UTEP men’s basketball to challenge second-place Jax State on the road Wednesday

EL PASO, Texas - The UTEP men’s basketball team (9-15, 5-8 CUSA) will take aim at back-to-back wins when it locks up at second-place Jax State (13-10, 8-4 CUSA) at 5 p.m. MT/6 p.m. CT on Wednesday.

The Miners rallied from 14 points down in an eventual 91-88 OT triumph against I-10 rival NM State last time out on Feb. 7.

It marked the second triumph in the past three tilts for the Orange and Blue.

The Gamecocks have claimed two straight and five of the last six, including smashing Kennesaw State, 77-58, last time out on Feb. 7. JSU is 9-4 at home on the year (5-1 CUSA).

Sam Houston (W, 77-62, 1/14) is the lone CUSA program this year to best the Gamecocks inside Pete Mathews Coliseum.

UTEP is 1-8 on the road (1-5), but it is playing much better in the situation of late.

The Miners held a lead inside of two minutes before eventually falling at Sam Houston (70-66, 1/4).

UTEP also was tied with 16 minutes left at league-leading Liberty (1/17) while knocking off Delaware (70-69, 1/15) prior to that.

The contest at JSU begins a stretch with four of the next five away from home for the Orange and Blue.

Following the matchup, UTEP will return home to play host to the Flames in a nationally-televised tilt (ESPN2) at 12 p.m. MT Saturday before enduring three straight on the road. UTEP and JSU will be squaring off a second time this year when the Gamecocks make the return visit to El Paso on “Senior Day” on March 7. 

Jon Teicher (45th year) will be on the call for the matchup between the Miners and Gamecocks on “The Home of UTEP Basketball” 600 ESPN El Paso. It will also be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required), with Eli Gold (play-by-play) and Mickey Shadrix (analyst) describing the action.

GET TO KNOW JAX STATE (11-11, 4-8 CUSA)

Jax State opened the year with three consecutive wins before dropping four straight and six of the next seven.

The Gamecocks responded by running off three triumphs in a row and emerging victorious in four of five.

After falling in back-to-back contests, JSU got hot once again. It has claimed five of its past six games, including securing a pair of wins the most-recent week of league play (W, 71-66, at WKU, 2/5, W, 77-58, Kennesaw State, 2/7).

The surge puts the Gamecocks at 13-10 overall, including 8-4 in CUSA play to sit alone in second place in the league.

JSU really gets after it defensively by holding foes to 39.4 percent from the floor (second CUSA/15th NCAA), including just 29.2 percent (first CUSA/15th NCAA) from distance, which plays a big role in the Gamecocks yielding only 66.3 ppg (second CUSA/23rd NCAA).

JSU is also among the CUSA leaders and top-100 nationally for free-throws made (17.0-fourth/71st) and attempted (24.7-third/34th) per game, rebounding margin (+4.3-fourth/73rd), defensive boards per game (26.4-fourth/68th), total rebounds per contest (37.7-sixth CUSA/80th NCAA) and scoring margin (+6.9-fourth CUSA/90th NCAA). The only category it rates worse than 300th nationally is assists per game (12.1-305th). JSU is led offensively by the top scorer in CUSA, Mostapha El Moutaouakkil, who pours in 18.4 ppg (72nd NCAA). He gets to the free-throw line a ton, pacing the league and checking in among the top-50 in the NCAA for both free throws made (125-41st) and attempted (193-11th CUSA). The Louisiana transfer is also a quality rebounder, using his 6-6 frame to secure 7.4 rpg (sixth CUSA). AC Bryant (12.5 ppg) joins him in double figures for scoring while Jacoby Hill (9.0 ppg) and Emondrek Erkins-Ford (8.8 ppg) also have a knack for putting the ball in the hoop. Jaye Nash runs the offense effectively with 4.0 assists per game (fourth CUSA) while Iaroslav Niagu is a rim protector with 1.4 blocks per tilt (fourth CUSA). El Moutaouakkil has produced a quartet of double-doubles (tied fifth CUSA) and shoots 45.8 percent overall (seventh CUSA). Bryant needs to be checked close, as he drills 39.2 percent (69-176) from 3-point range. That works out to 3.0 triples made per game (second CUSA/35th NCAA). Notable alumni include Ashley Martin (became the first woman to play and score in an NCAA Division I American football game) and Cary Guffey (star of the 1977 Steven Spielberg film “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”).

SERIES HISTORY: UTEP LEADS, 3-2

UTEP is 3-2 against Jax State, although the Gamecocks claimed both meetings between the programs last year. It was a revenge of sorts, as the Miners swept the season series in the 2023-24 season. All four matchups between the programs since the Gamecocks joined CUSA have been decided by single digits, with three being eight-point differentials and another a seven-point margin. The only other meeting occurred 30 years ago, when the Orange and Blue derailed Jax State, 76-53, in the Sun City on Dec. 18, 1995.

LAST GAME (AT UTEP 91, NM STATE 88, 2/7/26)

Behind 21 points from Caleb Blackwell, double-doubles from Kaseem Watson (18 points, career-high 12 rebounds) and Elijah Jones (17 points, career-best tying 12 boards) and another big game from Jamal West Jr. (20 points, eight boards, four blocked shots), UTEP proved its mettle with a 91-88 overtime win against I-10 rival NM State in front of a season-best 7,862 fans at the Don Haskins Center on Feb. 7.