UTEP to take on UC Irvine in the Sun Bowl Invitational Championship Game Tuesday Night

UTEP Miners

UTEP v UC Irvine GameNotes

EL PASO – The UTEP Miners (7-1) will play in the nation's oldest holiday tournament championship game for the first time in two years when it takes on UC Irvine (7-5) in the 58^th Annual WestStar Bank Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational Tuesday night in the Haskins Center.

"It's a program [UC Irvine] I'm very familiar with," second-year UTEP Head Coach Rodney Terry said. "Russ (Turner) is a great coach and he's built a solid program. We're trying the build a program here, and he's built one there that has a chance to go to the NCAA Tournament every year. We're going to play to play some good senior guards and have played in postseason play. Their interior players are really good as well and they put a lot pressure on the basket. He's always had really big teams and they execute well. It's going to be a great challenge for us."

The Miners upped their home mark to 7-0 after defeating North Carolina A&T, 72-54, Monday night. The unblemished home record is the best start since the 2003-04 season. UC Irvine advanced to the late game after its 74-68 triumph against Kent State.

Kent State (8-2) will take on North Carolina A&T (3-8) in the consolation game with tipoff set for 5 p.m. The Miners and Anteaters will start 20 minutes following the first contest.

UTEP last won the Haskins Invitational on Dec. 22, 2014 after defeating Kent State, 78-75.

Souley Boum is looking to end the championship-less streak after he made a career-high five three-point buckets on his way to 26 points – his most in a Miner uniform. Boum scored 26 points on a pair of occasions while at San Francisco during the 2017-18 season. The redshirt sophomore out of Oakland, Calif., added a season-high seven rebounds and dished out three assists.

Bryson Williams produced his second double-double (21 points, 10 rebounds) of the season after going 6-for-6 from the free-throw line and 3-of-4 from downtown. Williams scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half.

The Miners opened up an 18-8 lead before the pesky Aggies went on a 7-0 run to close the gap to three points (18-15) at the 10:22 mark. North Carolina A&T gave the Miners fits, taking a 26-24 lead at the 5:03 mark, while going ahead by one point (28-27) with 3:03 left in the first half.

UTEP used a 10-1 run that was sparked by a Boum trey to take a 37-29 lead into the locker room.

The Miners put the game away in the second half after NC A&T got within six points (39-33) early. The Orange and Blue gave itself breathing room after an 18-3 run to take a game-high 21-point lead (57-36) with just over 12 minutes left in the contest.

UTEP made a season-high 13 three pointers, while tallying a season-most 18 assists. Jordan Lathon and Daryl Edwards each registered team-highs four dimes. Tydus Verhoeven, who made his second consecutive start, playing a season-most 23 minutes, tallied a season-high three assists.

UC Irvine has won four of its last five games. Collin Welp leads UCI in points per game (14.3) and rebounds per contest (6.4). Eyassu Worku averages 10.9 points per game. Welp led the way with 18 points on Monday night, while Eyassu chipped in with 15 points and six assists, and Brad Greene with 16 points. UCI outrebounded Kent State, 35-32, and recorded six steals. The Anteaters defeated San Diego, 76-73, on Nov. 5, while defeating Boise State by nine points (69-60) on Nov. 15 in Idaho. Prior to its win Monday night, UCI trashed Pacific Union, 120-63, behind 22 points from Austin Johnson and 21 from Tommy Rutherford.

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