Newsflash: The Miners Are Good This Year!

By Eric Huseby, ABC 7 News Director

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It looks like Tony Barbee’s put together a pretty solid basketball team this year. Too bad nobody’s there to watch them. UTEP announced that last night’s crowd for an exciting game against Southeastern Louisiana was 7,687.

There weren’t that many there. The 12,000 seat Don Haskins Center looked to be about one-third full. They must be counting no-show season ticket holders or the pep band, or the Golddiggers. Or all of the above?

That’s a shame. It was a spirited crowd. When Barbee raised his arms to ask for a little noise, he got it. The crowd was happy to comply, and rose several times to its feet, giving a hint of what UTEP home games used to be like.

In addition to watching a fun young team grow together before our eyes, we were also treated to the spectacle of Capetto’s owner and longtime booster Edward Davis get into it with one of the refs. KROD’s Steve Kaplowitz reports that referee Steede Zelton had Davis removed from his seat after committing the dreaded offense of calling Zelton … (Dramatic pause … ) by his first name. A little touchy there, Steede? Something tells me he is going to hear a lot more of that if he ever works another game here.

The Miners teased us. They repeatedly opened up a double digit lead, threatened to blow it wide open, then let the Lions tighten it back up and make a game of it. They need more of a killer instinct, but they’re really fun to watch. This is a much more talented team than we’ve had the past two years. The freshmen Barbee has brought in, along with transfer Tavaris Watts, are giving defenses some other things to think about, allowing star guard Stephon Jackson to have a breakout season.

UTEP is running a fast-paced offense, they’re creating opportunities on defense, and they’re hitting some long-range bombs. It’s a crowd-pleasing combination … if you call a suspiciously small gathering of 7,687 a crowd. Your next chance to change that – and watch a really fun team – comes Friday and Saturday night in the Sun Bowl Tournament.

Don’t wait for the March rush. There’s plenty of room on the bandwagon now. Good seats still available …