UTEP Miners

Dec. 18, 2007

UTEP-SLU Game Notes (PDF)

The Tip-Off ... Following an 11-day break between games, UTEP (5-2) hosts Southeastern Louisiana (7-3) on Wednesday.

The Miners will be playing just their fourth game in the last 31 days. UTEP has been idle since winning at I-10 rival New Mexico State, 79-78, on Dec. 8. The Miners will play three games in four nights this week, hosting the 47th annual State Farm Sun Bowl Tournament on Friday and Saturday.

UTEP is 3-0 at home this season, with an average margin of victory of 18.7 points. The Miners are 32-7 in non-conference home games over the last four seasons, including 9-4 under coach Tony Barbee.

Southeastern Louisiana is 1-3 on the road, including three losses to SEC teams. The Lions won at Jackson State (61-49) and lost at LSU (72-62), Alabama (63-61 in overtime) and Mississippi State (84-59).

On The Air ... English and Spanish radio coverage is available on KOFX 92.3 FM and ESPN Deportes 1150 AM, respectively. Jon Teicher (play-by-play) and Steve Yellen (color) are the English broadcasters, while Omar Ropele (play-by-play) and Victor Luces (color) will call the action in Spanish.

Scouting Southeastern Louisiana ... The Lions have three players with double figure scoring averages -- senior forward Kevyn Green (14.9 ppg), senior forward Tavaris Nance (12.0 ppg) and junior forward Warrell Span (11.8 ppg). The Lions have a rebound margin of +9.2 on the season and have been a stout defensive team, holding foes to 57.9 points per game with a .365 field goal percentage and .283 three-point field goal percentage. LSU and Mississippi State are the only teams to score 70+ points against SLU this season. The Lions are shooting 47.4 percent from the floor and 34.5 percent from outside the arc in 2007-08, but they are committing an average of 15.2 turnovers per contest.

Southeastern Louisiana overcame a 29-24 halftime deficit to beat Lipscomb, 66-61, on Monday in Hammond, La. After shooting 24.1 percent in the first half, the Lions warmed up to 50 percent accuracy in the second stanza. Nance led SLU with 18 points, while Span added 12 and Green 11.

Series Notes ... UTEP won the only previous meeting between the schools, 78-64 on Dec. 15, 1997 at the Haskins Center.

The Last Meeting ... UTEP built an 18-point halftime lead, then survived a comeback bid by Southeastern Louisiana for legendary Don Haskins' 696th coaching victory, 78-64 on Dec. 15, 1997 in El Paso.

The Miners were ahead 44-26 at the midway point after outrebounding the Lions 26-14. UTEP shot 48.1 percent to SLU's 25.8 percent in the opening stanza.

Southeastern Louisiana cut the lead to five points (59-54) with 5:29 remaining, but could get no closer. Sharif Fajardo scored 16 points to lead the Miners. B.J. Wade added 15 points and William Smith 12, while Brandon Wolfram just missed having a double-double. UTEP's all-time leading scorer, then a freshman, finished with nine points and 10 rebounds off the bench.

Troy Green paced SLU with 20 points.

Last Game: UTEP 79, New Mexico State 78 Stefon Jackson scored a career-high 36 points, and UTEP completed its fourth season sweep of I-10 rival New Mexico State in the last five years with a 79-78 win over the Aggies on Dec. 8 in Las Cruces.

Jackson joined Jim Barnes as the only Miner players to have two 30-point games against the Aggies. He became the first UTEP player to score 30+ points twice in one season versus NMSU. Jackson's 36 points marked the most by a UTEP player in a game at NMSU. Barnes also put up 36 points versus the Aggies on Feb. 23, 1963, but that game was played in El Paso.

Randy Culpepper added 19 points for the Miners while coming off the bench for the first time this season. Freshman guard Julyan Stone made his first career start in Culpepper's place. He played only 12 minutes due to foul trouble, finishing with five assists and only one turnover.

Jackson shot 11-for-20 from the field and 13-for-16 from the charity stripe, while adding four rebounds and a blocked shot in 36 minutes. His 36 points marked the most by a UTEP player since Brandon Wolfram also netted 36 against TCU on March 1, 2001.

The Miners led for most of the first half, and enjoyed a 40-37 cushion at the intermission. After NMSU built a four-point lead (44-40) two minutes into the second half, the Miners went on an 11-2 run and did not trail the rest of the night.

Fred Peete's three-pointer with one second left brought the Aggies to within one point, the closest they had been since it was 51-50 with 13:14 remaining.

Hatila Passos and Fred Peete led New Mexico State with 20 points each, and Justin Hawkins added 14 points.

The Aggies shot 53.5 percent to UTEP's 41.7 percent and outrebounded the Miners 37-28. NMSU also shot 15 more free throws than the Miners, but it was just 28-of-43 from the stripe and committed 22 turnovers.

A Quick Look at the Conference USA Stats ... Through the games of Dec. 17, UTEP was second in the league in turnover margin (+4.43), and third in assist/turnover ratio (1.04).

Junior guard Stefon Jackson was the league leader in scoring (25.9 ppg), ahead of Houston's Robert McKiver who was second (20.2 ppg). Jackson was also eighth in minutes per game (33.1). Senior guard Marvin Kilgore was third in assists (4.9 apg) and assist/turnover ratio (2.27). Senior center Jeremy Sampson was third in three-point field goal percentage (.467). Freshman guard Randy Culpepper was fifth in three-pointers made per game (2.6). Freshman guard Julyan Stone was first in assist/turnover ratio (4.20).

Jackson Fifth in the Nation in Scoring ... Stefon Jackson ranked fifth in the country in scoring through the games of Dec. 17, averaging 25.9 points per contest. Hofstra's Antoine Agudio, Tennessee-Martin's Lester Hudson and Niagara's Charron Fisher were tied for first (27.4 ppg) and VMI's Reggie Williams was fourth (26.4 ppg).

The last time UTEP had a player finish a season ranked in the top-10 nationally in scoring was 2000-01, when Brandon Wolfram rated seventh in the country with a 22.3 ppg scoring average.

Jackson Closing in on 1,000 Points ... Stefon Jackson is just 49 points shy of 1,000 for his career and could achieve the milestone during UTEP's three-game homestand. Jackson is trying to become the 38th member of the Miner 1,000-point club and the 12th player to achieve this feat in three seasons or less. Jim Barnes, Antoine Gillespie and Omar Thomas are the only UTEP players to score 1,000 points in two seasons.

Brandon Wolfram, UTEP's all-time leading scorer, recorded his 1,000th point in his 77th college game. Jackson will be playing his 63rd game on Wednesday.

Jackson Now Has Three 30-Point Games ... With three career 30-point games -- including two this season -- Stefon Jackson has tied Tim Hardaway (1985-89), Omar Thomas (2003-05) and Al Tolen (1959-61) for the fourth-top total in program history. Jim Barnes had sixteen 30-point games from 1962-64, Nate Archibald (1967-70) and Antoine Gillespie (1992-95) each had nine and Brandon Wolfram (1997-01) produced seven.

If Jackson scores 30 points against Southeastern Louisiana on Wednesday, he will become the first Miner to put together back-to-back 30-point outings since Wolfram versus TCU (36 points) and Hawaii (35 points) in March, 2001.

Jackson Within Striking Distance of Barnes ... Stefon Jackson is on pace to score 776 points in 30 games, which would be the second-best seasonal total in school annals. Jim Barnes tallied 816 points during the 1963-64 campaign.

The 30 games includes a first-round Conference USA Tournament matchup. If the Miners play additional games, Jackson would have a shot at supplanting Barnes.

Jackson Takes a Bite Out of the Offense ... Stefon Jackson has scored 33.3 percent (181 of 542) of UTEP's points this season. He is only the fourth Miner since 1950 to be responsible for at least 30 percent of the team's offense. Al Tolen scored 30.3 percent of the Miners' points in 1959-60, Jim Barnes scored 40.2 percent in 1963-64 and Antoine Gillespie scored 32.8 percent in 1993-94.

Jackson is averaging 25.9 points per game, 13.9 more than UTEP's second-leading scorer, Marvin Kilgore (12.0 ppg). It marks the largest gap between UTEP's no. 1 and 2 scorer since 1963-64 when Barnes averaged 29.2 ppg and Orsten Artis averaged 10.5 ppg, a differential of 18.7 ppg.

Jackson Has Twenty-Three 20-Point Games ... Stefon Jackson has had twenty-three 20-point games at UTEP, including six in seven games this season. It marks the most 20-point games by a Miner player since Omar Thomas had 26 from 2003-05.

Jackson is averaging 25.9 points through seven games. The only player in school history to have a better scoring average over the course of a season was All-American Jim Barnes in 1963-64 (29.1 ppg).

Jackson Leads Miners in Scoring ... Stefon Jackson has led UTEP in scoring in 12 straight games dating back to last season, a personal best streak. The last Miner to lead the team in scoring in as many games or more was Antoine Gillespie, who had a 14-game streak over the course of two seasons from Feb. 1, 1994 through Dec. 1, 1994.

Besides hiking his scoring average from 18.6 ppg last season to 24.2 ppg, Stefon Jackson has also raised his shooting percentage from .460 to .517.

UTEP Home Tidbits ... UTEP is averaging 79.7 points at home, and allowing 61.0 ppg. The Miners are averaging 27.7 free throw attempts at home. UTEP has a rebound margin of +13.3 at home.

Freshman Gabriel McCulley has scored 16 of his 22 points at home this season. Freshman Julyan Stone has scored 13 of his 15 points at home, and all six of freshman Wayne Portalatin's points have come in the Haskins Center.

Miners Getting Off to Good Starts ... UTEP has scored first in all seven games this season, and in its last eight contests dating back to the 2006-07 campaign.

UTEP is 15-10 under coach Tony Barbee when collecting the game's first points.

Tavaris Watts has scored UTEP's first points in four of seven games. No other Miner has done this more than once this season.

UTEP Scoring Points Too ... UTEP has scored 71 points or more in each of its first seven games this season. Only twice previously in school history has this happened, in 2000-01 and 1995-96. Never has UTEP scored 70 points or more in its first eight games of a season.

The Miners have been remarkably consistent with their scoring thus far this season, tallying between 76 and 79 points in five of their seven games.

UTEP is 16-9 under Tony Barbee when scoring 70 points or more, and 8-2 when scoring 80 or more.

UTEP Collects One-Point Road Win ... UTEP's 79-78 win at NMSU marked only its second one-point win on the road since the 1993-94 season. The other was an 81-80 victory at Texas Tech on Dec. 5, 2000. UTEP has had four one-point losses on the road since the 1993-94 season - at TCU on Jan. 22, 2000 (80-79), at San Jose State on March 6, 2003 (74-73 in OT), at Texas Tech on Jan. 1, 2006 (61-60) and at East Carolina on Feb. 24, 2007 (79-78).

A Whole Lotta Foulin' Goin' On ... UTEP's 36 personal fouls at New Mexico State on Dec. 8 tied for the third-most by the Miners in a game since the 1958-59 season. They had 44 fouls at Missouri on Dec. 8, 1973, 38 versus NMSU on Dec. 4, 1990, and 36 versus Colorado State on Feb. 12, 1981.

The 36 fouls were also the most by a Conference USA team in a game this season. The Miners have been whistled for 170 personals in 2007-08, an average of 24.3 per game -- a figure which also leads the league. UTEP is averaging 19.3 personal fouls per game at home and 29.0 per game on the road. The Miners have committed 22 or more fouls in six of seven games this season.

UTEP ranks 323rd among 328 Division I schools in fouls per game.

Barbee 19-19 in Second Season at UTEP ... Tony Barbee squared his career head coaching record at 19-19 with the Miners' 79-78 triumph at New Mexico State on Dec. 8. If UTEP beats Southeastern Louisiana on Wednesday, Barbee will be over .500 for the first time since Feb. 21, 2007, when he moved to 14-13 following UTEP's 85-56 rout of SMU at the Haskins Center.

A Different Look ... UTEP used its second starting lineup combination of the season in game seven at New Mexico State on Dec. 8, with Julyan Stone joining Stefon Jackson, Marvin Kilgore, Victor Ramalho and Tavaris Watts.

Stone became the second freshman to start a game this season, and the fourth in the Tony Barbee era. Malik Alvin and Dale Vanwright made 20 and 14 starts respectively last season, and Randy Culpepper started the first six games of the 2007-08 campaign.

Stone, who had five assists and only one turnover in 12 minutes at NMSU, leads Conference USA and ranks seventh nationally in assist/turnover ratio at 4.20 (21 assists/five turnovers). Stone and Kilgore have combined for 55 assists and 20 turnovers this season.

Culpepper Provides Boost off the Bench ... Randy Culpepper responded to coming off the bench for the first time this season at New Mexico State, producing 19 points and five three-point field goals. He also made five three pointers against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Nov. 13.

Culpepper's 19 points at NMSU were the most by a Miner off the bench since Kevin Henderson scored 21 points versus Marshall on Jan. 10, 2007. Culpepper became the third UTEP player to score in double digits off the pine this season; Gabriel McCulley and Jeremy Sampson netted 12 and 10 points respectively against Texas Southern on Nov. 18.

UTEP reserves are averaging 18.9 points per game this season, and have outscored opponents' subs by an average of 5.8 points per contest. The Miners have had an edge in bench points in five of seven games, producing 33 bench points against Texas Southern and 27 at NMSU.

UTEP is 16-6 under Tony Barbee when having an edge in bench scoring, and 3-13 when trailing.

Talking Triples ... UTEP has been a streaky three-point shooting team this season. The Miners have made 10 trifectas in three games (at Texas A&M, Texas Southern, at New Mexico State). They have also gone 0-for-10 from beyond the arc in a half twice (first half at UNLV and second half versus Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Nov. 9).

UTEP has hit a three-pointer in 212 straight games dating back to the 2000-01 season.

Miners Taking Care of the Ball ... UTEP committed a season-low eight turnovers versus New Mexico State on Nov. 27. The Miners are averaging 13.3 turnovers per game after averaging 16.0 last season. UTEP is 49th in the nation in turnovers per game.

The Miners have 93 giveaways and 124 takeaways (17.7 avg.) for a turnover margin of +31 this season. UTEP has had fewer turnovers than five of its first seven opponents.

UTEP forced 26 turnovers against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Nov. 13. It marked the fifth time under Tony Barbee that the Miners have recorded 25 or more takeaways in a game.

Miners Have Positive Rebound Margin ... UTEP's rebound margin is +2.2 this season, including +13.1 in home games. Stefon Jackson is the Miners' leading rebounder, averaging 5.1 boards per contest. Only twice in the last 24 seasons has the Miners' leading rebounder averaged less than six boards per game -- 1990-91 (David Van Dyke, 5.9 rpg) and 1995-96 (JoJo Garcia, 5.7 rpg).

Big Men Provide Scoring Help ... When Jeremy Sampson scored 12 points and Tavaris Watts added 10 against Texas Southern, it marked only the third time under coach Tony Barbee that two big men scored in double figures in the same game for the Miners. This also happened last season versus Texas State (Sampson 10 points/Maurice Thomas 13 points) and Memphis (Sampson 14 points/Thomas 11 points).

Against UNLV on Dec. 1, forward Victor Ramalho picked up the third double-figure scoring game of his Miner career with 10 points. A guard has led UTEP in scoring in 36 of 38 games since Barbee took the helm of the program, including all seven games this season. The last time a frontcourt player paced UTEP in points was Thomas at Rice on Jan. 24, 2007 (17 points).

The Kids Can Play ... Seven freshmen have seen action for UTEP this season. It marks the first time as many as seven freshmen have played for the Miners since the 1977-78 season, when eight earned playing time -- Roshern Amie, Anthony Burns, Tim Crenshaw, Earl Fuller, Joe Garrett, Kevin Jones, Darold Molix and Steve Yellen.

UTEP's freshmen have combined for 151 points (27.9 percent of the team total) and 68 rebounds (28.9 percent) in 2007-08.

Kilgore Scoring More ... Marvin Kilgore has scored in double figures in six of seven games this season. He scored in double digits just 13 times all of last season. He has raised his scoring average from 8.3 ppg a year ago to 12.0 ppg.

Kilgore's field goal percentage has also climbed from .424 in 2006-07 to .509. He has gone to the line 36 times in seven games this season.

Kilgore has led the Miners in assists in five of seven contests, including a career-high eight versus New Mexico State. Kilgore has committed just 15 turnovers in 212 minutes of court time this season. Kilgore has started all 38 contests since joining the Miners for the 2006-07 season.

UTEP at the Line ... The Miners are shooting 68.6 percent from the charity stripe this season. UTEP's freshmen are a combined 22-for-30 at the line (.733). UTEP's seniors, on the other hand, are a collective 35-for-58 (.603) at the stripe.

The starting backcourt duo of Stefon Jackson and Marvin Kilgore has combined to shoot 104 free throws in seven games, over 59 percent of UTEP's 175 attempts as a team. Jackson is averaging 9.7 free throw attempts per contest.

UTEP has attempted 30+ free throws in three games this season, including going to the line 37 times against both Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and New Mexico State.

Miners Sign Two ... Jason Jones and Arnett Moultrie, a pair of talented prep players from Memphis, Tenn., have signed national letters of intent to play basketball at UTEP beginning with the 2008-09 season.

Jones and Moultrie become the third and fourth Memphis products to sign with UTEP under head coach Tony Barbee, joining current Miner freshmen Randy Culpepper and Gabriel McCulley.

Jones is a 6-6, 190-pound guard/forward from Ridgeway High School. He averaged 18 points, eight rebounds and three assists as a junior, earning All-District and All-Region honors. He was also selected Ridgeway High's team MVP. Jones scored 24 points in a state playoff game against Clarksville High School a year ago.

Moultrie, a 6-11, 220-pound forward, is currently playing at Raleigh Egypt High School. He earned All-Metro honors his junior year after averaging 15 points and eight rebounds at Trezvant High School, where he played for three seasons before transferring to Raleigh Egypt High. Moultrie has been nominated for the McDonald's All-America team.