Game Notes In PDF Format

OPENING TIP
The high-scoring UTEP men's basketball team (2-0) will face a stiff test when it plays host to 2023 NCAA Tournament participant UCSB (0-1) in a nationally-televised game (CBS Sports Network) at the Don Haskins Center at 7 p.m. MT Monday. It is the "915 Game," with UTEP trying to have its best crowd of the season. The Miners have put up 100+ points in back-to-back games for the second time in school history (1968-69), including setting the school record for scoring in a 123-72 romp past NAIA member USAO on Nov. 9. UTEP, which drilled Division III program McMurry in the opener 120-71, on Nov. 6, has a total of 243 points to start 2-0. Those are the most combined points in a two-game span in program history (103rd season). The Gauchos (0-1) dropped their season lid lifter, 82-76, against Portland State on Nov. 9, but 2023 Big West Player of the Year Ajay Mitchell missed the game. Jon Teicher (43rd year) and Steve Yellen (21st year) will be on the call on "The Home of UTEP Basketball" 600 ESPN El Paso. Alex Del Barrio (play-by-play) and Michael O'Donnell (analyst) will be behind the mics for CBS Sports Network. Tickets start as low as $9.15. For more information, please visit www.UTEPMiners.com/tickets or call (915) 747-UTEP.
 
NATIONAL TV BECKONING
Three of the Miners' next four games will be broadcast nationally by CBS Sports Network, with match-ups against UCSB (Nov. 13), vs. Cal (Nov. 20) and vs. either Tulane or Bradley (Nov. 22) coming on the network. The games the week of Thanksgiving will be part of the SoCal Challenge.
 
DUST OFF THE RECORD BOOKS
UTEP has been denting the record book over the first two games of the season.
-School-record 123 points vs. USAO (11/9) and third-most points (120) vs. McMurry (11/6). The 243 points are the most in a two-contest span in program history.
- Dished out a program-best 33 assists vs. McMurry, smashing prior standard of 29.
- School-record 50 field goals vs. McMurry, crushing previous mark (46) that had happened in both 1979 (vs. Illinois Tech, 12/22/79) and in 1966 (vs. NM State, 2/1/66).
- Second-most second-half points (71) at the school vs. USAO and tied for seventh-highest total (61) after the break against McMurry.
- Tied for fourth-most first-half points (59) against McMurry.
- Scored at least 59 points in three of the four halves on the year.
- Won back-to-back games by at least 49 points for first time ever, including tying for the seventh-biggest margin of victory (51) vs. USAO (W, 123-71).
- Posted 19 steals vs. McMurry, tying as the third most at the school, while the 18 thefts against USAO earned a share of fifth place.
 
GET TO KNOW UCSB
UCSB has gone to the NCAA Tournament in two of the past three seasons, including making an appearance in last year's March Madness after compiling a school-record 27 wins. The Gauchos claimed a share of the Big West regular-season title before going on to take home the conference tournament to punch their ticket to the dance. There are high expectations again this year, with UCSB being tabbed as the preseason favorite in the Big West. The Gauchos fell in their season opener, 82-76, against Portland State on Nov. 9, but 2023 Big West Player of the Year Ajay Mitchell missed the game. Mitchell, a Lou Henson Honorable-Mention All-American last year, averaged 16.3 points and 5.1 assists per game while connecting on 50.6 percent from the floor. Josh Pierre-Louis is also back as a returning starter. Returnee Cole Anderson led the way in the game vs. Portland State with 21 points while Pierre-Louis (16 points) and Yohan Traore (11 points) also hit double figures in scoring. Traore is a transfer from Auburn who was rated No. 8  nationally by Rivals and Sports Illustrated and 15th by 247Sports for the class of 2022. Ariel Bland (nine points, 13 rebounds) also was a key contributor in the season opener. The Gauchos are under the direction of seventh-year head coach Joe Pasternack, who is 132-54 in that time frame. UCSB was established in 1891 as the Anna Blake School. Notable alumni include Academy Award winners Michael Douglas and Gwyneth Paltrow and Cleveland Guardians Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber.
 
SERIES HISTORY
UTEP and UCSB haven't squared off since the 1958-59 season, when the Miners won, 75-54, on Dec. 15, 1958, in the lone meeting between the schools.
 
GOING BACK IN TIME
UTEP broke the school record for scoring by drilling NAIA member USAO, 123-72, at the Don Haskins Center on Nov. 9. The offensive outburst bests the prior standard of 121 (vs New Mexico Highlands, 12/30/00), which had stood for nearly 23 years. The Miners set the tone for the contest by racing out to a 19-0 lead, and the Drovers would never get closer than 15 from that point on. The differential was 22 at the half (52-30), and the only true drama over the remainder of the contest would be if the Orange and Blue could topple the program's single-game scoring mark. The record-setting sequence occurred in the waning seconds, with Sebastian Cole making one of the Miners' 18 steals (tied fifth at UTEP) before setting up Otis Frazier III for a transition And-one lay-up to cap the scoring in the contest. The Orange and Blue dished out 26 assists on 40 made field goals, with David Terrell Jr. dropping a game-high six helpers. UTEP handled the boards (41-31), thanks to Kevin Kalu (career-high 13 rebounds) leading the charge.
 
SCORING UP AND DOWN THE ROSTER
Eight different Miners (most on record) hit double figures in scoring in the 120-71 season-opening win against McMurry on Nov. 6. That was followed with seven UTEP players reaching double digits in the school-record setting 123-72 triumph against USAO. Overall, six players are producing at least 10.0 ppg heading into the showdown vs. UCSB. Newcomers RS-freshman Elijah Jones (19.0 ppg) and JC Honorable-Mention All-American Corey Camper Jr. (15.0 ppg) are at the top of the list. Returnees Otis Frazier III (15.0 ppg), Tae Hardy (12.5 ppg), Calvin Solomon (12.0 ppg) and Derick Hamilton (11.5 ppg) are also in double figures. Buffalo transfer Zid Powell (8.5 ppg) is close behind while freshman David Terrell Jr. (7.0 ppg) and senior Jon Dos Anjos (7.0 ppg) have also been consistent thus far.
 
CONSISTENT SCORERS
Corey Camper Jr., (13, 17) Otis Frazier III (12, 18), Derick Hamilton (10,14) Tae Hardy (14,11), Elijah Jones (19,19)and Calvin Solomon (12, 11) have reached double figures in scoring for both games on the season. Zid Powell has been just shy (9, 8) in each contest.
 
SAME GOES FOR PLAYING TIME
All 12 Miners to have appeared in both games on the season are logging at least 10.0 minutes per game. Tae Hardy (23.0 mpg) and David Terrell Jr. (21.2 mpg) are the lone individuals on the roster to secure better than 20.0 mpg thus far.
 
PICKING UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF
Last year, Calvin Solomon joined Randy Culpepper and Hall of Famer Tim Hardaway as the lone Miners in program history to average at least 2.0 steals per game. He was up to his old tricks in the opener vs. McMurry on Nov. 6, tying Otis Frazier III for the team lead with a game-high four steals. Solomon posted one vs. USAO while Frazier III picked up four more.
 
TOP-10 RANKINGS ALERT
It's early and UTEP has played two Non-Division I opponents, but the Miners are in the top 10 of the national rankings in eight different categories. That includes leading the nation for bench scoring (69.0 ppg) and rating second for both steals per game (18.5) and fastbreak scoring (35.2).

WORTH THE WAIT
RS-freshman Elijah Jones joined UTEP as a transfer from ECU midseason last year, meaning his debut wouldn't come until this season. The wait has been worth it, with Jones pacing the team in scoring  in each of the first two games of the year. He tallied 19 points in the opener vs. McMurry and matched that total against USAO. He is a sensational 16-17 from the floor, including 4-5 from 3-point range.
 
WELCOME BACK, JON
After an injury-riddled first season in the Sun City that limited Jon Dos Anjos to 19 appearances, the Brazil native couldn't wait to hit the courts without any health restrictions for the Miners in 2023-24. He scored a career-best tying 12 points on 5-6 shooting, including a perfect 2-2 from 3-point range. Dos Anjos also pulled down a game-high and career-most equaling eight rebounds in only 16 minutes of action to help UTEP rout Division III member McMurry on Nov. 6.
 
HIGH-OCTANE BENCH
UTEP's reserves have produced 69 points in each of the games on the year, with that average leading the country. The total points of 138 from the back-ups nearly equal the overall scoring (143) on the campaign by the opposition. UTEP's leading scorer, Elijah Jones (19.0 ppg) has come off the pine in both meetings.
 
DERICK CAN'T MISS
Derick Hamilton is a perfect 10-10 from the floor on the season, making him one of seven players in the country (among those qualified with enough field goal attempts) to not miss a shot thus far. Elijah Jones has only misfired once (16-17) on the year.
 
IT'S RAINING 3-POINTERS
UTEP has connected on 19 three pointers through two games on the season, nailing nine against McMurry before draining 10 vs. USAO. The Miners only had three contests last year in which they made at least nine triples. Overall, UTEP is 19-47 (40.4 percent), which ranks second in CUSA and 51st nationally. In 2022-23, UTEP finished 346th in the nation with a readout of 29.4 percent (158-537) from beyond-the-arc. Elijah Jones and Tae Hardy lead the charge this season with four each thus far this year.
 
GOOD START AT THE LINE
UTEP has connected on 71.0 percent (44-62) at the free-throw line through two games, including making 33-44 (75.0) last time out vs. USAO. Last year, UTEP finished at 344th nationally at the charity stripe with a readout of 63.2 percent (442-699).
 
WINNING THE BOARDS
UTEP has posted double-digit rebounding advantages in each of the contests this season, with a +11 (50-39) differential against McMurry and a +10 cushion (41-31) vs. USAO. Kevin Kalu (7.5 rpg) is leading the way, including pulling down a career-high 13 against USAO.
 
TALKING 100-POINT GAMES
UTEP finished with the second-most points (120-now third) in program history in the win vs. McMurry on Nov. 6. The Miners followed that up with a school-record 123 points in routing USAO. It's the first time UTEP has started a season with consecutive 100+ point showings. In fact, the only other time the Orange and Blue ever posted back-to-back 100-point games came during the 1968-69 season when they blasted Montana (103-90, 12/28/68) and then drilled Tahoe Paradise (109-63, 1/2/69). Prior to the outbursts this year, the Miners hadn't topped 100 since besting Rice, 101-89, on Jan. 8, 2021. UTEP now stands at 33-2 all time when surpassing 100 points in a contest, including 31-0 in El Paso (22-0 at the Haskins Center). UTEP has won 18 straight games when hitting the century mark.
 
STAYING HOME EARLY
UTEP is playing four straight (2-0 thus far) to start the season at home, something that hasn't happened since the 2019-20 campaign when they had five consecutive home games out of the gate (5-0 record). That included knocking off rivals NM State and New Mexico within the span of a week that year.
 
THE BEST FANS IN CONFERENCE USA
UTEP led Conference USA in attendance last year in both total number of fans (81,941) and average attendance (4,552). It marked the second straight season that the Miners have paced CUSA in at least one of those categories. Last year, UTEP's advantage for per-game average was noticeable, with WKU more than 500 fans behind on average at 4,026.
  
MORE THAN A MILLION FANS
UTEP has attracted more than one million fans to the Don Haskins Center over the past decade. A total of 1,116,176 individuals have passed through the turnstiles from the beginning of the 2012-13 campaign to the end of the 2022-23 season. That figure makes the Miners the only school out of the nine members in Conference USA to have topped one million fans in that timeframe.
 
HOME COOKING
UTEP is in search of its fifth straight season with at least 10 wins at home. The Miners compiled 11 victories at the Haskins Center last year, including going 3-0 at the inaugural Jim Forbes Classic Presented by Speaking Rock to claim the crown. The Orange and Blue are off to a 2-0 start in the Sun City this year.
 
ROSTER RUNDOWN
UTEP returned its leading scorer (Tae Hardy-12.8 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.2 spg) and rebounder (Calvin Solomon-6.0 rpg, 9.6 ppg, 2.0 apg, 2.0 spg) from last year's team. Overall, the Miners brought back 54.3 percent of their scoring and 50.5 percent of their rebounding. It is a stark difference from the situation the Orange and Blue faced going into the 2022-23 campaign, when they had just 20.8 percent of the rebounding and 11.1 percent of the scoring back. UTEP has seven lettermen in the fold, including three starters (Hardy, Solomon and Otis Frazier III; 7.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg). Jon Dos Anjos (4.2 ppg, 1.5 rpg) , Derick Hamilton (2.7 ppg, 1.4 rpg), Antwonne Holmes and Kevin Kalu are the other returning lettermen. The Miners landed six newcomers, including junior-college All-American Corey Camper Jr. (19.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.0 apg at Tyler JC) and DI transfers Zid Powell (13.0 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1.9 spg at Buffalo) and Baylor Hebb (Colorado State). UTEP also has a pair of true freshmen (Trey Horton III, David Terrell Jr.) and another JUCO transfer (Sebastian Cole). Garrett Levesque (Tarleton State) and Elijah Jones (ECU) have also made their respective Miner debuts after redshirting the 2022-23 campaign.
 
DI EXPERIENCE
UTEP has ample DI experience across its roster, with a combined 454 games played (210 starts) among the Miners as of the beginning of the 2023-24 season. Calvin Solomon leads with way with 114 appearances (88 starts).
 
PRESEASON HONORS
UTEP seniors Tae Hardy and Calvin Solomon were tabbed to the 2023-24 CUSA All-Preseason Team in a vote by the league's nine head coaches. The Miners joined Middle Tennessee and WKU as the only programs in the conference to have a pair of members on the squad.
 
NEW-LOOK LEAGUE
UTEP joined Conference USA as the newest school in the league for the 2005-06 campaign. It enters the 2023-24 season as the most-tenured member. The 11 programs who were part of CUSA when the Miners moved to it have since departed to other conferences. Joining UTEP as returning league members are FIU, LA Tech, Middle Tennessee and WKU while Jax State, Liberty, NM State and Sam Houston are all in their first year.
 
CUSA IS UP FOR GRABS
UTEP was predicted to finish fifth in Conference USA in 2023-24, but it's anyone's guess as to who will take home the regular season crown this season with so much turnover in the league. Five of the top six teams from the standings a year ago have departed for other conferences, including regular season and tournament champion Florida Atlantic. FAU made waves nationally by making a run to the Final Four in the NCAA. The second (North Texas) and third-place (UAB) teams squared off in the NIT finale, and fifth-place Charlotte won the CBI. In fact, only one team (Middle Tennessee) that finished among the top six in the regular season last year is back. Incidentally, the Blue Raiders and newcomer Liberty are picked to win the league, followed by WKU (third), LA Tech (fourth), the Miners (fifth), Sam Houston (sixth), FIU (seventh), NM State (eighth) and Jax State (ninth).

A YEAR IN REVIEW
-    UTEP had a new-look squad in 2022-23 with head coach Joe Golding having to overhaul the roster after the Miners returned just one starter and three letterwinners total from a 20-win team a year prior.
-    The Orange and Blue  managed a 14-18 record, including a 67-64 victory against NM State on Nov. 12, 2022, for their first win against the Aggies in three years. That was the start of a five-game winning streak, which was aided by back-to-back OT triumphs.
-    The five straight victories in November were the longest in the month in four years, which was aided by a mark of 3-0 in the inaugural Jim Forbes Classic Presented by Speaking Rock.
-    The Miners came within a point of winning the WestStar Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational, falling 47-46 to eventual NCAA Tournament participant Kent State on Dec. 22, 2022. UTEP experienced a tough 1-4 stretch early in league play, with those four setbacks by a combined 14 points.
-    UTEP remained resilient on the way to forging seven league triumphs, capped by a 77-65 "Senior Day" triumph against Middle Tennessee on March 4, 2023.
-    The Orange and Blue tied the single-season school record for overtime games at five, matching the 1994-95 and 2011-12 teams. All five of the OT games were in the regular season, which are the most ever at the school. Both the 1994-95 and 2011-12 Miners had in four OT games during the regular season and one postseason OT tilt.

THE BASIC FACTS ON UTEP
-    This is the 103rd season of UTEP men's basketball. The Miners made history by starting five African-Americans to defeat Kentucky, 72-65, and win the 1966 NCAA Championship on the way to inspiring the Disney hit movie Glory Road.
-    UTEP has 17 NCAA Tournament appearances (last in 2010), 11 NIT bids (last in 2015), 12 conference championships (last in 2010) and 26 seasons with at least 20+ victories (last in 2015). The Miners have won five league tournaments (last in 2005).
-    The Miners have a strong presence in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame with Don Haskins, Nate Archibald, Nolan Richardson, the 1966 team and Tim Hardaway all representing UTEP.
 
GET TO KNOW COACH GOLDING
Joe Golding is in his third year at UTEP, and is the 20th head coach in program history. He is the eighth head coach for the Miners since legendary Hall of Fame Coach Don Haskins retired following the 1998-99 season. Golding is 194-176 in his 13th season as a collegiate head coach, including 36-32 at UTEP. Those 36 wins already place him 10th all time at the school for career victories, and he has a chance to climb into sixth place by year's end. In 2021-22 he became the fourth head coach (20 total) in program history to have a winning season in their first year on the sideline. Don Haskins was the first when he directed the Miners to a mark of 18-6 in 1961-62. Doc Sadler (27-8, 2004-05) and Tim Floyd (25-10, 2010-11) also achieved the feat. Overall, the prior 19 head coaches combined to forge an average record of 9-13 in their first year with UTEP. Previously Golding  spent 10 years at Abilene Christian (158-144), helping it transition from a Division II to a Division I program. Golding led the Wildcats to the 2019 and 2021 NCAA Tournaments, including a stunning upset as a 14-seed of third-seeded Texas in the first round of the 2021 Big Dance.
 
UP NEXT
UTEP will wrap up its season-opening homestand against Austin Peay on Friday (Nov. 17) at 7 p.m.. The contest will be broadcast on 600 ESPN El Paso and streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required). Tickets start as low at $9.15 and are available by visiting www.UTEPMiners.com/Tickets or by calling (915) 747-UTEP.