Tickets Sell Out Quickly For CBI Championship Game

EL PASO, Texas — The Miners pulled off a win against Oregon State Wednesday night, setting up a championship game at the Don Haskins Center on Friday.

By a quarter until noon Thursday, there were no tickets to be found. That’s because immediately after Wednesday’s game, more than half the seats in the Haskins Center were sold to fans leaving Game 2 of the College Basketball Invitational championship series.

ABC-7 was the only station there. Before the game was even over, Miner fans were rushing to the ticket center to get tickets to Friday’s games.

“We actually left a minute before the game ended. It was really hectic. We ran over here and it got really crazy, people pushing and there was a line back there. But they got it under control, eventually,” one fan said.

At one point, UTEP head coach Tony Barbee walked the line outside the Haskins Center and thanked fans for their support, which started well before the tipoff of Game 2.

“I’m in the locker room 45 minutes before the game and I’m asking my coaches what is that noise out there?” Barbee said.

Thursday’s sellout was the quickest in school history. “That’s what UTEP basketball should be about,” Barbee said.