EL PASO, Texas – The UTEP men’s basketball team (9-3) will look to extend its winning streak to four while closing out nonconference play when it plays host to NAIA member Northern New Mexico (4-17) at 7 p.m. MT Saturday.

The contest will count for the Miners, but it is being played as an exhibition for the Eagles.

UTEP has been idle since toppling Yale, 75-74, to take home the title for the second straight season at the WestStar Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational on Dec. 21.

That is a feat that hadn’t been achieved since a three-year run (2012-14) under then head coach Tim Floyd.

UTEP is surging with its three-game winning streak while also claiming six of the past seven. The last three victories have all been by six points or less, marking the first time it did so since the 2021-22 campaign (69-64, UTSA, Jan. 20, 2022, 59-54, at UTSA, Jan. 23, 2022 and 70-68, FAU, Jan. 27, 2022).

That triumph against FAU came on an Alfred Hollins tip-in at the buzzer, which made Sportscenter’s top-10. UTEP is 6-0 at home, its best start in the Sun City since bolting out at 8-0 (finished 11-7) in 2022-23.

Overall, the Miners’ 9-3 record is their top  mark through 12 games since also opening at 9-3 in 2019-20. UTEP hasn’t been 10-3 since 2010-11. The Eagles have lost three straight and are 1-17 on the road.

The tilt is the fourth of a seven-contest homestand (3-0 thus far), which is the longest in seven years. Jon Teicher (44th year) and Steve Yellen (22nd year) will be on the call on “The Home of UTEP Basketball” 600 ESPN El Paso, with audio available on the UTEP Miners App as well.

It will also be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required), with Andy Morgan and former Miner assistant coach Bobby Braswell describing the action.

For tickets, please visit www.UTEPMiners.com/tickets or call (915) 747-UTEP.

KEY  STATS ON UTEP

The Miners lead the country in steals per game (11.0) and turnover forced per contest (18.5) while rating second nationally in 3-point shooting (42.2 percent). UTEP is 9-1 when leading at the half, 7-1 with more points from its bench than the opposition and undefeated (6-0) when yielding less than 70 points.

MAKE ROOM FOR THE MINERS

Thanks to winning three straight, six of seven and standing at 9-3 overall on the season, UTEP entered the College Insider Inc. Mid-Major Top 25 (ranked 25th) this week. The poll is voted on by 31 Division I head coaches.

SERIES HISTORY: UTEP LEADS, 2-0

UTEP is taking on Northern New Mexico College for the third time, with all of the meetings happening since the 2021-22 campaign. The Miners blasted the Eagles, 88-53, on Nov. 16, 2021, in the first meeting before knocking them off, 87-50, on Dec. 3, 2022.

GET TO KNOW NORTHERN NEW MEXICO (4-17, 3-1 HOME, 1-16 AWAY, 0-0 NEUTRAL)

Northern New Mexico College competes at the NAIA level and is in Espanola, N.M. Even though the college has existed since 1909, it did not launch an athletic department until 2005. Competition officially began for men’s basketball in 2009. The Eagles have played a ton of games (21) already, standing 4-17 on the year. They have spent the majority of that on the road, with a 1-16 mark. The contest vs. UTEP, however, will be played as an exhibition for NNMC. The Eagles are under the direction of third-year head coach and athletic director Jesus Aragon, who is 20-48 in that timeframe. NNMC is putting up 75.1 points per game, but it allows 75.0. The Eagles shoot 47.9 percent from the floor, including a stout 42.6 percent from distance. Including the matchup with the Miners, NNMC has only eight contests remaining on the campaign. Northern New Mexico College was founded in 1909 as the Spanish American Normal School, with a goal of providing teacher training for the area’s Spanish speakers. It has since grown to an enrollment of 1,200.  Notable alumni include Jacob Torres (engineer and plant scientist at the Kennedy Space Center) and Rose Simpson (artist)

LOOKING BACK (AT UTEP 75, YALE 74)

Tournament MVP Otis Frazier III tallied a team-high 15 points and made a game-saving blocked shot with two seconds left, to help lift UTEP to a 75-74 victory against Yale as the Miners won the WestStar Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational for the second straight season on Dec. 21. Devon Barnes (12 points, two assists, two steals), Don Haskins award winner Ahamad Bynum (11 points), David Terrell Jr. (11 points, four rebounds, four assists) and all-tournament team member Kevin Kalu (10 points, eight rebounds) all got after it as well. The reigning Ivy League champions didn’t make it easy, though, with the Bulldogs fighting back from a 12-point halftime deficit (45-33) to climb within one on three occasions, but UTEP never relinquished that lead.

BACK-TO-BACK TITLES

UTEP claimed the WestStar Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational for the second straight season, something that hasn’t happened since a three-year run (2012-14) under then head coach Tim Floyd.

ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM FOR A REASON

Otis Frazier III was a member of the 2024 CUSA All-Defensive team, and he showed why in the waning seconds of the Miners’ victory against Yale. He rejected Bez Mbeng’s game-winning shot with 2.3 seconds remaining. RS-freshman Babacar Mbengue then did such a good job disrupting the inbounds play that Yale couldn’t get a shot off on the ensuing play.

SIZZLING FROM 3-POINT LAND

UTEP nailed a season-best 64.7 percent from distance vs. Yale, including a ridiculous 88.9 percent (8-9) in the opening frame. The 64.7 percent ties as the sixth best all time at UTEP. The eight triples made equaled the most in a stanza for the Miners this year, as they also did so vs. Sul Ross State (Nov. 4) in the opener while the 11 are the most vs. a DI opponent this season.

SOARING IN THE SHOOTING RANKINGS

UTEP heads into the Northern New Mexico College affair rated second in the country at 3-point shooting with a readout of 42.2 (94-223). Having the top 3-point shooter in the country (Ahamad Bynum), who has nailed a sensational 63.8 percent (30-47) from beyond-the-arc.

WE’RE GOING STREAKING

UTEP has won three straight and six of the past seven contests, with the lone setback in that timeframe a three-point setback (77-74) at perennial ACC power Louisville on Dec. 11. The effort has moved the Orange and Blue to 9-3 on the year, equaling the best start in five years.

ROLLING AT HOME

UTEP is 6-0 on the year at home, with the Miners’ biggest deficit in those contests standing at 3-0 in an eventual 88-72 vanquishing of Seattle U on Dec. 7. It’s the best start at home since opening 8-0 in the Sun City in 2022-23.

AIMING FOR BEST START IN 14 YEARS

UTEP hasn’t won 10 of its first 13 contests of the campaign since opening 10-3 (eventually 13-3) in 2010-11. That year, the Miners were 3-2 through five tilts before winning 10 of the next 11. UTEP finished the campaign at 25-10 and qualified for the NIT.

STRONG NONCONFERENCE EFFORT

UTEP hasn’t won 10 games in nonconference play since the 2013-14 campaign. That year, the Miners headed into league play at 10-5.

CONSISTENT ONE TOO

With a victory against Northern New Mexico College, the Miners will have posted five wins in both November and December for the first time since 2010-11.

OPPONENTS SLIPPING AT THE LINE

After the first 10 UTEP opponents all shot better than 70 percent at the free-throw line (181-240, 75.4 percent) from the charity stripe, Jackson State fell shy of that at 69.2 percent (18-26) at the line. Yale was even worse, connecting on just 58.8 percent (10-17).

ODDS & ENDS

Kevin Kalu has hit double figures in consecutive contests for the first time in his 103-game career with the Miners.  David Terrell Jr. has posted 10+ points in back-to-back games, a first for him as well. Ahamad Bynum has done so in five straight affairs, the longest of his DI career (including freshman year at DePaul). The Miners have registered at least seven steals in all 12 games this year and in 44 of the past 46 contests dating to the beginning of the 2023-24 campaign.

THIRD FOE BELOW 20 PERCENT ON TREYS

Jackson State was held to 12.5 percent (3-24) from 3-point range on Dec. 20, the lowest 3-point percentage (min. 10 attempts) by a Miner DI opponent since NM State shot just 10.5 percent (2-19) in a 25-point UTEP romp (74-49) at home last year on Feb. 10, 2024. JSU became the third UTEP foe to finish worse than 20 percent (min. 10 3PA) on triples this year. It previously happened against UTPB (3-17, 17.6 percent, Nov. 12) and at Louisville (6-34, 17.6 percent). UTEP did so a total of three times last year.

TIME TO BOX OUT AND REBOUND

UTEP has allowed a combined 33 offensive rebounds the past two tilts, with JSU (opponent season-high 17) and Yale (16) hitting the boards hard. The Miners have been outscored by a total of 23 points (34-11) on second-chance points in that timeframe, which helped fuel comeback bids by both programs. The 33 offensive rebounds yielded are the most over a two-game span since UTEP allowed a whopping 42 against Alcorn (21) and CSU Bakersfield (21) early in the 2022-23 campaign.

TALKING DOUBLE-DOUBLES

Kevin Kalu became the first Miner this season to record a double-double after finishing with 12 points and 12 rebounds against Jackson State on Dec. 20. He was shy both one point and one rebound of matching his career high in each category. Furthermore, he joins Otis Frazier III (one) as the lone Miners on this year’s roster to record a double-double at the DI level (including previous stops for transfers). Overall, Kalu leads the team in rebounding (5.7-tied 15th) while placing sixth on the squad in scoring (6.4 ppg).

TERRELL JR. MORE LIKE HIMSELF AT THE LINE

Sophomore David Terrell Jr. started the season at 5-16 (31.3 percent) on free throws, but he has started to regain his form the past two tilts. He was 5-7 (career-high tying attempts) at the charity stripe vs. Jackson State before following that up by sinking 5-6 (83.3 percent in the championship contest vs. Yale. That puts him at 10-13 (76.9 percent) in that timeframe.

SHUTTING THEM DOWN

UTEP moved to 6-0 on the season when allowing 65 points or less in a game in the 67-61 vanquishing of Jackson State on Dec. 20. The Miners’ scoring defense is at 66.4 ppga (second CUSA/62nd NCAA) heading into the matchup with Northern New Mexico College.

WINNING CLOSE

With the one-point victory against Yale, UTEP improved to 5-2 on the year in two-possession games (decided by six points or less). That includes a mark of 3-0 at home in the situation. The Miners have also claimed three straight contests by six points or fewer since the 2021-22 campaign.

UP NEXT

UTEP will christen its 16-game Conference USA slate while also ringing in the New Year when it plays host to preseason league favorite LA Tech at 7 p.m. MT on Thursday. The Miners will also face defending regular-season champion Sam Houston State (Jan. 4) and I-10 rival NM State (Jan. 11) to wrap up the homestand. It will mark the first time since the 1991-92 season that UTEP has its first three conference contests at home. Jon Teicher (44th year) and Steve Yellen (22nd year) will be on the call on “The Home of UTEP Basketball” 600 ESPN El Paso, with audio also airing on the UTEP Miners app. All three contests will also be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required), with Andy Morgan and former Miner assistant coach Bobby Braswell describing the action. For tickets, please visit www.UTEPMiners.com/tickets or call (915) 747-UTEP.