UTEP to take on Wyoming Tonight at 5 p.m.

UTEP Miners

UTEP vs Wyoming Game Notes

EL PASO, Texas - UTEP (4-6) will take on old Western Athletic Conference rival Wyoming (3-8) on Saturday at 5 p.m. in the third-place game in the WestStar Bank Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational. The Miners will play their final nonconference contest before Conference USA action starts on Jan. 3 at UTSA.

The Miners are coming off a 75-62 loss against Norfolk State on Friday night, while the Cowboys fell against 76-53 against ESTU in the contest prior. Both squads struggled from the field as UTEP shot 17-of-45 (37.8 percent) and the Cowboys went 16-for-52 (30.8 percent).

Efe Odigie displayed another solid outing before fouling out. The impressive freshman scored 18 points and recorded nine rebounds against the Spartans. Paul Thomas registered a career-high 17 rebounds and Evan Gilyard came off the bench to lead the Miners with 20 points in 27 minutes of action. Gilyard connected on all three of UTEP's three pointers. Nigel Hawkins chipped in with 15 points.

SATURDAY'S OPPONENT
Wyoming has dealt with multiple injuries to this point of the season. The Cowboys are led by Justin James's 23.0 points per game, while Jake Hendricks is averaging 12.5 points per contest. Hunter Thompson ranks second on the team at 14.3 points per game, while leading Wyoming with 25 points on 8-of-9 shooting against ETSU. James scored eight points and Hendricks tallied six. James also leads the team in rebounds per game (9.6) and assists (49).

ALL-TIME SERIES
UTEP leads the all-time series 43-22, having won 14 of the last 20 meetings. UTEP and Wyoming last played 11 years ago. The Miners defeated the Cowboys 79-73 on Dec. 22, 2007 in the championship game of the Sun Bowl Invitational.

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