Game Notes In PDF Format
 
OPENING TIP
The UTEP men's basketball team (7-4) will square off against Bradley (6-6, 1-0 MVC) in the championship contest of the 60th anniversary edition of the WestStar Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational at 7 p.m. MT Wednesday (Dec. 22).  The Miners have won a season-high three straight games and the Braves are victors of two in a row and five of six. Jon Teicher (41st year) and Steve Yellen (19th year) will be on the call, which can be followed on "The Home Of UTEP Basketball" 600 ESPN El Paso and the UTEP Miners App and on the Sun Bowl Association YouTube channel. For tickets, fans may call the Eisenberg Family Ticket Office at (915) 747-UTEP, email tickets@utep.edu, or visit www.UTEPMiners.com/tickets or in person (Brumbelow Building on UTEP campus, 201 Glory Road).
 
QUICK HITTERS FOR UTEP
-   UTEP is making its 46th appearance in the event's championship game (32-13 previously).
-   The Miners beat NC Central (12/21) by nine after trailing by seven in the first half.
-   Keonte Kennedy had a career-high 27 points while Christian Agnew had a season-best 16 points in the contest vs. NCCU. UTEP committed a season-low seven turnovers in the tilt. 
-   UTEP has used a nation-tying leading nine starting line-up combinations in just 11 games.
-   The Miners are undefeated on the year (6-0) when leading at the half.
-   UTEP has played three consecutive contests without two starters and multiple reserves.
 
THE SERIES WITH BRADLEY
UTEP and Bradley are tied, 2-2, in the all-time series, with the Miners holding a 1-0 edge at home and the Braves up, 1-0, in the NCAA tournament. The last meeting was a 79-61 UTEP victory in El Paso on Dec. 10, 1990.
 
QUICK OVERVIEW ON BRADLEY
Bradly is 6-6 on the year, including drilling Sam Houston, 87-61, in its opening game of the 2021 WestStar Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational on Dec. 21, to pick up its fifth win in the past six games. The lone loss during the hot streak came at MAC stalwart Toledo, 67-65, on Dec. 7. The Braves enter the match-up with UTEP on a two-game winning streak overall. Bradley has a proud history that has produced more than 1,700 wins, 37 NBA draft picks, 36 postseason tournament appearances and 14 conference titles. The Braves are under the direction of seventh-year head coach Brian Wardle, who stands 99-108 in that timeframe. Terry Roberts (15.8 ppg), Ja'Shon Henry (11.2 ppg) and Malevy Leons (10.8 ppg) pace the attack that produces 72.0 points per game with Rienk Mast chipping in 7.9 ppg. Mast is the top rebounder (8.8 rpg), followed by Henry (5.1 rpg) and Leons (5.1 rpg). The effort has helped the Braves outboard the opposition, 39.3-33.8 (5.9). Four of the six losses by Bradley have been by single digits. Bradley is among the Missouri Valley Conference and NCAA leaders for blocks per game (5.3-second/28th), field-goal percentage defense (38.8-first/40th), defensive rebounds per game (28.0-first/63rd), rebound margin (+5.9-first/65th) and offensive rebounds per game (11.8-first/82nd). Notable alumni for the school include Neil Flynn (actor known for his role on Scrubbs and in the movie Major League) and the first African-American Astronaut Robert Henry Lawrence Jr.
 
GOING BACK IN TIME (AT UTEP 70,  NCCU 61, DEC. 21, 2021)
Keonte Kennedy came alive for a career-high 27 points-including a career-best three triples- while Christian Agnew (season-high 16 points) and Jorell Saterfield (13 points) also reached double figures in scoring as a short-handed UTEP men's basketball team found a way to defeat NC Central, 70-61, in its first-round game of the 60th Anniversary edition of the WestStar Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational Tuesday evening. The Miners played yet another game with two starters out, this time going without Souley Boum (21.1 ppg, 2.9 apg) and Tydus Verhoeven (4.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.0 bpg). Reserves Alfred Hollins, Cam Clardy and Ze'rik Onyema also missed the contest. Kennedy has now hit double figures in scoring for four straight contests, a career-long streak. He did a little bit of everything Tuesday, including getting to the charity stripe for a career-best 8-of-9 at the charity stripe. UTEP shot 44.7 percent from the floor, including 43 percent from 3-point range, and made 76 percent at the charity stripe. The Miners racked up nine assists while committing a season-low seven giveaways.  Agnew and Jamari Sibley each netted five boards to lead the way for the Orange and Blue on the glass.
 
KALU NETS FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
UTEP forward Kevin Kalu has been named the Conference USA Freshman of the Week, the league office announced Dec. 20. He is the first Miner to claim the honor since Jordan Lathon did most recently during the 2018-19 season (Feb. 25). The Baltimore, Md., product came alive with career highs in points (eight) and assists (two) while adding four rebounds to help hold off upset-minded McNeese, 82-72, on Dec. 16. Kalu played 25 minutes, didn't miss a shot from the field (2-2) or at the charity stripe (4-4).
 
LOCK DOWN ON DEFENSE
UTEP has kept seven of its past eight opponents to at least five points below their scoring average entering the contest. Those seven foes have been held to a total of 81 points combined under the expected output, which works out to 11.6 fewer points per game by the opposition across the board. The defensive lock down started at Pacific (64 points scored, 69 ppg), followed by UCR (52 points scored, 70 ppg), FAMU (53 points scored, 70 ppg), NM State (72 points scored, 77 ppg), at No. 8 Kansas (78 points scored, 85 ppg), at New Mexico (69 points, 83 ppg) and most recently NCCU (61 points, 75 ppg). Overall UTEP's scoring defense is 64.5 (fifth C-USA/91st NCAA).
 
ON THIS DATE IN UTEP HISTORY
UTEP hammers Nevada, 86-49,  to win the Rock Island Tournament on Dec. 21, 1965. It goes on to win the 1966 NCAA Tournament.
 
SCORING STREAK
Souley Boum (63), Keonte Kennedy (35) and Christian Agnew (15) all have scoring streaks of at least 10 games. Furthermore, Boum is at 20 contests for double-digit scoring effort while Kennedy is at a career-long four for double-digit streaks
 
MIX AND MATCH
UTEP has used nine starting line-ups in 11 game, tying for the most combinations nationally with at least 10 games played according to a report compiled by the NCAA. Overall 10 different Miners have started. Injuries and Covid-19 protocols have played a big factor in the mix and match this season. It's a huge change from a year ago when the Miners utilized two starting line-ups with a total of six different players starting on the season. 
 
TURN IT OVER
UTEP is  second in Conference USA and 28th in the country by forcing 17.3 turnovers per game, which is aided by coming up with 8.6 steals per game (fourth C-USA/50th NCAA). Keonte Kennedy (2.0 spg-sixth C-USA/54th NCAA) and Jamal Bieniemy (1.7 spg-11th C-USA) have been the catalysts.
 
THAT'S A GOOD MARGIN
UTEP has caused 25+ turnovers twice on the year while committing 14 or less seven times. Furthermore, the Miners have made the same or fewer amount of turnovers compared to the opposition in nine of the 11 games this year. The result is a +4.7 turnover margin (second C-USA/23rd NCAA). UTEP is making 12.5 turnovers per game while forcing 17.3.
 
THEY ARE CALLED FREE THROWS FOR A REASON
UTEP is taking care of business at the charity stripe, connecting on 75.1 percentage at the line (second C-USA/53rd NCAA).