Miners Take Winning Vibe to Old Dominion Saturday Night

UTEP Miners

UTEP Notes For Old Dominion Game (PDF)

Fresh off its first road win of the season, UTEP (8-17, 3-10 C-USA) will take on Old Dominion (20-5, 11-2 C-USA) on Saturday night in Norfolk. The Miners ended a six-game overall and road losing streak with an 87-86 triumph at Charlotte on Thursday. Paul Thomas' jumper with 2.6 seconds remaining was the winning bucket. It was the Miners' second one-point road victory in Conference USA play since joining the league in 2005 (68-67 at East Carolina on Jan. 26, 2013). It was also UTEP's first win at Charlotte in three tries. UTEP opened up a one-game lead on Rice (2-11 C-USA) and a two-game lead on Charlotte (1-12 C-USA) in the chase for the no. 12 seed in the Conference USA Championship. The Monarchs won their fourth in a row, and for the 15th time in 17 games, with a 100-62 drubbing of UTSA on Thursday at the Ted Constant Center.

Saturday's game will be streamed on ESPN3 with a start time of 5 p.m. MT.

The Monarchs are in the thick of the chase for the Conference USA regular season title with a 11-2 league mark (tied for second place in the standings with WKU). ODU is 9-2 at home this season, 4-2 in league play with wins over Charlotte (89-58), Marshall (82-76), UAB (65-60) and UTSA (100-62) and losses to WKU (75-68) and Middle Tennessee (66-59). ODU is 9-2 on the road including a perfect 7-0 in C-USA action. As usual, it all starts on defense for the Monarchs, who yield 63.1 ppg with an opponent field goal percentage of .410 and opponent three-point field goal percentage of .361. ODU has allowed fewer than 70 points in its last eight C-USA games. Four Monarchs post double-figure scoring averages -- junior guard B.J. Stith (15.3 ppg), junior guard Ahmad Caver (14.4 ppg), junior forward Trey Porter (12.4 ppg) and senior guard Randy Haynes (12.4 ppg). Stith tallied 36 points and 10 rebounds in ODU's rout of UTSA on Thursday. His 28 points in the first half broke a 41-year old school record. The Monarchs made 15-of-26 three-point attempts and outscored the Roadrunners 25-1 in points off turnovers in scoring 100 points in a regulation game for the first time since the 1998-99 season. Old Dominion leads C-USA in scoring defense, scoring margin (+11.1 ppg) and field goal percentage defense. The Monarchs are second in the league in three-point field goal percentage (.365), blocked shots (4.4 bpg), steals (7.5 spg) and assist/turnover ratio (1.5), and third in rebounding margin (+4.2 rpg) and turnover margin (+4.7). Caver is first in C-USA in assist/turnover ratio (3.5), and second in assists (6.4 apg) and steals (2.2 spg). He also averages a C-USA best 38.3 minutes per outing. Old Dominion is ninth in the NCAA in scoring defense and turnover margin, 10th in turnovers per game (10.3), 16th in assist/turnover ratio and 24th in scoring margin. Caver is second in the NCAA in minutes per game (behind Syracuse's Tyus Battle), fourth in assist/turnover ratio, 13th in steals per game and 17th in assists per game.

"We're going to deal with a real powerhouse on their home court tomorrow," UTEP Interim Head Coach Phil Johnson said. "Obviously Caver is a big-time guard in the fact that he ranks in the top-20 nationally in several different categories. And then you look at Stith who had 36 points last night, he's a really tough guy to defend. They're a great defensive team as well, so we'll have our hands full. We've got to get in there and get ready to go play against a really good team that beat UTSA by 50 or so last night."

The Miners posted their first road win of the season on Thursday at Charlotte. It was also UTEP's first victory away from El Paso in 2017-18 as the Miners were 0-9 (0-6 away, 0-3 neutral) heading into the game. UTEP also ended its longest Conference USA losing streak ever (six games) on Thursday.

"It was a road win and a much-needed win in conference play," Johnson said. "Obviously our goal is to get in the conference tournament. We need to keep it going and keep playing well."

Print Friendly Version