UTEP to Battle Boise State on Christmas Day

UTEP v Boise State_GameNotes

HONOLULU, Hawai'i – UTEP (9-3) will end its holiday tournament on The Island against Boise State (7-5, 1-1 Mountain West) on Christmas Day at the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic. The Miners and Broncos will tipoff at 10:30 a.m. Hawaii Time/1:30 p.m. MT.

"The Voice of the Miners" Jon Teicher will call the action on UTEP's flagship station 600 ESPN El Paso, while the Miners and Broncos will be televised on ESPNU with Kanoa Leahey (play-by-play) and Brooke Weisbrod (color analysis) on the mic.

The Miners recorded a season-high 12 offensive rebounds that led to a season-most 18 second-chance points during a 71-70 triumph over Ball State on Dec. 23. UTEP rallied from seven points down as Efe Odigie's first career three-pointer from the top of the key gave UTEP the go-ahead lead, 49-47, with just over 10 minutes remaining in the contest.

The Miners' one-point victory against Ball State was the first in a DHC game since NM State and Davidson (69-68) in 2017.

Bryson Williams did his usual thing, leading the Miners with 16 points and grabbing six boards. But a pair of Miners came off the bench that gave their squad a spark. Kaden Archie, a transfer from TCU, played a career-high 30 minutes and set career highs in points (11), rebounds (five) and assists (three). Archie scored seven of those points in the second half. Anthony Tarke also played a season high in minutes (25) coming off the bench. Tarke tied for the team lead with six rebounds, while he snagged three offensive boards. Tarke chipped in with six points and gathered a season-high three steals.

UTEP outrebounded Ball State, 37-21, after being worked on the glass its previous three contests. Despite a season-high 23 turnovers, the Miners shot 50.9 percent (27-53) from the field and made 73.3 percent (11-15) of their free throws.

Boise State is coming off an 85-69 victory against Portland during the early contest on Monday evening. Derrick Alston scored 32 points on 10-of-19 shooting, including an 8-for-9 effort from the free-throw line. He's the second player after Williams to tally a 30-point performance in this year's Classic. Alston added six assists while Justinian Jessup chipped in with 17 points. Marcus Dickinson recorded nine rebounds, while RJ Williams added seven off the glass.

Alston's 21.7 points per game leads the MWC and ranks 13^th nationally, while his total points (260) also ranks first in the league and 15^th nationally. Alston's 95 three-point attempts rank no. 1 in the MWC and 33^rdnationally. Jessup is ranked second on the team with a 15.2 points per game average. Williams is averaging 8.3 rebounds per game and 12.3 points per contest.

Boise State opened the season with a 126-49 victory over LIFE Pacific, while fell its following two contests (106-75 at Oregon, 69-60 vs. UC Irvine). The Broncos came back with victories against BYU (72-68), at Pacific (83-76) and UNCW (80-78). BSU opened Mountain West play at New Mexico, falling 80-78, and bouncing back with a 75-64 against Colorado State.

BSU takes care of the ball, only turning the ball over 11.9 times per game. That number ranks no. 1 in the MWC and 36^th nationally. It's plus-1.8 turnover margin ranks second in the MWC and 98^th nationally. The Broncos scoring offense (79.1) ranks second in their league and 47^th nationally.

SERIES HISTORY
UTEP and Boise State have met 12 times, splitting those contests. The Miners and Broncos are former Western Athletic Conference foes, meeting 11 times from 2001 to 2005. The last time the two programs met was on Nov. 16, 2017 at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The Broncos edged the Miners, 58-56. The first meeting came on Jan. 26, 2001, while the two programs met three times in the WAC Tournament. The Miners defeated the Broncos, 85-73 on March 12, 2004 on their way to the WAC Championship game, and followed with a 91-78 stomping on March 12, 2005 in the WAC Championship on their way to the NCAA Tournament.

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