Miners Looking to Shore Up Deficiencies Against LA Tech

UTEP Notes For LA Tech Game (PDF)

The UTEP men's basketball team arrived in Ruston, La. mid-afternoon on Friday and went right to work preparing for the LA Tech Bulldogs. Tip-off for Saturday's game is set for 5 p.m. MT.

UTEP (6-9, 1-2 C-USA) dropped an 85-75 decision at Southern Miss on Thursday night as the Golden Eagles posted the best field goal percentage (.603) by a Miner opponent since 2009. Southern Miss' 85 points were also a season high by a UTEP adversary.

"We've got to address ourselves," UTEP Interim Head Coach Phil Johnson said. "Obviously we'll be ready for LA Tech. But the turnovers the other night, and the lack of guarding the drive, was really poor. So we're going to address that here tonight."

There were some good things that came out of Thursday's loss. The Miners outrebounded their third straight C-USA opponent, 32-26. The Miners have outboarded their first three C-USA foes for the first time since the 2007-08 season. UTEP scored 75 points or more for the fifth time in its last six C-USA road games dating back to the 2016-17 season. The Miners' .680 field goal percentage in the second half at Southern Miss was their second-best in a frame this season (UTEP shot 71.4 percent in the second half versus Rice on Dec. 30). For the second straight game, UTEP got a big night out of its bench as the reserves scored 37 points. UTEP's bench is averaging 38.7 ppg in C-USA play, and has outscored opponents 116-45.

The Miners have also made 11 or more three-pointers in back-to-back games for the first time since January of 1995. The Miners are first in C-USA in field goal percentage (.494) and three-point field goal percentage (.500) for conference games only. UTEP's 9.3 three-pointers made per game in league play ranks second behind Rice's 11.0. Scoring-wise, the Miners are tied for fifth with 72.3 ppg through three league contests. Outside of the turnovers, the offense hasn't been the big problem. The Miners need to get back to defending like they did in the six games prior to Southern Miss, where they consistently yielded less than 70 points.

LA Tech, meanwhile, has had its own troubles. After opening the season 5-0, the Bulldogs are 4-7 over their last 11 games. LA Tech has lost back-to-back games at the Thomas Assembly Center, falling to Louisiana-Lafayette on Dec. 12 (75-71) and UTSA on Thursday. The Bulldogs are 1-3 in their last four outings in Ruston after winning their first four home games of the season. LA Tech is 2-3 since sophomore guard Jalen Harris (15.3 ppg/4.5 rpg), a member of last year's C-USA All-Freshman Team, announced that he would be leaving the program.

With Harris gone, the Bulldogs have two players averaging double figures in scoring with sophomore guard DaQuan Bracey collecting 15.3 ppg, and senior guard Jacobi Boykins contributing 14.8 ppg. Bracey is shooting 47.5 percent from the field, and Boykins is shooting 93.1 percent from the line. Together they have made 65-of-163 three-point attempts (39.9 percent).

LA Tech is second in C-USA in three-point field goal percentage (.381) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.324). The Bulldogs are third in blocked shots (4.4 bpg) and scoring margin (+8.9 ppg). Boykins leads the league in free throw percentage, and junior guard Derric Jean is third in three-point percentage (.478). Boykins scored 24 points in the loss to UTSA on Thursday and is averaging a team-leading 17.7 ppg in C-USA play, shooting 94.4 percent (17-for-18) from the charity stripe. Through Thursday's games, the Bulldogs rated 19th nationally in free throws made (271), and 30th in free throw attempts (369). Boykins was sixth in the country in free throw percentage.

"We're going to see a really explosive offensive backcourt, maybe the most explosive backcourt in our league," Johnson said. "Marshall would be right there with them. But Bracey and Boykins can really score. Bracey was freshman of the year in our league last year. He is a tremendous driver. He has added a three-point shot to this game. Obviously he worked really hard over the summer. Boykins is probably the best shooter in our league and maybe one of the best in the country. So that's where it starts, taking care of those two guys."

The Miners are shooting for their first win at LA Tech since 2004, which would square their C-USA mark at 2-2 heading into a two-game set against Florida Atlantic (Jan. 11) and FIU (Jan. 13) next weekend in the Haskins Center.

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