UTEP basketball opens three-game homestand vs. UAB Saturday night

EL PASO, Texas - The UTEP men’s basketball team (16-11, 9-6) will shoot for its third win in the past four games when it plays host to UAB (21-7, 11-4 at 7 p.m. MT Saturday.

The game is the first of three straight at home to close out the regular season for the Miners, with Rice (March 3) and North Texas (March 5) also slated to venture to the Don Haskins Center.

UTEP stands at 9-5 at home (4-2 C-USA).  The Blazers are 5-4 on the road (4-3 C-USA).

The Miners were clipped last time out at Middle Tennessee on Feb. 21, 77-59, to finish their three-game road trip in five days at 2-1 while UAB won 68-56 at UTSA on Feb. 24. 

SERIES HISTORY: UAB LEADS, 15-9

UAB leads the series with UTEP, 15-9, aided by six straight wins.

The Miners, though, sport a 7-3 mark when playing in El Paso.

It is the second meeting on the year between the programs, with the Blazers having bested the Miners in Birmingham, 75-62, on Dec. 30. UTEP is searching for its first win against UAB since Feb. 2, 2017, (W, 63-59 at Haskins Center.

THIS & THAT

-    Souley Boum (19.9 ppg) leads Conference USA in scoring while Jamal Bieniemy (15.4 ppg) is seventh. The only time a Miner has paced C-USA in ppg was Stefon Jackson (23.6 ppg) in 2007-08.The last time UTEP had a 20.0 ppg scorer was Jackson (24.5 ppg) in 2008-09.

-    Souley Boum has had eight 20+ point outputs the past 11 games, and he is at 21.8 ppg in the stretch.

-    Souley Boum tops C-USA in free throws made (139-13th NCAA). He is 32-77 the past four tilts and has made at least five free throws in 16 different games.

-    Souley Boum (36.4 mpg-second C-USA/16th NCAA) and Jamal Bieniemy (34.1 mpg-seventh C-USA) both find themselves in the top 10 in Conference USA for playing time.

-   Tydus Verhoeven (1.04-11th) and Jamari Sibley (1.0-13th) are both in the top 15 of the league for blocked shots per contest.

-   Jamal Bieniemy (2.4/game-ninth C-USA) and Souley Boum (2.1/game-18th C-USA) are both in the league leaders for 3-pointers per contests.

-    The Miners have won eight of 11 improve to 9-6 in C-USA after a 1-3 league start. It’s the most league victories since 2016-17 (12-6). They are also won win shy of locking up a winning league record, something that hadn’t happened since 2016-17.

-    UTEP finished the regular season at 7-6 on the road, its first winning road record since 2013-14 (8-2). That’s also the most wins on the road since 2013-14.

-    The Miners went 5-4 in league play for its first road winning mark in C-USA action since also going 5-4 in 2016-17.

-    UTEP’s five league road wins surpassed its total (four) of such games from the prior three seasons combined.

-    The Miners secured their first road win at LA Tech since 2004, at New Mexico since 2009, at ODU since 2015 and at UTSA since 2015. They also secured the first road sweep of the LA Tech and Southern Miss trip in six tries.

-    UTEP had a six-game conference USA winning streak (Jan. 15 to Feb. 5), which was its longest since also posting six straight wins  in 2016 (2/4-20/16). It marked the fifth winning streak of at least six C-USA games since the Miners joined the league in 2005-06.

-    UTEP won its last five games in January for the first time since also doing it in 2014.

-   The Miners are 14-2 on the season when drilling at least eight 3-point shots. That record includes a school-recording tying 15 makes from distance against Southern Miss in the 87-54 win on Jan. 8. UTEP nearly matched that with 14 at USM on Feb. 19.

-   The Miners stand at 12-2 when scoring 70+ points (5-0 getting into the 80’s).

-   UTEP sports a mark of 15-4 on the campaign when limiting foes to 72 points or less, including 5-1 when keeping them in the 50’s.

-   The Miners are 5-1 in games decided by five points or less.

-   UTEP is 15-4 when making at least 40 percent of its shots and 7-0 when the opponent falls shy of that figure. It is also 10-1 when shooting better than foes.

-   The Miners are 13-1 when leading with five minutes to play.

-   Fourteen of UTEP’s 16 wins of the year have been the come-from-behind variety, including the season-best 13 points overcome against UTSA on Jan. 11. There have been rallies of at least seven points six times total this season.

-   The Miners have secured a win in all four Mainland timezones in the US.

-   UTEP’s 16 total wins surpasses the effort from last year’s Covid-affected season when it finished at 12-12. The Miners were 17-15 in 2019-20.

-   UTEP has had its top three scorers (Souley Boum-18.6 ppg, Jamal Bieniemy-14.6 and Keonte Kennedy-13.3) on the court in the same game just six times out of 27 total games this season.

GET TO KNOW UAB

UAB is 21-7 on the season, including 11-4 in Conference USA play. Seventeen of its 21 wins have been by double figures. It is the lone team in the league to have bested North Texas, doing so on the road, 69-63, early in conference play on Jan. 6. The Blazers have won four of their past six games, including most recently winning at UTSA, 68-56. They are high flying, putting up 80.1 points per game to lead Conference USA and rate 13th nationally. They also top the league and are among the nation’s best for turnover margin (6.1-first/third), scoring margin (+15.5, first/fifth), steals per game (10.2-first/seventh), turnovers forced (16.9-first/13th) and fewest turnovers per game. Jordan Walker (19.0 ppg-third C-USA) sets the tone offensively, followed by Quan Jackson (11.8 ppg) and KJ Buffen (10.6 ppg).UAB returned four starters and seven lettermen from a team that finished 22-7 a year ago. The university was founded in 1969. Notable alumni include Regina Benjamin (former U.S. Surgeon General), Steve Chiotakis (featured on All Things Considered broadcast), Deidre Downs (2005 Miss America) and Vonetta Flowers (2002 Olympic gold medalist in bobsled).