The Tip-Off ...
UTEP began its 86th season of basketball with a 69-66 victory over Ivy League champion Penn on Friday in the opening day of the BCA Invitational ... UTEP plays Saint Francis (N.Y.) at 2:30 MST on Saturday ... Saint Francis fell to Syracuse 83-51 on Friday evening ... the Miners will take on Syracuse on Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. MST ...
On The Air ...
There is no television for Saturday’s game ... for the first time in school history, all UTEP games will be carried on English and Spanish radio in 2006-07 ... the St. Francis game will be broadcast in English on KFOX 92.3 FM, with Jon Teicher (play-by-play) and former Miner Steve Yellen (color) calling the action ... the pregame show is slated for 2 p.m. MST ... ESPN Deportes 1150 AM will have Spanish coverage, with Omar Ropele (play-by-play) and former UTEP player Victor Luces (color) as announcers ... the broadcast is scheduled to begin at 2:15 p.m. MST.
Scouting the Terriers ...
Saint Francis opened with a 83-51 loss to host Syracuse on Friday night ... junior transfer Robert Hines led the Terriers with 14 points while junior Marcus Williams chipped in 11 ... St. Francis shot 21.9 percent in the first half and 32.3 percent on the game ... the Terriers turned the ball over 26 times in the loss, however held their own on the boards 45-48 ... St. Francis was 10-17 a year ago and welcomes back six letterwinners and two starters.
Looking Ahead ...
UTEP will play Syracuse on the final day of the BCA Invitational with a 4 p.m. MST tipoff ... the Orange had five players -- led by Demetris Nichols’ 15 points -- score in double figures in their opening victory over St. Francis ... Syracuse finished 23-12 in 2005-06, advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the 31st time ... the Orange has 11 letterwinners returning, including four starters.
UTEP/Saint Francis Ties ...
UTEP’s Malik Alvin, Stefon Jackson, Marvin Kilgore and Maurice Thomas and St. Francis’ freshman David Burton (did not play against Syracuse) hail from Philadelphia.
Series Notes ...
UTEP will be facing St. Francis (N.Y.) for the first time in program history ... however, UTEP is 1-0 all time against schools with the name St. Francis, defeating its namesake 89-53 in El Paso on Dec. 9, 1995 ... Syracuse is 1-0 against the Miners, with a 69-56 victory last season at the Carrier Dome.
About Last Night ...
Stefon Jackson scored 21 points and snagged nine rebounds as UTEP gave Tony Barbee his first career victory with a 69-66 win over Penn ... UTEP trailed by as many as 13 midway through the first half, but took advantage of 18 Quaker turnovers and held a 37-30 advantage on the glass ... Darren Clarke added 16 points, while Marvin Kilgore knocked in 12 along with four assists ... Penn was paced by Mark Zoller, who had 23 points and 12 rebounds.
Brotherly Love ...
UTEP’s contingent from Philadelphia, including Malik Alvin, Stefon Jackson, Marvin Kilgore and Maurice Thomas scored 60.9 percent (42 of 69) of UTEP’s points, grabbed 50.0 percent (17 of 34) of UTEP’s rebounds and had 54.5 percent (six of 11) of UTEP’s assists in the Miners’ 69-66 victory over Penn.
Back in Big Time College Athletics ...
Darren Clarke and Marvin Kilgore are back in NCAA Division I basketball ... Clarke sat out last year per NCAA transfer rules after coming over from Saint Louis University ... Kilgore played his freshman year at East Carolina before attending Panola College last season ... Clarke scored 16 points with three assists, while Kilgore had 12 points, four assists and three rebounds in their return versus Penn.
Finer Details on Kilgore and Clarke ...
Darren Clarke and Marvin Kilgore are veterans of the Conference USA wars as well ... Clarke spent the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons at St. Louis, tallying 73 points and 31 rebounds ... he scored a career-high 15 points for the Billikens at South Florida during the 2004-05 campaign ... Kilgore played at East Carolina in 2004-05, then transferred to Panola College in Carthage, Texas for the 2005-06 season ... Kilgore started seven games for East Carolina and played in 21 contests, while averaging 3.4 points and 1.7 assists.
D.J. Has Career Highs ...
If the openers is a sign of what is to come for Stefon Jackson, the 2006-07 season could be a special one for the sophomore from Philadelphia ... Jackson posted career highs for rebounds (nine), field goals (10) and field goals attempts (18) against Penn ... Jackson just missed his career high of 22 points by one point.
Sophomore Going For 20 ...
Sophomore Stefon Jackson scored 21 points in the opener ... UTEP hasn’t had a sophomore average over 20 points per game since Hall of Famer Nolan Richardson in 1960-61 (21.0 ppg) ... the only other sophomore in school history to average over 20 ppg was Charlie Brown -- the first African-American college basketball player in the state of Texas -- in 1956-57 (21.1 ppg)
Going Back East ...
UTEP’s 2006-07 roster has an East Coast flair, with one player from New York (freshman center Franklin Jones, who hails from Niagara Falls) and four from Philadelphia (freshman guard Malik Alvin, sophomore guard Stefon Jackson, junior guard Marvin Kilgore, sophomore forward Maurice Thomas) ... overall the Miner roster features players from seven states (Alabama, California, Florida, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas) and junior forward Victor Ramalho who hails from Joáo Pessoa, Paraiba, Brazil.
Barbee Era Begins ...
Following a highly-decorated six-year run as an assistant coach at Memphis, Tony Barbee takes the reins of the UTEP program in 2006-07 ... Barbee is the Miners’ 17th head coach ... Barbee was a part of 148 victories and six consecutive postseason tournament appearances at Memphis ... the Tigers are coming off a 33-4 campaign and a berth in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament ... Barbee has been to 15 consecutive postseason tournaments as a player (at UMass) and coach (at Wyoming, UMass and Memphis).
New-Look Miners ...
UTEP has only three letterwinners returning from last year ... the three letterwinners (senior guard Kevin Henderson, sophomore guard Stefon Jackson, sophomore forward Maurice Thomas) each have only one year of playing experience at the Division I level ... the Miners lost 74 percent of their scoring and 77 percent of their rebounding production from a year ago ... ten newcomers dot the roster including three true freshmen, a Division I transfer and six junior college transfers ... the UTEP roster is composed of one senior, six juniors, three sophomores and three freshmen ... two starters are back, guards Henderson (7.9 ppg/3.6 rpg/3.7 apg in 2005-06) and Jackson (8.0 ppg/2.4 rpg) ... UTEP does not have a returning double figure scorer for the first time in nine years, and only the seventh time since 1960 (1971-72, 1977-78, 1981-82, 1982-83, 1986-87, 1997-98, 2006-07).
New-Look Coaching Staff As Well ...
Assistant coaches Tony Madlock and Milt Wagner and director of basketball operations Mike Babul are all new to the Miner program ... Madlock joins the UTEP staff after spending the last nine years as an assistant coach and later assistant head coach at Arkansas State ... Wagner, who won championships at the prep, collegiate and professional levels as a player, most recently served as coordinator of basketball operations at Memphis ... Babul worked at Drexel during the 2005-06 season as coordinator of basketball operations ... like Miner head coach Tony Barbee, Madlock, Wagner and Babul all have ties to the University of Memphis ... Madlock played for the Tigers and graduated from Memphis in 1991 ... Wagner worked with Barbee at Memphis for six years ... Babul also worked with Barbee as a member of the Tiger staff during the 2003-04 campaign ... Randall Dickey returns for his third year as a Miner assistant coach ... Dickey was instrumental in UTEP winning 48 games from 2004-06 and making back-to-back postseason tournament appearances.
Following This Weekend ...
Following the BCA Invitational, UTEP will be home for four straight home games and 12 of 13 overall ... the Miners will host UC Davis on Nov. 16 in their 2006-07 home opener ... UC Davis was 8-20 last season ... excluding the 40-mile bus trip to Las Cruces to face New Mexico State on Dec. 9, UTEP will not play another road game until Jan. 13 at Tulsa.
Miner Nuggets ...
Junior guard Pearson Smith spent three years in the U.S. Army, including some time in Iraq ... freshman guard Malik Alvin’s cousin is the late Walter Payton, former Chicago Bears standout ... UTEP has made a three-point field goal in 172 straight games ... UTEP will play 16 Conference USA games this season, up from 14 a year ago ... UTEP has won 20 games in three straight seasons for the first time since a seven-year run from 1984-90.
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