Analysis: UTEP men's basketball in good place as league season nears midpoint

Analysis: UTEP men’s basketball in good place as league season nears midpoint

Posted by author January 29, 2025 Basketball

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The UTEP men’s basketball team is in a good place right now.

The homestand against Jacksonville State and Kennesaw State didn’t produce the sweep UTEP wanted, but the Miners again showed their resiliency and toughness after the Jacksonville loss to reclaim a share of the Conference USA lead.

In the process, they continued to define who they are and what they can become. UTEP beat Kennesaw because it forced 21 turnovers, and in the second half when the Miners made their comeback, they weren’t killed on the boards.

Given the shortness of their lineup, that has to be the formula: Steal the ball and minimize the amount the losses in rebounding.

That didn’t happen in the loss to Jacksonville State where UTEP only had five steals in the second half and finished minus-17 on the boards.

Part of the problem there was the loss to injury of Corey Camper, who had drawn the assignment of guarding Jaron Pierre Jr., the leading scorer in CUSA. Camper would have been on Pierre in the decisive sequences in the final 2:00 but instead was on the bench with a boot on his ankle as Pierre briefly but decisively took over the game.

The good news there is that UTEP is blessed with some depth as it navigates what should be a short stretch with Camper out. Baylor Hebb now takes on a bigger role and he seemed up for it against Kennesaw State.

What the Miners have going for them now is the elevated play of forward Otis Frazier and point guard David Terrell.

Frazier was the CUSA player of the week after averaging 17.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.5 steals in two games and was just one steal short of tying the CUSA single-game record when he had eight against Kennesaw.

His game against Kennesaw will help define his legacy at UTEP, as he’s turning into a superb player in the history of the program.

Terrell did not have player of the week numbers, but his line against Kennesaw will almost always be a winning one for a point guard: 8 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and one turnover. He may be playing at the highest level of any point guard in Conference USA.

That adds up to the top of the league as the Miners go on a tough road trip to Western Kentucky and CUSA co-leader Middle Tennessee. The game against Middle will go a ways toward determining a No. 1 seed in the league tournament, though that’s still five weeks off.

What UTEP has done is set itself up for big things as the league race nears the midpoint.

UTEP women hit bump in the road

The UTEP women’s basketball team is not in quite as good of a place after losing two road games over the weekend, including a brutal last-possession loss to Jacksonville State that was one game after their last-possession win against Florida International.

The game against Kennesaw State Saturday was a step back for a young team still finding itself. The good news is that UTEP has responded well to adversity this season and it certainly has some now as two of the three best teams in the league, traditional power Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky, arrive in the Don Haskins Center.

What UTEP needs to do is what it did when it played the other best team in CUSA, Liberty, earlier this month. The Miners didn’t win, but they played better and put themselves in position to get a win when the schedule softened.

The Miners just need to keep moving forward and they get that chance against the best this conference has to offer.

Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.