UTEP men’s basketball announces 2020-21 Schedule
EL PASO, Texas - It's been a difficult task for UTEP head coach Rodney Terry putting together a schedule for his basketball team.
On Tuesday, UTEP released its 2020-2021 basketball schedule.
UTEP opens the season on the night before Thanksgiving (Nov. 25) in the Haskins Center against UT-Permian Basin.
The contest will be part of a double-header in which the women will play early in the afternoon against New Mexico State.
The Miners then hit the road to Tucson for a contest at Arizona on Nov. 29.
The Wildcats return a talented team and will play host to the Miners in a Sunday late afternoon game.
UTEP then returns home to the Sun City to host Sul Ross State on Dec. 3, before heading out to play perennial West Coast Conference power Saint Mary’s University (Calif.) on Dec. 8 in Moraga.
Additional nonconference games will be announced at a later date.
Conference USA action will feature a unique scheduling format in which the Miners will play the same opponent in a two-game series at four select C-USA campuses on Friday and Saturday.
Teams will also play a home-and-home series with a designated rival opponent.
The updated format will help keep student-athlete health and safety at the forefront.
UTEP will open the league slate at Southern Miss on New Year’s Day, while playing a rematch with the Golden Eagles the following day.
The Miners then host Rice on Jan. 8 and 9 to open conference play in the Haskins Center.
UTEP and UTSA will play a home-and-home series on Thursday, Jan. 28 in San Antonio, and in El Paso on Jan. 30.
The Miners will also play host to LA Tech (Jan. 22 & 23), FIU (Feb. 12 & 13) and Charlotte (Feb. 26 & 27) to close out regular-season conference action.
The road C-USA games will continue at North Texas (Jan. 15 & 16), at UAB (Feb. 5 & 6) and at Florida Atlantic (Feb. 19 & 20).
The C-USA Championships will be March 10-13 at The Star in Frisco, Texas. The top 12 schools will advance to postseason play.
Terry returns to begin his third season at UTEP after leading the Miners to 17 wins in 2019-20, the biggest improvement of any team in Conference USA and the most wins in four seasons.
UTEP also returned to the C-USA Championships for the first time in two years and won the Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational for the first time since 2014.
All-C-USA First Team and NABC All-District performer Bryson Williams headlines the 2020-21 roster.
The senior led the Miners in scoring (17.8 ppg) and rebounding (7.2) last season.
Williams ranked third in scoring and fifth in rebounding in C-USA, making him the only player to rank in the top five in both categories.
Souley Boum returns after ranking second on the team in scoring (12.9 ppg) and leading C-USA in free-throw percentage (87.8).
Incoming transfers Jamal Bieniemy (Oklahoma), Keonte Kennedy (Xavier) and Kristian Sjolund (Georgia Tech) are expected to fill big roles for the Miners.
All three transfers are NCAA eligible to compete for the Miners this season.
Due to social distancing guidelines and COVID-19 protocols, the Don Haskins Center has a very limited capacity this year for fans and is currently sold out.
At this time, single game tickets will not be made available for sale.
It is recommended that fans who are still interested in potentially attending games sign up on the men’s basketball season ticket waitlist.
For questions and more information, fans should call (915) 747-UTEP.
