UTEP to play #17 Kansas ahead of Conference USA basketball tourney
EL PASO, Texas – The UTEP men’s basketball team will play at no. 17 Kansas on March 4 before heading to Frisco for the Conference USA Championships. The Miners and Jayhawks are slated for a 6 p.m. MT tip time in Allen Fieldhouse.
The game will be televised on Big 12NOW on ESPN+.
UTEP (10-10, 6-8 Conference USA) will finish out league play on Feb. 27 and 28 against Charlotte in the Haskins Center. Kansas (17-8, 11-6 Big 12), ranked 17th in the AP poll and 19th in the USA Today Coaches poll, recently fell at no. 14 Texas 75-72 (OT) on Feb. 23 and will conclude league play at home against no. 2 Baylor on Feb. 27.
UTEP owns a 3-1 all-time record versus Kansas. The Miners last played Kansas on Nov. 30, 2013 in the Battle 4 Atlantis. The no. 2 Jayhawks got by the Miners, 67-63 in the third-place game in Paradise Island, Bahamas. The Miners upset the no. 1-seed Jayhawks 66-60 on March 22, 1992 in Dayton, Ohio, to advance to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament. The two programs first met on March 12, 1966 when Texas Western College edged out no. 4 Kansas 81-80 (2OT) in Lubbock, Texas, during its championship title run. The Miners defeated Kansas the very next season on Dec. 17, 1966 in Chicago, Ill. Thursday’s meeting will be the first between the two schools in Lawrence, Kan.
UTEP is facing a ranked opponent for the first time since Dec. 19, 2014 when the Miners hosted no. 3 Arizona.
UTEP is also slated to play at Kansas during the 2021-22 season.
