The Tip-Off ...
UTEP (13-12) and Tulsa (15-9) -- two teams with 5-6 records in Conference USA play -- square off on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. MST in the Don Haskins Center ... the Miners will be home for three of their last five C-USA games, including hosting SMU on Wednesday and Memphis on March 1 ... UTEP, which started 4-1 in league action, has lost five of its last six games ... Tulsa also got off to a fast start in C-USA with a 2-0 mark before going 3-6 in its last nine games ... UTEP is 10-5 at home, but 6-1 in its last seven games at the Don Haskins Center ... the Miners are 11-1 in C-USA home games since joining the league for the 2005-06 season ... UTEP’s conference record in home games since the 2003-04 season is 27-3 ... Tulsa is 1-6 on the road with the lone win coming at Tulane, 79-78, on Jan. 31 ... the Golden Hurricane is coming off a 69-52 loss to eighth-ranked Memphis on Wednesday in Tulsa ... UTEP lost at UAB, 73-64, in its last action a week ago.
On The Air ...
There is no television for Saturday’s game... 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) are the Spanish commentators.
Scouting Tulsa ...
The Golden Hurricane shot 32 percent from the field and went 2-for-15 from three-point land in Wednesday’s loss to Memphis ... freshman forward Jamel McLean was the only Tulsa player in double figure scoring with 16 points ... Tulsa started four freshmen against the Tigers -- McLean, forward Jerome Jordan and guards Mark Hill and Ben Uzoh ... junior guard Rod Earls leads the team in scoring (12.3 ppg), and Uzoh is averaging 10.3 ppg ... Earls leads Conference USA in free throw shooting (.891) ... Tulsa is second in the league in free throw percentage (.722) and rebound margin (+6.2 rpg), and third in three-point field goal percentage (.352), three-point field goal percentage defense (.330) and blocked shots (5.5 bpg).
Series Notes ...
Tulsa leads the series 20-11, although UTEP has won five of the last seven matchups between the schools ... the Miners have won the last three games in El Paso, including a 49-45 decision a year ago ... UTEP and Tulsa have split 10 previous meetings in El Paso.
Miners Versus Tulsa ...
Kevin Henderson, Stefon Jackson and Maurice Thomas have all faced Tulsa three times ... Henderson has averaged 10.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.7 steals against the Golden Hurricane, shooting 36 percent (9-for-25) from the field and 40 percent (6-for-15) from beyond the arc ... Jackson has shot 46 percent (11-for-24) from the floor and 33 percent (1-for-3) from outside versus TU, averaging 10.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg and 1.0 spg ... Thomas has scored 13 points in 36 minutes of action against the Golden Hurricane ... Malik Alvin (12 points) and Marvin Kilgore (13 points) both scored in double figures at Tulsa on Jan. 13 ... Dale Vanwright had a solid outing as well, collecting eight points, five rebounds and three steals in 26 minutes.
The Last Meeting ...
Ben Uzoh and Rod Earls hit back-to-back three-pointers in the first minute and a half of overtime, keying Tulsa’s 86-79 victory over UTEP on Jan. 13 at the Donald W. Reynolds Center ... after Maurice Thomas gave the Miners a 66-64 lead on a jumper 35 seconds into overtime, Uzoh and Earls’ consecutive triples lifted the Golden Hurricane into a 70-66 advantage ... UTEP was playing catch-up the rest of the night, never getting closer than four points and falling behind by as many as 10 ... the Miners had a chance to win the game in regulation, but Stefon Jackson missed a jumper as time expired with the game tied at 64 ... Tulsa went 40-for-43 from the line, including 28-for-29 in the second half and overtime ... UTEP finished with a .377 field goal percentage, including .310 in the second half ... the Miners got off to slow starts in the first half, second half and overtime ... UTEP trailed 13-6 in the first five minutes to game, then rallied to take a six-point lead twice in the first half, the last at 25-19 on a jumper by Kevin Henderson with 7:51 remaining ... Tulsa was ahead 34-33 at the intermission, then extended its advantage to 40-33 with 17:38 to play on a jumper by Sam Mitchell ... UTEP regained the lead, 46-44, on a three-pointer by Henderson with 12:47 to go ... the Miners’ largest advantage of the second half was three points, 63-60, on a free throw by Thomas with 3:18 left ... after Jackson’s free throw gave UTEP a 64-62 lead with 2:48 remaining in regulation, the Miners went scoreless until the overtime session ... Ray Reese led Tulsa with 16 points in 30 minutes off the bench. He was 10-for-11 from the line ... Mitchell added 15 points, Uzoh had 14 and Charles Ramsdell 13 ... UTEP did a good job defensing Earls, the Golden Hurricane’s leading scorer. He finished with nine points, shooting 3-for-11 from the field ... Jackson had 18 points, Henderson 14, Marvin Kilgore 13 and Malik Alvin 12 for the Miners ... UTEP was outrebounded 43-36 ... the Miners committed 21 turnovers, and Tulsa had 26.
Last Game ...
Paul Delaney III scored 19 points, and UAB led wire-to-wire in a 73-64 victory over UTEP last Saturday at Bartow Arena in Birmingham ... the Blazers scored the game’s first seven points on the way to snapping a three-game losing streak ... UAB led by as many as 19 points in the first half and was ahead 40-26 at the break ... the Miners fell behind by 26 points in the second half, and a late rally came up short ... UTEP pulled within eight points twice in the last minute and a half, the last at 70-62 on a jumper by Kevin Henderson with 28 seconds remaining ... UAB’s Howard Crawford closed the door on the Miners by hitting a layup with 14 seconds to go ... UTEP shot 29.6 percent in the first half and finished at 33.8 percent for the game ... it was the Miners’ second-worst field goal percentage in a Conference USA game this season behind 31.7 percent accuracy in a 68-50 win over Southern Miss on Jan. 17 ... the Miners finished 15-for-27 at the stripe and UAB was 12-for-30, including 9-for-24 in the second half ... the Blazers scored 44 points in the paint, including 26 in the first half ... it marked the first time this season that UTEP did not lead in a game. The Miners had led at one point in each of their previous 43 contests dating back to the 2005-06 season ... Stefon Jackson scored 22 points to lead the Miners ... Marvin Kilgore was the only other Miner in double figures with 15 points ... Lawrence Kinnard scored 15 points for UAB, and Frank Holmes added 13 points and 10 rebounds ... Wen Mukubu pulled down 11 boards for the Blazers, although UTEP won the rebounding battle 42-41 for the first time in six Conference USA road games ... UAB’s .538 field goal percentage was its second-best of the season.
UTEP in the C-USA Stats ...
UTEP leads Conference USA in assists (15.3 apg) ... the Miners are second in scoring offense (76.9 ppg) and third in rebounding offense (39.0 rpg), steals (8.4 spg), turnover margin (+2.64) and offensive rebounds (14.0 rpg) ... Malik Alvin is fifth in assists (4.6 apg), ninth in steals (1.5 spg), 10th in three-point field goal percentage (.391) and tied for 10th in free throw percentage (.750) ... Stefon Jackson is third in scoring (18.6 ppg) and tied for sixth in offensive rebounds (2.6 rpg) ... Kevin Henderson is seventh in rebounding (6.3 rpg) and ninth in defensive rebounds (4.2 rpg) ... Maurice Thomas is third in field goal percentage (.577) and offensive rebounds (3.0 rpg) ... UTEP is second in scoring offense (72.9 ppg) for league games only, and third in steals (8.6 spg) and turnover margin (+2.36) ... Henderson is second in C-USA in rebounding (7.5 rpg) for league games only, and Alvin is third in steals (2.2 spg).
Miners Rolling at Home ...
Although UTEP is 1-7 on the road this season, the Miners continue to enjoy success in the Don Haskins Center, where they are 57-10 (.851) over the last four seasons ... the Miners have won six of their last seven home games with the only loss to UCF, 67-64, on Jan. 27 ... UTEP’s average margin of victory at home this season has been 22.8 points ... the Miners are averaging 82.3 points at home, and have scored 80 points or more on eight occasions ... Saturday’s game will be the 525th for the Miners in the Haskins Center, where they have posted an all-time mark of 404-120 (.771).
Defense Dynamite in “The Don” ...
UTEP has allowed an average of 69.3 points per game at home this season, with a .387 defensive field goal percentage and .344 defensive three-point field goal percentage ... the Miners have taken their defense to a whole other level in C-USA home games, surrendering 63.0 ppg with a .341 defensive field goal percentage and .307 defensive three-point field goal percentage ... UTEP is also forcing 18.5 turnovers per game at home this season (16.0 in league games) ... UTEP has held its last six home opponents to field goal percentages below 40, including all five Conference USA foes.
High-Scoring Offense Slowed ...
UTEP has been held to less than 80 points in nine straight games after scoring 80 or more in eight of the first 16 contests of the season ... the Miners have scored less than 70 points in five of the last nine contests ... in the first 16 games of the season, UTEP averaged 80.2 points with a .444 field goal percentage and .674 free throw percentage ... over the last nine games the Miners have averaged 70.9 points with a .395 field goal percentage and .631 free throw percentage ... UTEP is 9-2 this season when shooting 45 percent or better from the field, but the Miners have reached that bar just twice in the last nine games.
Guards Carrying the Load ...
Guards have scored 1,423 of the Miners’ 1,922 points this season (74 percent) ... UTEP’s three big men -- Jeremy Sampson, Maurice Thomas and Victor Ramalho -- are averaging 16.9 points and 12.4 rebounds collectively ... UTEP has started four guards (Malik Alvin, Kevin Henderson, Stefon Jackson, Marvin Kilgore) in each of its last five games ... a guard has led the Miners in scoring in 23 of 25 games this season ... either Henderson or Jackson has led the team in scoring in nine of the last 10 contests ... in UTEP’s first five C-USA games (4-1 record), Alvin and Kilgore averaged 21.2 points between them with a .435 (37-for-85) field goal percentage ... in the six games since (1-5 record), they have averaged 12.5 points with a .343 (23-for-67) field goal percentage ... they also committed 21 turnovers in the first five C-USA games (4.2 avg.), and 37 in the last six (6.2 avg.) ... the Miners are 8-3 when they have more assists than turnovers, and 5-9 when they don’t.
UTEP Class Records Fall ...
Stefon Jackson has set a UTEP sophomore record with 465 points scored this season ... the previous record, 443 points, was established by Charlie Brown during the 1956-57 season ... Jackson has had thirteen 20-point games this season, one shy of the sophomore record 14 set by Nolan Richardson in 1960-61 ... Malik Alvin owns Miner freshman records for assists (116) and steals (38), eclipsing the previous marks of 86 assists by Henry Hall in 1989-90 and 32 steals by Roy Smallwood in 1999-00.
6-3 Guard Leads Miners in Rebounding ...
Kevin Henderson leads UTEP in rebounding (6.3 rpg) and is averaging 7.5 boards in Conference USA games -- second only to Memphis’ Joey Dorsey (10.5 rpg) ... the 6-3 Henderson is trying to become the first guard to lead UTEP in rebounding since William Smith in 1998-99 (6.3 avg.) ... Henderson has averaged 9.0 rebounds over the last five games ... he has had seven boards or more in 13 games this season, including a career-high 15 versus UCF on Jan. 27 ... Henderson has scored in double figures in seven of the last 10 games, averaging 13.8 ppg during that span ... he leads the Miners with 47 three-point field goals and has made 91 in his career (11th on the school list) ... Henderson has made a three-pointer in 13 straight games, the longest running streak on the team ... it ties his personal long streak which was originally established over the last five games of the 2005-06 season and the first eight of the 2006-07 campaign ... the last Miner to hit at least one three-pointer in 14 straight games was Chris Craig, who had a 28-game string during the 2003-04 season.
Jackson a 3x C-USA Player of the Week ...
Stefon Jackson is Conference USA’s only three-time Player of the Week to date ... Jackson was honored by the league on Dec. 4, Jan. 22 and was a co-winner on Feb. 5 ... two-time honorees this season include Rice’s Morris Almond, UAB’s Paul Delaney III and Houston’s Robert McKiver ... Jackson has the third-best scoring average of any UTEP sophomore behind Charlie Brown in 1956-57 (21.1 ppg) and Nolan Richardson in 1960-61 (21.0 ppg) ...he collected 17 rebounds against Houston on Feb. 3, a UTEP record for guards ... Jackson scored a personal best 33 points versus Jackson State on Dec. 22 -- just four shy of the UTEP sophomore record of 37 points, established by Charlie Brown versus West Texas State on Feb. 15, 1957 ... Jackson is one of 19 UTEP players to have a 30-point game ... he has scored 20 points in a half twice this season -- on Nov. 16 against UC Davis (21 points in the second half), and again versus Jackson State (22 points in the first half) ... he is the only Miner to go to the free throw line in every game ... he has attempted 10 free throws or more in 10 games this season ... Jackson has scored 20 points or more in three of the last four games.
Rebounding is Key ...
UTEP is 10-3 this season when outrebounding opponents, 3-9 when being tied or outrebounded ... the Miners have outrebounded their last six home opponents, including all five C-USA foes ... UTEP’s rebound margin is +4.1 at home and -6.2 on the road ... the discrepancy is even more striking in C-USA games ... UTEP has a +2.8 rebound margin in C-USA home games and -7.4 in C-USA away games ... UTEP is averaging 30.8 defensive rebounds in C-USA home games and 18.0 in C-USA road games.
Barbee and First-Year Coaches ...
UTEP is 13-12 in its first season under former Memphis assistant Tony Barbee ... Barbee has tied Ross Moore (1947-48) and Jason Rabedeaux (1999-00) for the third-top victory total among first-year Miner head coaches ... Doc Sadler posted 27 wins during the 2004-05 season and the legendary Don Haskins tallied 18 victories in his initial season at the helm of the program (1961-62).
Talking Triples ...
UTEP is on pace to make 213 three-point field goals and attempt 635 this season ... the school records are 214 makes and 627 attempts, both set during the 1994-95 season ... UTEP established a school record with 37 three-point attempts at Southern Miss on Jan. 31 ... the Miners have already tied the school record by making 10 or more three-pointers in six games ... if Dale Vanwright makes one more trifecta, UTEP will have seven players with 10 or more three-pointers made in a season for the first time in school history ... UTEP has made a three-point field goal in 199 straight games.
A Bunch of Steals ...
UTEP has had at least 10 steals in 10 games this season (8-2 record), including five times in conference play ... the Miners had a season-high 14 takeaways at Tulsa on Jan. 13 ... UTEP is averaging 8.4 steals per game ... at its current pace UTEP would finish the season with 260 steals, which would tie the second-most in school annals behind the 284 tallied in 1986-87.
Miners Forcing Turnovers ...
UTEP has forced 20 or more turnovers in 14 games this season, including five times in conference play ... UTEP leads C-USA in turnovers forced (478) and turnovers forced per game (19.1) ... the Miners are projected to force 593 turnovers in 2006-07, which would shatter the school standard of 551 forced in 1986-87 ... UTEP has scored more than 30 points off turnovers in three games this season (UC Davis, Toledo, Marshall) ... the Miners are averaging 18.9 points off turnovers per contest, but just 10.7 over the last six games.
Kilgore Scores in Double Figures ...
Marvin Kilgore put up 15 points at UAB last Saturday, scoring in double figures for the second time in three games ... he collected 10 points against Houston on Feb. 3 ... Kilgore scored in double figures in UTEP’s first three Conference USA games, but has done so just twice in the last eight league contests ... Kilgore did not have an assist at UAB for only the second time this season ... he is second on the team in assists (81) and fourth in scoring (8.9 ppg) ... Kilgore has had 12 double-figure scoring games this season, including a career-high 21 points against Chicago State on Nov. 29.
Clarke Provides Firepower Off Bench ...
Darren Clarke has scored in double figures eight times off the bench this season, with the Miners posting a 6-2 record in those games ... UTEP is also 6-2 when Clarke shoots 50 percent or better from long range ... he is averaging 7.9 points as a reserve and 8.5 on the season ... Clarke has made a three-pointer in 18 of the 24 games he has played in ... he is second on the club with 32 three-point field goals and is shooting 37.6 percent from beyond the arc.
Thomas is Much-Improved ...
Maurice Thomas is averaging 9.1 points and 5.8 rebounds this season after averaging 3.1 ppg and 2.3 rpg a year ago ... he has scored in double figures in 10 of the last 15 games ... Thomas is the only Miner with a field goal percentage of 50 or better (.577) ... he has been the Miners’ top board man in nine games ... Thomas has grabbed nine or more rebounds eight times this season ... Thomas netted a career-high 20 points versus Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Dec. 13, and pulled down a personal best 13 boards against Jackson State on Dec. 22.
Trainer Adds Depth at Guard ...
Breland Trainer has played in five games for UTEP this season ... he is not in the media guide ... the 6-4, 175-pound walk-on guard is a native of Sugar Land, Texas and attended Clements High School ... Trainer averaged 16 points, three rebounds, five assists and three steals his senior year ... he averaged 10 points, two boards, three assists and one steal as a junior ... he shot over 80 percent from the line during his prep career ... his single-game scoring high in high school was 34 points.
Miner Nuggets ...
Stefon Jackson shot 50 percent or better in a road game for the first time this season at UAB a week ago. He was 9-for-17 from the floor against the Blazers ... Stefon Jackson was on the floor for the full 40 minutes for the second time this season at UAB ... two Miner starters -- Malik Alvin and Maurice Thomas -- did not score at UAB last Saturday. Alvin was held scoreless for the second time this season, and Thomas was blanked for the first time in 2006-07. UTEP has had nine games where at least one starter hasn’t scored this season, and two games where two starters haven’t scored ... Maurice Thomas also did not attempt a shot at UAB for the first time this season ... UTEP only has two players averaging double-figure points -- Stefon Jackson (18.6 ppg) and Kevin Henderson (10.9 ppg) -- for the first time since 1996-97, and only the third time in 21 seasons ... the Miners have missed 89 free throws in their last nine losses ... UTEP is 11-2 this season when making more free throws than foes and 10-2 when going to the line more times than the opposition ...UTEP has started four Philadelphia natives (Malik Alvin, Stefon Jackson, Marvin Kilgore, Maurice Thomas) over the last 20 games. They have scored 1,123 points for the Miners in 2006-07 -- 58 percent of the team total ... UTEP has won 85 games over the last four seasons ... five Miners have scored over 20 points in a game this season -- Malik Alvin, Kevin Henderson, Stefon Jackson, Marvin Kilgore and Maurice Thomas ... Darren Clarke and Marvin Kilgore have both played in Conference USA before. Clarke appeared in 26 games for St. Louis during the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons, and Kilgore appeared in 21 contests for East Carolina in 2004-05.
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