UTEP to close out regular season with “Senior Night” vs. FIU Thursday
(Courtesy: UTEP Athletics)
EL PASO, Texas - Coming off its first Conference USA road sweep in two seasons, the UTEP men’s basketball team (15-15, 6-9 CUSA) will look to send its four-member senior class out in style when it challenges FIU (10-19, 5-9 CUSA) at the Don Haskins Center at 7 p.m. MT Thursday.
The Miners will be looking to extend their winning streak to three, which would be the longest to close out the regular season since a four-game surge in 2019-20.
UTEP is also attempting to avenge a 72-68 setback at FIU on Jan. 13, a contest in which the Orange and Blue led by 15 with seven minutes to play before the Panthers caught fire.
A victory would give the Miners the chance to avoid the No. 8/No. 9 game, in addition to moving them to 3-0 on “Senior Day” under head coach Joe Golding.
UTEP enters the game with momentum, having bested Jax State (72-65, Feb. 29) and Liberty (67-51, March 2) to snap a four-contest skid and pick up its first two road triumphs of the campaign last week.
The Miners led for the final 14 minutes against the Gamecocks and trailed for only 28 seconds at Liberty, which lost for just the third time at home on the season.
FIU is also feeling good, having won two of the past three, including knocking off WKU, 85-83, on a shot with five seconds to play by current CUSA Player of the Week Javaunte Hawkins last time out on March 2.
UTEP is 12-5 at home (4-3 CUSA) and the Panthers are 1-10 on the road (0-6 CUSA). Jon Teicher (43rd year) and Steve Yellen (21st year) will be on the call on “The Home of UTEP Basketball” 600 ESPN El Paso and the UTEP Miners App. It will also stream on ESPN+ (subscription required, with Mando Medina (play-by-play) and former Miner (Hooper Vint) describing the action.
Tickets start as low as $9.15 but are available for two for $10 to UTEP faculty and staff as part of a special promotion. For more information, please visit www.UTEPMiners.com/tickets or call (915) 747-UTEP.
GOING TO BE HARD TO TAKE CARE OF THE BALL
Thursday’s match-up features two of the best in the country at coming up with steals.
The Miners pace the nation in both steals per game (11.7) and turnovers forced per contest (19.1), with Otis Frazier III (2.3 spg- third CUSA/17th NCAA) leading the charge.
FIU, meanwhile, is third in the country for both steals per contest (10.5) and turnovers forced per game (17.6), thanks in large part to Arturo Dean’s nation-leading 3.4 spg. In the 72-68 win by the Panthers on Jan. 13, UTEP finished with 25 giveaways while FIU had 21.
GET TO KNOW FIU
FIU is 10-19 on the year, including 5-9 in CUSA, but the Panthers have won two of the past three.
That includes handling CUSA Preseason favorite Liberty, 76-71, on Feb. 22 and besting current third-place WKU, 85-83, on a shot with roughly five seconds to play by reigning CUSA Player of the Week Javaunte Hawkins.
FIU plays an up-tempo similar style to UTEP, ranking third in the country in both steals per game (10.5) and turnovers forced per contest (17.6).
The Panthers account for 74.1 points per game (fourth CUSA), with Arturo Dean (13.2 ppg) and Hawkins (13.0 ppg) leading the way in double figures.
Dean is also the best defender, topping the country in steals per game at 3.4 spg.
In fact, Dean does it all for the Panthers. He also paces the team in rebounds per game (5.0-15th CUSA) and assists per contest (4.0-3rd CUSA).
FIU likes the 3-point shot (8.7 makes per game-second CUSA/61st NCAA) and also has a very good turnover margin (3.7-second CUSA/16th NCAA).
It good at sharing the basketball with 14.5 assists per game (second CUSA).
The Panthers protect the rim with 4.0 blocks per game (third CUSA/91st NCAA).
They have had some shortcomings as well, ranking last in the league in field-goal percentage defense (47.4-336th NCAA), rebound margin (-6.1-339th), scoring defense (76.6-294th NCAA) and 3-point percentage defense (39.5-351st). Notable school alumni include Andy Garcia (actor who starred in Ocean’s 11) and Dennis Lehane (author of Mystic River).
SERIES HISTORY: UTEP LEADS, 16-3
UTEP leads the series with FIU, 16-2, aided by winning 11 of the past 13 meetings between the programs. The Miners are 14-3 (including the CUSA tournament) against the Panthers since they joined the league. The Panthers did, though, rally from 15 down with seven minutes to play to knock off UTEP, 72-68, in the first meeting this season on Jan. 13.
GOING BACK IN TIME
UTEP bolted out to a 12-point halftime lead (35-23) and never looked back on the way to posting its second straight road victory with a resounding 67-51 vanquishing of Liberty in front of an announced sellout crowd of 3,643 on March 2.
It marked the first time that the Miners have swept a Conference USA road trip since the 2021-22 campaign.
That year the Orange and Blue won at LA Tech (63-60, Feb. 17) and at Southern Miss (84-70, Feb. 19) in a span of three days.
The Flames didn’t make it easy, using a 12-0 run midway through the second half to cut a 20-point advantage (43-23) all the way down to eight (43-35, 13:34 2H) as the crowd came alive, but UTEP didn’t flinch.
The Miners responded with eight consecutive points, silencing the Flames’ faithful in the process. UTEP played poised down the stretch, with Liberty never getting closer than 10 the rest of the way.
