Nov. 25, 2008
UTEP-Saint Mary's Notes (PDF)
UTEP (2-1) is one of eight teams in this year's 76 Classic field. The tournament will take place from Nov. 27-30 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif. Participating teams include Arizona State, Baylor, Cal State Fullerton, Charlotte, Providence, Saint Mary's and Wake Forest. The Miners will take on Saint Mary's (3-0) in opening round action on Thanksgiving Day at noon MST (11 a.m. PST). The game will be nationally televised on ESPNU.
The Miners opened the season with wins over Texas Southern (69-63) and Georgia Southern (96-79) at the Don Haskins Center before suffering their first loss at home to UNLV, 80-67, on Monday night.
Saint Mary's has beaten Seattle Pacific (86-55), Fresno State (99-85) and Vanguard (86-54) at home this year. The Gaels were 25-7 last season, 12-2 in the West Coast Conference (second place) and lost to Miami, 78-64, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Saint Mary's has four returning starters and eight returning lettermen. The Gaels are ranked 27th in the latest ESPN/USA Today poll and 28th by the Associated Press.
Saint Mary's won the only previous matchup between the schools, 79-44, on Dec. 19, 1951 in El Paso. The Gaels finished 16-10 that season, while the Miners were 8-17. Ben Gibson scored 31 points to lead Saint Mary's in that game, while UTEP (then known as Texas Western) received a combined 29 points from Merrill Autry (15) and Gerald Rogers (14).
Three of the teams in the 76 Classic field -- Baylor, Cal State Fullerton and Saint Mary's -- participated in last year's NCAA Tournament. Arizona State and Charlotte played in the postseason NIT, and UTEP earned a bid to the CBI. ESPN2 and ESPNU will provide coverage of this year's 76 Classic.
UTEP will face either Cal State Fullerton or Wake Forest on Friday at 1:30 or 4 p.m. MST, depending on the results of Thursday's games. The Miners will play their final game of the tournament on Sunday versus a to-be-determined opponent.
The Miners are playing in their fifth in-season tournament under third-year coach Tony Barbee. UTEP participated in the BCA Invitational in Syracuse, N.Y. during the 2006-07 season, and the preseason NIT a year ago. The Miners have also hosted the State Farm Sun Bowl Tournament the last two years.
UTEP's in-season tournament record under Barbee is 6-3. The Miners are 3-0 in neutral site non-conference games under Barbee.
