Nov. 11, 2014
UTEP Notes vs. Washington State (PDF) 
A UTEP men's basketball team that has high hopes for the 2014-15 season will be tested immediately in its season opener versus Washington State on Friday at 8 in the
Don Haskins Center.
The Cougars struggled last season, but are looking to make a turnaround in year one under coach Ernie Kent, who has taken two teams to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.
The fact is, Washington State hails from the Pac-12 Conference and has two of the highest-scoring guards in the league in DaVonté Lacy and Que Johnson as well as a new sense of purpose under Kent, who has 325 wins in a career that has taken him to Saint Mary's, Oregon and now Pullman, Wash.
In other words, as UTEP coach Tim Floyd pointed out Tuesday, the Miners' win on the Cougars' floor last season means absolutely nothing, nor does their 105-58 exhibition rout of Southeastern Oklahoma two days ago.
"What we're looking at is a difference in the quality of opponent with Washington State versus Southeastern Oklahoma," Floyd said. "Coach Kent has probably changed some things that he has done in the past, having been out of it for four years. He has been doing a lot of TV games, I'm sure a lot of observing and probably adding some wrinkles that he really likes. We're going to play against a quality Pac-12 team and it will be a real test for us."
Washington State has three starters and nine letterwinners returning, including Lacy (19.4 ppg in 2013-14) and Johnson (9.5 ppg). Lacy, who was a member of a Pac-12 All-Star team that toured China over the summer, has scored 1,023 points to rate no. 32 in school history.
Cougar newcomers include junior college transfers Aaron Cheatum & Marcus Graham and freshmen guards Jackie Davis, Trevor Dunbar and Ny Redding. Washington State also has Houston transfer Valentine Izundu. The 6-10 center appeared in 24 games for UH over the last two years.
"This is going to be their first game under a new coach and they're going to play really hard," Floyd said. "I don't know that our young guys that we're depending on will fully understand how hard these athletes from the power conferences are going to play."
Floyd is wary of Lacy and Johnson, who combined for almost 30 points per game a year ago.
"They are guys that have scored a lot of points in the Pac-12. They are absolutely terrific, terrific perimeter players," he said.
Floyd also expressed concern about sophomore forward Josh Hawkinson, who had a breakout performance in Washington State's 88-74 exhibition triumph over Azusa Pacific on Nov. 7.
"[Their coaches] have worked with a young big guy who came out and had 24 points and 18 rebounds in their opener and was just absolutely dominant," he said. "We feel like Ernie is going to try to continue to play up-tempo and they're going to come at us with an awful lot of pressure defensively. I think that will be our biggest key is how we can handle that pressure, and can we play better at home this year than we did last year."
Indeed, the Miners were 14-7 at home last season. They were 8-2 on the road.
They'll try to re-establish the home court dominance in the Haskins Center. UTEP has won 77 percent of its games in the arena, which opened in 1977.
The last time UTEP opened the season against a team from a power conference was on Nov. 21, 2000 at Washington (73-61 win). The last time the Miners played their first home game versus a team from a power conference was on Nov. 29, 1986 against Oregon State (83-72 loss).
"I don't recall having an opponent of this caliber in our building to start a season, even going back to coach Haskins' days," Floyd said. "We are very fortunate that we got them on the schedule for four years. And with the women playing a rivalry game [NM State at 5:30 p.m.] and the whole thought of people being able to use the ticket from our basketball game and watch our football team try to get bowl eligible [on Saturday versus North Texas] is a tremendous opportunity. You can technically buy an $8 ticket and see three games, which I think is pretty cool."
