UTEP to Send Out Seniors Against Southern Miss

UTEP Notes For Southern Miss Game (PDF)

UTEP (9-18, 4-11 C-USA) wraps up the home portion of its 2017-18 schedule on Saturday night against Southern Miss (13-16, 6-10 C-USA) in the Haskins Center. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. UTEP is 8-8 at home and needs a victory to avoid posting only its second losing mark over a full season in the Haskins Center. The Miners finished 5-12 in "The Don" during the 2002-03 campaign. UTEP snapped a three-game skid in the DHC on Thursday with a come-from-behind, 74-72 triumph over LA Tech. The Miners outscored the Bulldogs 10-3 over the final 3:06 and won it on a tip-in by Matt Willms with 25 seconds left. Three of the Miners' last four games have been decided by four points or less. UTEP is seeking its third win in four games on Saturday, while Southern Miss is looking to end a three-game losing skid. The Golden Eagles started their road trip with a 64-56 loss at UTSA on Thursday.

UTEP's four seniors -- Jake Flaggert, Keith Frazier, Omega Harris and Matt Willms -- have combined to play in 433 collegiate games and score 3,257 points.

Jake Flaggert has appeared in 118 games for the Miners. He has made 83 three-point field goals and his career percentage of .364 (83-for-228) ranks 13th in school history. He led Conference USA in charges drawn during the 2015-16 (18) and 2016-17 (33) seasons and has 65 charges drawn in his career.

Keith Frazier joined the Miners as a grad transfer this season. The former McDonald's All-American started his career at SMU and North Texas. In 86 collegiate games, Frazier has posted 734 points, 282 rebounds, 95 assists, 30 blocks and 50 steals. He has made 126 three-point field goals with a career percentage of .359 from beyond the arc. This year he is UTEP's second-leading scorer with 11 points per game and is tied for the team lead with four 20-point games.

Omega Harris has played in 115 games for UTEP. He ranks third in school history with 162 three-point field goals, fifth with 3,168 minutes, 10th with 1,341 points and 10th with 122 steals. His career three-point percentage of .387 (162-for-419) ranks eighth in school history. He was third team All-Conference USA as a junior when he led the Miners with 17 points per game. He has scored in double figures 70 times for UTEP with a team-leading fourteen 20-point games. He scored his career-high 28 points versus arch-rival New Mexico earlier this season.

Matt Willms has appeared in 114 games for the Miners. He has overcome numerous injuries to become a force inside for UTEP. He has collected 864 points, 517 rebounds and 121 blocked shots. He ranks third in school history in field goal percentage (.574) and fifth in blocks.

The Golden Eagles have been one of C-USA's top teams at home this season (10-3 record at Reed Green Coliseum), but they've struggled away from Hattiesburg (2-10 road games, 1-3 neutral site games). Southern Miss' 1-7 C-USA road mark includes a victory at Florida Atlantic (77-66) and losses at Marshall (85-66), WKU (82-66), UAB (86-75), Middle Tennessee (69-49), LA Tech (89-66), FIU (76-70) and UTSA (64-56). Junior guard Cortez Edwards (15.7 ppg), junior guard Tyree Griffin (15.1 ppg) and junior guard Dominic Magee (12.1 ppg) have done the bulk of the scoring for the Golden Eagles in 2017-18. Southern Miss paces C-USA in assist/turnover ratio (1.6) and ranks second in turnover margin (+4.6). Griffin is third in the league in assists (5.9 apg) and Edwards is third in steals (2.1 spg). Griffin scored a team-high 17 points in Thursday's loss at UTSA. Edwards chipped in with 12 points, seven rebounds and three steals, and Magee had a near double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds. The Golden Eagles were outrebounded 48-34 by the Roadrunners and never led, falling behind by as many as 22 points in the first half before rallying to pull within two midway through the second period. Southern Miss is fourth in the country in turnovers per game (9.6), eighth in turnover margin and ninth in assist/turnover ratio. Doc Sadler was the head coach at UTEP from 2004-06 and led the Miners to the 2005 WAC title and NCAA Tournament. Director of Basketball Operations Omar Thomas starred on the 2003-04 and 2004-05 UTEP NCAA Tournament teams.

For tickets, please call (915) 747-5234.

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