THE BASIC FACTS: Third seed UTEP (20-8) battles second seed UAB (23-5) in the semifinals of the 2006 Conference USA Tournament, presented by Aeropostale, on Friday at the FedExForum in Memphis ... tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. CST (5 p.m. MST) ... the game will be nationally televised on CSTV ... UTEP won the first matchup between the two teams on Feb. 8 in El Paso, 65-37 ... UAB hasn’t lost since then, reeling off seven straight victories ... UAB is ranked 24th in the latest Associated Press poll and 25th by USA Today/ESPN ... the Miners are facing a top-25 opponent for the second time this season, having lost at then fourth-rated Memphis, 66-56, on Feb. 22 ... UTEP is 31-72 all-time versus AP Top 25 teams (0-3 under coach Doc Sadler) ... the Miners’ last victory over an AP Top 25 club was at home against 20th-rated Fresno State, 80-61, on Feb. 17, 2001 ... the last time the Miners beat a top 25 team on a neutral floor was a 66-60 upset of second-ranked Kansas in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on March 22, 1992 in Dayton.
TV/RADIO INFO: Carter Blackburn (play-by-play), former collegiate coach Pete Gillen (analyst) and Tom Hart (sideline) will call the game on CSTV Friday ... Jon Teicher (play-by-play) and Steve Yellen (color) will describe the action for UTEP’s flagship radio station KROD 600 AM.
HOW THEY GOT HERE: UAB forced 26 turnovers in a 69-55 win over 10th seed SMU on Thursday ... Lawrence Kinnard and Richard Jones scored 12 points apiece to lead the Blazers ... UTEP put Southern Miss away with a 13-0 run to turn a 23-20 lead into a 36-20 margin ... the Miners went on to a 66-47 victory over the Golden Eagles led by Jason Williams, who collected 14 points and seven rebounds.
CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT NOTES: UTEP is 28-15 all-time in conference tournament games, including 27-15 as a member of the Western Athletic Conference from 1969-2005 ... UTEP is 2-2 as a no. 3 seed ... the Miners are 10-2 in conference tournament semifinal games, all as a part of the WAC ... UTEP is trying to reach the conference tournament final for the third year in a row ... UTEP is 4-0 under coach Doc Sadler in conference tournament games.
SERIES NOTES: UTEP is 2-0 against UAB in its basketball history ... the Miners won the first matchup between the schools, 72-58, to claim the championship of the John Hancock Sun Bowl Tournament on Dec. 29, 1987 in El Paso.
THE LAST MEETING: UTEP scored the game’s first 10 points en route to a 65-37 win over UAB on Feb. 8 at the Don Haskins Center ... the Miners allowed their lowest point total in a conference game since beating Wyoming 43-37 on Feb. 13, 1982 ... UAB registered the second-lowest point total in a game in school history ...the Blazers shot 23.7 percent on the night and were crushed on the boards, 51-27, as John Tofi pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds for the Miners ... Tofi and Jason Williams each scored 14 points for UTEP, which shot 46 percent and committed only 15 turnovers against UAB’s pressure defense ... Marvett McDonald, UAB’s leading scorer at 14.7 points per game, was held scoreless for the first time as a Blazer. The senior guard missed all nine of his shot attempts ... another Blazer, sophomore guard Paul Delaney, was 0-for-8 from the floor ...UTEP also did a nice job of disrupting UAB senior guard Squeaky Johnson, who finished with one assist, two turnovers and no steals in 31 minutes ... Johnson was the only Blazer to score in double figures, shooting 4-for-9 for 10 points ... Edgar Moreno added 11 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Miners, while Stefon Jackson had nine points and eight boards ... guards Moreno, Jackson and Kevin Henderson teamed for 19 rebounds ...UTEP built an 18-point lead twice in the first half and led 34-18 at the break ... the Miners led by 31 points twice in the second half, the last at 65-34 with 23 seconds left on a Jackson tip-in off a missed layup by Moreno.
20 WINS AGAIN: UTEP has won 20 games in three consecutive seasons for the first time since a string of seven 20-victory campaigns in a row from 1984-90 ... Doc Sadler is the second Miner coach to have a pair of 20-win seasons, joining the legendary Don Haskins who achieved this feat on 17 occasions ... over the last three years the Miners have posted 71 victories, most in a three-year span for the school since claiming 74 victories from 1987-89 ... UTEP’s .747 winning percentage (71-24) over the last three years is its best since going 74-24 (.755) from 1987-89.
NOTES FROM THE SOUTHERN MISS GAME: UTEP shot 50 percent (22-for-44) from the field ... it marked only the second time the Miners have hit 50 percent of their shots against a conference opponent this season ... UTEP shot 51.7 percent (31-for-60) against Tulane on Jan. 18 ... the Miners are 7-0 when shooting 50 percent or better this season, and 15-0 under coach Doc Sadler ... the Miners’ eight three-point field goals versus the Golden Eagles tied their season high, also achieved in home wins over Tulane and SMU ... UTEP’s .571 three-point field goal percentage (8-for-14) against Southern Miss was its best of the season and tops since draining 10-16 trifectas (.625) versus Tulsa in the Don Haskins Center on Jan. 8, 2005.
TWO MINERS EARN ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS: Senior forwards John Tofi and Jason Williams were tabbed to the All-Conference USA Team on Monday ... Tofi was a first team selection and Williams was a second team honoree ... it marks the first all-league selection for either player, although Williams was chosen to the WAC All-Defensive Team in 2005 ... UTEP has now had a first team all-conference player in each of the last three seasons (Filiberto Rivera in 2004, Rivera and Omar Thomas in 2005) ... Tofi was leading the Miners in scoring (13.9 ppg) and rebounding (9.2 rpg) before tearing his right ACL at Memphis on Feb. 22, ending his UTEP career ... a 6-8 San Francisco native, Tofi ranks 10th in career scoring at UTEP with 1,247 points ... he is also fifth in blocked shots (110), fifth in rebounds (774), ninth in field goal percentage (.517) and 10th in field goals made (482) ... Tofi has had 10 double-doubles (points-rebounds) this season and 15 in his career ... he has played in 117 games for UTEP, making 96 starts ... the 117 games played ties him for 14th place on the school list with Juden Smith ... Williams, a 6-6 Marrero, La. native, is the first player in UTEP history to tally 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists ... he ranks sixth in assists (303) and steals (129) and 18th in scoring (1,163 points) on the UTEP charts ... Williams is averaging 14.4 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.5 steals this season ... he has scored in double figures a team-leading 21 times in 27 games this season, including in nine of his last 10 contests.
RECORD BOOK WATCH: Senior forward Jason Williams is sixth in assists (303), sixth in steals (129) and 18th in scoring (1,163 points) ... Johnny Melvin is fifth in steals (132) ... Williams is chasing William Smith (17th, 1,167 points), Charlie Brown (16th, 1,170 points), Fred Reynolds (15th, 1,181 points) and Juden Smith (14th, 1,182 points) on the scoring chart ... senior guard Miguel Ayala is sixth on the career three-point field goals list with 115 ... within reach is Rico Nelson (fifth, 119).
WINNING WILLIAMS: UTEP is 11-1 in Jason Williams’ career when he scores 20 points or more (only loss at UCF on Saturday when he compiled 26 points) ... the Miners are 27-2 when he leads the team in scoring and 41-5 when he shoots 50 percent or better ... over the last seven games, Williams is averaging 18.1 points while shooting 52.9 percent (46-for-87) from the floor ... his current string of seven consecutive double figure scoring games is a career high, surpassing a six-game run earlier this season.
SEEKING 70: UTEP has scored less than 70 points in seven straight games for the first time this season ... it is the Miners’ longest 70-point drought since the 2001-02 season ... UTEP had 14 consecutive games scoring fewer than 70 points during the 1997-98 campaign ... during the current seven-game skein, UTEP is averaging 59.0 points and has totaled fewer than 60 on four occasions ... UTEP has averaged 68.0 points in games John Tofi has played in this season, and 59.8 points when he has been sidelined due to injury ... UTEP is averaging 66.5 points this season, its third-lowest total in the last 23 seasons ... UTEP averaged 63.1 ppg in 2002-03 (six wins) and 64.2 ppg in 1997-98 (12 wins) ... UTEP has won 20 games when averaging fewer than 67 points for the first time since 1981-82, when the Miners finished 20-8 while averaging 62.4 points ... UTEP has won five games when scoring fewer than 60 points -- all in conference play -- this season for the first time since 1985-86, when this also happened five times.
KEEP THESE STATS IN MIND: UTEP is 18-0 when leading or tied at the half this season ... the Miners are 13-1 when scoring 65 points or more ... UTEP is 16-2 when having a better field goal percentage than its opponent ... the Miners are 13-2 when holding foes to a shooting percentage below 40 ... UTEP is 9-1 when four or more players score in double figures ... UTEP is 19-4 when outrebounding opponents (1-4 when being tied or outrebounded).
UNSELFISH MINERS: Sixty-five percent of the Miners’ field goals have been credited with an assist this season, UTEP’s best ratio since 1989-90 (school-record sixty-seven percent) ... UTEP has a chance to have three players with 100 assists this season for the first time in school history ... senior guard Edgar Moreno has 107 dimes, junior guard Kevin Henderson has 104 and Jason Williams has 90 ... Williams is trying to become the first Miner player to log 100+ assists in three straight years since Prince Stewart did it as a sophomore (1988-89), junior (1989-90) and senior (1991-92) ... Williams already is only the third forward in school annals to have a 100-assist season, joining Johnny Melvin in 1990-91 and Leonard Owens in 2000-01.
WILLIAMS A STUD ON DEFENSE TOO: A member of the Western Athletic Conference All-Defensive Team a year ago, Jason Williams has been locking down opponents again in 2005-06 ... just to give you an idea of Williams’ versatility, he started the SMU game on Jan. 28 by guarding the Mustangs’ 7-0 center Bamba Fall, and ended it by fronting diminutive guard Bryan Hopkins ... Williams did a sensational job of containing Conference USA’s leading scorer, Rice’s Morris Almond, on Feb. 18 ... Almond entered the game averaging 22 points per contest and coming off four straight 30-point performances ... with Williams hounding him Almond was held to 10 points on 4-13 shooting against the Miners.
SPEAKING OF CONTAINMENT: Only five times in 28 games has the opposing team’s top scorer surpassed his point average coming into the game ... UTEP has limited the other team’s top scorer to single-digit points 10 times this season, including versus seven of 15 Conference USA foes ... 23 of the 28 opponents’ top scorers have shot less than 50 percent from the field against UTEP.
NOTING UTEP’S FABULOUS DEFENSE: UTEP is allowing 58.3 points per game this season ... it marks just the fourth time since 1980 -- and the first time since 1984 -- that the Miners have allowed fewer than 60 points per contest ... UTEP surrendered 53.4 ppg in 1981-82, 57.6 ppg in 1982-83 and 59.9 ppg in 1983-84 ... the Miners’ field goal percentage defense is below 40 (.394) for the first time since 1973-74 (.381) ... UTEP has given up fewer than 50 points in seven games this season for the first time since 1981-82 (13 times) ... only three teams have scored 70+ points against UTEP this season -- New Mexico on Nov. 26 (76), Georgetown on Dec. 28 (76) and Southern Miss on Feb. 11 (72 in double overtime) ... overall UTEP has allowed less than 70 points in 17 of its last 18 games ... UTEP surrendered an average of 56.0 points in 14 conference regular season games, shattering the C-USA record for scoring defense in league contests only -- a mark previously held by Marquette in 1996-97 (58.3 ppg) ... UTEP’s scoring defense for all games, if it stands, would rate second in the C-USA record books behind the same 96-97 Marquette team (57.8 ppg) ... UTEP has allowed 40 points or more to an opponent in a half just twice all season (42 to New Mexico, second half on Nov. 26 and 40 to Georgetown, second half on Dec. 28).
CLEANING THE GLASS: The Miners have a +5.2 rebound margin on the season, their best figure since 1981-82 (+6.5) ... UTEP has outrebounded 23 of 28 opponents this season, including 12 of 15 C-USA foes ... UTEP has received double-digit rebounds from its guards (Miguel Ayala, Kevin Henderson, Stefon Jackson, Edgar Moreno) in each of the last 15 games, including a season-high 19 versus UAB on Feb. 8.
PROTECTING THE BALL: The Miners have turned over the basketball 20 or more times just twice in their last 52 games dating back to 2003-04 ... the Miners are averaging 13.1 turnovers per outing this season after averaging 13.9 in 2003-04 and 12.2 in 2004-05.
DOC RANKS FIRST: Doc Sadler’s .746 winning percentage (47-16) in two seasons at the helm of the Miner program is easily the best of any Miner head coach ... the legendary Don Haskins ranks second with a .670 winning percentage ... Sadler is in fifth place on the all-time Miner coaching list ... in fourth place is Dale Waters (51 wins, 1946-47, 49 and 51-53) ... no UTEP coach has won as many games as Sadler has in his first two seasons at the school ... Sadler’s 47 wins are the most in a two-year stretch since the Miners racked up 48 victories under Haskins from 1992-93.
SUCCESS OFF THE COURT: Ten of UTEP’s 13 student-athletes posted grade point averages of 3.0 or better during the fall semester.
40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CHAMPS: UTEP -- then known as Texas Western College -- won the NCAA championship in 1966 ... the Miners stunned heavily-favored Kentucky, 72-65, to claim the crown in College Park, Md. ... on that night Don Haskins made NCAA history -- and changed the face of college basketball -- by becoming the first coach to start five African-American players in the title game ... Kentucky had an all-white starting lineup ... the story of the 66 Miners was recently told on the big screen in the Disney motion picture Glory Road ... the 66 champs visited the White House on Feb. 22, the same day UTEP played at Memphis ... to this day, UTEP is the only school in the state of Texas to win a national championship in men’s basketball.
MINER NUGGETS: UTEP is 6-0 this season when Will Kimble has six rebounds or more ... UTEP’s conference winning percentage this season (11-3, .786) was its best since going 13-3 (.813) in the Western Athletic Conference in 1986-87 ... UTEP has had double-digit conference victories in three straight seasons for the first time since a nine-year string from 1982-90 ... the Miners are 17-4 when Stefon Jackson plays this season, and 3-4 when he doesn’t ... UTEP has been ravaged by injuries this season and has had its top six scorers on the floor for only 10 games ... UTEP has made more free throws (417) than its opponents have attempted (407) for the third consecutive season ... the Miners have shot more free throws than their opponent in 20 of the last 24 games ... in league regular season games, UTEP averaged 23.1 free throw attempts to opponents’ 12.9 ... the Miners attempted 45 free throws at Tulsa on Feb. 4, and 48 at Southern Miss on Feb. 11 ... Edgar Moreno set a school record for steals (eight) versus UT-Permian Basin on Nov. 21 ... the Miners had a school-record 29 assists against UT-Permian Basin ... UTEP finished 14-2 at home this season and is 46-5 (.902) in the Don Haskins Center over the last three years. The last time the Miners won 90 percent of their home games over three seasons was from 1987-89 (48-4, .923) ... UTEP has had a lead in all but one game (Syracuse) this season ... the Miners have trailed at one point in 15 of their 20 victories ... the Miners are 30-1 under Doc Sadler when scoring 70 points or more, and 16-0 when scoring 80 or more.
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