UTEP Prepares to host Our Lady of the Lake Monday; fans still not allowed at games

EL PASO, Texas - After a short winter break the UTEP Miners will return to the court Monday at the Don Haskins Center.

UTEP will host Our Lady of the Lake at 7 p.m.

While the Miners will be the ones returning to the hardwood, fans will still not be allowed at home games.

UTEP confirmed to ABC-7, that Monday's game will be played without fans in attendance.

However, thanks in part to UTEP’s partnership with KVIA, the game will be televised on The El Paso-Las Cruces CW with Erik Elken (play-by-play) and Leonard Owens (color analysis) calling the action.

The Miners are 4-2 after posting a 79-59 win against Benedictine University at Mesa on Dec. 20.

Tydus Verhoeven recorded his first career double-double against the RedHawks, scoring a UTEP career-high 15 points and grabbing a collegiate career-best 10 rebounds.

Verhoeven is shooting 73.1 percent from the floor this season. Christian Agnew came off the bench and led the Miners with 16 points in just his second game of the season.

Agnew also tallied six rebounds with two assists and a steal. Vuk Vulikic also came off the bench set career highs in points (five) and rebounds (eight) in over 23 minutes of action.

Prior to the Benedictine game, UTEP upset Arizona State in Tempe on Dec. 16. After being down eight points at halftime, the Miners rallied to outscore the Sun Devils, 43-22, in the second half.

It was UTEP’s first nonconference road win since 2013 and the first in Tempe since 1983.

OLLU is 1-3 after back-to-back losses at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 99-72 (Dec. 19) and at UTSA, 102-70 (Dec. 20).

OLLU defeated Texas State, 61-58, on Dec. 12 for its lone victory.

The Saints fell in their season opener to Incarnate Word, 84-71, on Nov. 29.

Our Lady of the Lake has also played three exhibition games against quality Division I opponents.

The Saints fell to C-USA program Rice, 103-64, on Nov. 28, while losing to UTRGV, 91-68, on Dec. 4, and New Mexico, 104-65, on Dec. 15.

Junior forward Ruben Monzon leads OLLU in scoring (13.3 ppg) and rebounding (7.5 rpg).

Monzon scored 18 points during the Saints’ win at Texas State and tallied 14 points at UTSA. Senior guard Ethan White is averaging 10.3 points per game.

White scored 13 points versus Texas A&M-CC, and 14 points at UTSA. Overall, the Saints average 68.5 points per game, while giving up 85.8. OLLU is shooting 38.6 percent from the floor.

The Saints are averaging 31.5 rebounds per game while opponents have crashed the boards at 49.5 per contest. 

The Saints have a trio of El Paso players on their roster. Colby Borak (Franklin HS), Elijah Davis (Pebble Hills HS) and Diego Torres (Socorro HS) are on the reserve roster for head coach Chris Dial.