March 9, 2015
UTEP Conference USA Championship Notes (PDF) 
UTEP (21-9) makes its 10th appearance in the Conference USA Championship this week. The #2 seed Miners will face either #7 UTSA or #10 FIU in Thursday's quarterfinals at 11 a.m. MT from Legacy Arena in Birmingham.
The game will be televised on the American Sports Network. The game can be seen in El Paso on Time Warner Digital Cable Channel 1248 and over the air channel 14.2. Or check your local listings for where you can view the game.
UTEP is 2-0 versus UTSA and 1-0 against FIU. The Miners beat the Roadrunners in San Antonio on Jan. 17 (73-55) and in El Paso on Feb. 21 (69-62). UTEP won at FIU, 67-64, on Feb. 7.
UTEP is 10-9 in C-USA Championship games, reaching the semifinals in 2006, 2008 & 2013 and the final in 2010 & 2011.
The Miners' all-time conference tournament record is 37-24 (includes a forfeit against Hawaii in the 1996 WAC Tournament). UTEP captured WAC Tournament crowns in 1984, 1986, 1989, 1990 and 2005.
This is the Miners' second-best seed in the C-USA Championship. UTEP was seeded third in 2006, 10th in 2007, sixth in 2008, fourth in 2009, first in 2010, third in 2011, eighth in 2012, third in 2013 and fifth in 2014.
UTEP was seeded #2 the last time it won a conference tournament a decade ago (2005) as a member of the WAC. The Miners were the #2 seed in the WAC Tournament in 1986, 1989, 1992, 2004 and 2005. UTEP reached the championship game all five years and won the title in 1986, 1989 and 2005. In 1992, top-seed BYU stunned UTEP 73-71 for the trophy when the Cougars' Kevin Nixon sank a 54-foot shot at the buzzer. In 2004, #1 seed Nevada edged UTEP for the title, 66-60.
The Miners' all-time record as a #2 seed in conference tournaments is 13-2.
UTEP's three seniors -- C.J. Cooper, Cedrick Lang and Julian Washburn -- have combined to play 504 minutes in six C-USA Championship games. Together they have collected 163 points, 55 rebounds and 25 assists. They have won a game in the tournament every year and advanced to the semis in 2013. Washburn has scored 84 points in the C-USA Tournament (14.0 avg.) with five double-figure games in six starts. He scored 20 points versus Houston in 2013 and 20 against East Carolina in 2014.
UTEP leads the UTSA series 8-1, with six of the nine matchups taking place in the Don Haskins Center. The teams have never met on a neutral floor.
UTEP is 4-0 versus UTSA since the Roadrunners joined Conference USA with an average margin of victory of 13.5 points.
The Miners are 4-0 all-time against FIU and, like UTSA, have never faced the Panthers on a neutral court.
