191 takeaways ... UTEP is averaging 71.5 points per game and allowing an average of 63.1 ... SMU has a scoring average of 69.4 ppg and scoring defense of 62.3 ppg.
LAST GAME: Syracuse broke a 44-44 tie with a 17-5 second-half run on the way to a 69-56 win over UTEP on Jan. 4 at the Carrier Dome ... UTEP got off to a slow start, falling behind 14-4 in the first seven minutes ... the Miners rallied to tie the game, 28-28, with 4:36 to go in the half and trailed just 35-34 at the midway point ... Will Kimble came up big in the first half, collecting 10 points and five rebounds, and Miguel Ayala added 11 points to keep the Miners within striking distance at the break ... UTEP started slow in the second half as well, scoring two points in the first four and a half minutes ... the Miners trailed 43-36 with 15:47 remaining on a jumper by Syracuse’s Eric Devendorf ... but UTEP answered with an 8-1 spurt including two three-pointers by Ayala to draw even at 44 with 13:21 to play ... however, the Miners mustered just 12 points the rest of the way and faced their largest deficit, 69-53, with 54 seconds left on a dunk by the Orange’s Darryl Watkins ... UTEP’s top two scorers, John Tofi and Jason Williams, were a combined 2-for-13 from the field ... Ayala tied his season-high with 19 points, including four three-pointers ... Williams, Kimble and Edgar Moreno added 10 points ... Devendorf picked up his fourth foul with 13:31 to go and was pulled from the game but still led the Orange with 16 points, including 12 in the first half ... Wooden Award candidate Gerry McNamara added 14 points for Syracuse, although he missed 11 of his 16 shot attempts ... the Miners were outrebounded (38-37) for the second time this season and never led for the first time in a game in 2005-06 ... UTEP was also 4-for-11 from the free throw line in the second half, and committed 16 turnovers in the game.
RECORD BOOK WATCH: Senior forward John Tofi ranks 21st in career scoring (1,097 points) ... within reach are Antonio Davis (20th, 1,117 points), Sharif Fajardo (tied for 18th, 1,118 points) and Roshern Amie (tied for 18th, 1,118 points) ... Tofi is also seventh in blocked shots (92), ninth in field goal percentage (.513) and ninth in rebounds (678) ... senior forward Jason Williams is eighth in steals (105) and ninth in assists (260) ... within reach on the assist chart is Byron Walker (eighth, 266 assists) ... senior guard Miguel Ayala is 11th on the career three-point field goals list with 88 ... within reach is Giovanni St. Amant (10th, 90).
UTEP IN THE C-USA STATS: Through the games of Jan. 8, UTEP led Conference USA in assists (17.3 apg) and assist/turnover ratio (1.28) ... the Miners were second in rebounding margin (+4.3) and third in scoring defense (63.1 ppg), field goal percentage (.456), field goal percentage defense (.404) and turnover margin (+2.83).
SCORING OUTAGE: UTEP has been limited to less than 70 points in each of its last three games, averaging 60.0 during that span ... UTEP’s 56 points at Syracuse on Jan. 4 were a season-low and the second-fewest for the Miners under coach Doc Sadler (UTEP scored 54 points versus Tulsa and Utah last season) ... the Miners had totaled 70+ points in seven of their first nine games ... UTEP is 27-1 under Sadler when reaching the 70-point mark, and 7-12 when scoring less than 70 points ... the Miners have averaged just 26.7 points in the first half of the last three games, including 23 points versus both Georgetown (Dec. 28) and Texas Tech (Jan. 1) ... second-half scoring was the problem at Syracuse, as the Miners managed just 22 points following the break.
TOFI BLANKED: Senior forward John Tofi did not score at Syracuse for just the second time in his Miner career ... he was 0-for-6 from the field versus the Orange and did not attempt a free throw ... Tofi was also shut out on Dec. 4, 2004 against Texas Tech in the Don Haskins Center ... he had scored in 40 straight games for UTEP before being blanked at Syracuse ... his performance against the Orange was particularly uncharacteristic because he had scored in double figures in each of the previous seven games -- tying his personal-long streak.
KIMBLE STEPS UP: Senior center Will Kimble collected 10 first half points in the Syracuse game ... he did not attempt a shot and was 0-for-2 from the line in the second half ... Kimble scored in double figures for the third time this season and the seventh time in 45 games as a Miner ... it also marked the second time that Kimble has scored in double figures in a road game (first time 12 points at New Mexico State on Dec. 15, 2004) ... UTEP is now 6-1 when Kimble tallies 10 points or more ... Kimble had totaled five points (2-8 FGs) in the four games prior to his offensive eruption against the Orange.
GO FIGURE: UTEP was 12-for-15 from the line (80 percent) in the first half at Syracuse, and 4-for-11 (36.4 percent) from the charity stripe in the second half ... the Miners finished at 61.5 percent from the foul line and have shot less than 70 percent from the stripe in eight of 12 games ... missed free throws have proven costly in UTEP’s five losses ... the Miners missed six foul shots in their four-point loss to New Mexico, nine in their six-point loss to Louisiana-Lafayette, eight in their one-point loss at Texas Tech and 10 in their 13-point setback at Syracuse ... UTEP’s season free throw percentage is .651, a year after leading the nation with a school record .792 percentage ... although they have had trouble cashing in on them, the Miners have attempted more free throws than their opponents in seven of the last eight games ... during that span UTEP has made more free throws (132) than its opponents have attempted (116).
HALFTIME SCORE A GOOD INDICATOR: UTEP is 7-0 when leading at the half and 0-5 when trailing at the break this season ... under Doc Sadler the Miners are 30-3 when leading at the intermission, 1-0 when tied at the half and 3-10 when trailing ... last year UTEP rallied from halftime deficits to beat Arizona State, New Mexico State and San Jose State ... all three games were played away from El Paso as UTEP faced Arizona State in Las Vegas, and NMSU and SJSU on the road ... the Miners have lost their last eight games when behind at the midway point.
SECOND HALF TEAM: Statistically speaking, UTEP has been a better team in the second half than the first half this season, particularly offensively ... the Miners are shooting 42.9 percent in the first half and 49.5 percent in the second half ... UTEP’s three-point percentage is .337 in the first half and .363 in the second half ... UTEP is averaging 32.6 points in the first half and 37.5 points in the second half ... the Miners’ scoring margin is +2.8 in the first half, +5.6 in the second half ... UTEP’s rebound margin is +1.7 in the first half and +2.9 after the break ... the Miners have also averaged 8.6 free throw attempts in the first halves of games and 12.3 attempts in second halves ... of all the Miner players, junior guard Kevin Henderson has been much more effective in the second half this season ... Henderson is shooting 16.4 percent (9-for-55) from the field and 13.8 percent (4-for-29) from three-point territory in the first half ... in the second half, he has warmed up to shoot 42.1 percent (16-for-38) from the floor and 50 percent (11-for-22) from beyond the arc ... Henderson has a 19-16 assist-to-turnover ratio in the first half and 29-12 in the second half this season ... senior guard Edgar Moreno is shooting 43.8 percent (21-48) from the field in the first half and 52.5 percent (21-40) in the second half ... his assist-to-turnover ratio is 23-19 in the first half and 24-14 in the second half ... one Miner whose production has dropped off in the second half has been senior guard Miguel Ayala ... Ayala has shot 45.2 percent (14-for-31) from the field and 44.4 percent (12-for-27) from three-point land in the first half ... in the second half, he has cooled off to a .326 (14-for-43) field goal percentage and a .333 (13-for-39) three-point field goal percentage.
UTEP ON THE ROAD: UTEP is 1-3 on the road this season and 8-7 on the road under coach Doc Sadler ... the Miners are averaging 63 points on the road in 2005-06 while allowing 65.2 for a scoring margin of -2.2 points per game ... the Miners average 12.8 fewer points per game on the road than they do at home (75.8 ppg at home) ... UTEP has scored 73 points or less in its last 12 road contests, and has been held under 70 points in eight of its last 12 road games ... UTEP is shooting 42.6 percent from the field, 27.9 percent from three-point range and 65.4 percent from the line in away games ... UTEP’s defensive three-point field goal percentage is .401 at home and .307 on the road ... UTEP has employed the same starting lineup (forwards John Tofi and Jason Williams, center Will Kimble, guards Kevin Henderson and Edgar Moreno) in each of its four road games this season ... of the aforementioned starters, only Kimble has shot better than 50 percent from the field (.692) away from home, although he has attempted just 13 shots in four road contests ... Williams is shooting 44.4 percent in road games, Moreno 40.7 percent, Tofi 39.1 percent and Henderson 13 percent ... Henderson has missed 20 of his 23 shot attempts in road games, including 1-for-13 from three-point distance ... Henderson’s assist-to-turnover ratio is +2 (13-11) on the road and +19 (36-17) at home ... freshman forward Maurice Thomas is shooting a blistering 83.3 percent (10-for-12) from the field on the road this season.
BENCH ENJOYS RESURGENCE: UTEP’s bench, which had been outscored in four of the previous five contests, outscored Texas Tech and Syracuse by a combined tally of 43-24 ... the Miners have now had an edge in bench points in eight of 12 games this season ... for the season, Miner reserves are averaging 24.3 points per game and have outscored opponents’ reserves by an average of nine points per game ... UTEP’s bench actually has a higher collective field goal percentage (.472), three-point field goal percentage (.382) and free throw percentage (.667) than the starters ... starters have teamed to shoot 44.8 percent from the field, 31.5 percent from beyond the arc and 64.2 percent from the charity stripe ... freshman forward Maurice Thomas leads the team with 71 points off the bench in 2005-06 (5.9 per game) ... Thomas is shooting 55.3 percent off the pine this season.
STILL NO TRIPLE DOUBLE: Senior forward Jason Williams narrowly missed achieving UTEP’s first-ever triple double at Texas Tech on Jan. 1 ... Williams finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in 39 minutes of action ... the eight assists were a personal best, eclipsing his previous career high of seven dimes established on Dec. 17 versus New Mexico State.
NOTING WILLIAMS: Senior forward Jason Williams has led UTEP to a 58-20 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 39-10 when he scores in double figures (6-2 this season) ... Williams needs 77 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 (47 currently), 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 26 of his last 28 games ... he has shot 50 percent or better in seven of 12 games this season, with the Miners posting a 6-1 record in those games ... UTEP is 35-3 when Williams makes at least 50 percent of his shot attempts, including 22-1 over the last two seasons (only loss was at New Mexico on Nov. 26 when he was 3-for-6 from the field).
NOTING TOFI: Senior forward Jason Tofi is only the 12th player in school history to amass 1,000 points and 600 rebounds ... he has had nine rebounds or more in eight of 12 games this season ... he has five double-doubles this season after totaling five in his first three years as a Miner ... UTEP is 27-8 over the last three seasons when Tofi scores in double figures (5-4 in 2005-06) ... averaging 9.6 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 106 games for the Miners and made 86 starts.
NOTING AYALA: Senior guard Miguel Ayala has attempted 76 shots this season -- and 68 have come from beyond the three-point line ... for his career, 233 of his 279 field goal attempts (84 percent) have been trifectas ... Ayala has now made 88-of-233 three-point tries (.378) in 45 games for the Miners ... he has made at least one three-pointer in 29 of his last 33 outings ... Ayala has shot 50 percent or better from three-point range 15 times in his Miner career, and scored in double figures on 17 occasions.
NOTING MORENO: 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 52.5 percent (31-for-59) from the field over the last eight games ... he had a season-high 16 points against Louisiana-Lafayette on Dec. 11 ... he is second on the team in assists (3.9 apg) and steals (2.2 spg) ... Moreno set a school record with eight takeaways versus UT-Permian Basin on Nov. 21 -- his second game as a Miner ... he transferred from the University of Texas and has one year of eligibility at UTEP.
NOTING HENDERSON: Junior guard Kevin Henderson had a season-high 18 points against Georgetown on Dec. 28 ... Henderson is shooting better from three-point range (.278) than two-point distance (.233) ... he has shot 50 percent or better from the field three times in 12 games ... 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 tied for the second-top game total in school history ... Henderson leads the team in assists (4.1 apg) and steals (2.3 spg) ... he has had more assists than turnovers in eight of 12 games, and has had two turnovers or fewer in eight of 12 outings ... he had his lone error-free game (in 33 minutes) against Mississippi Valley State on Dec. 27.
BETTER TO GIVE THAN RECEIVE: UTEP is averaging 17.3 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 12 games, and 20+ on three occasions ... the Miners set a school record with 29 dimes against UT-Permian Basin on Nov. 21 ... three Miner players are on pace to dish out 100 assists this year -- Kevin Henderson (49 currently), Edgar Moreno (47) and Jason Williams (47) ... 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 three games this season -- all losses (at New Mexico, at Texas Tech, at Syracuse).
MINERS CONTROLLING THE GLASS: UTEP has outrebounded 10 of its first 12 opponents this season ... the only teams to outrebound the Miners were Louisiana-Lafayette (44-41) and Syracuse (38-37) ... 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 +4.4 is its best since 1989-90 (+4.5).
OPPONENTS BOMBING AWAY: UTEP foes are averaging 21.4 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) ... Georgetown shot 60 percent (12-for-19) from beyond the arc on Dec. 28 ... UTEP’s defensive three-point percentage (.374) is its highest since 1987-88 (.388) ... opponents have made 10 or more triples in four games this season.
KEY DEFENSIVE STATS UNDER SADLER: UTEP is 14-1 under coach Doc Sadler when holding foes to less than 40 percent shooting ... UTEP is also 13-0 under Sadler when holding foes under 60 points.
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.
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 Friday ... 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 has lost three games by six points or less ... UTEP is averaging 9.0 steals this season. The school record for takeaways per game is 8.9 in 1986-87 ... the Miners are 6-0 this season when recording 10 steals or more ... 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 held a lead in every game but one (Syracuse) this season.
LOOKING AHEAD: UTEP returns home to host East Carolina on Saturday and Tulane on Wednesday, Jan. 18 ... over the last two seasons, the Miners are 16-2 in conference home games.
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