Analysis: UTEP men’s basketball’s huge win at New Mexico State sets up rest of season

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There were all kinds of reasons the UTEP men’s basketball team’s victory at New Mexico State University was huge.

Here’s one: the Miners can now call the first half of their conference season a success.

To be sure, a 6-4 record isn’t where they wanted to be when the new year and the Conference USA schedule began, but in a season that is becoming notable for the balance in the league — six of 10 teams have four or five losses and another has six — they are in a good spot.

UTEP’s Otis Frazier III (23) makes a pass during a basketball game against NMSU at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, New Mexico, on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

How CUSA race stands

Jacksonville State has established itself as the class of CUSA, but the Miners are a half game out of second, tied in the loss column with Liberty (Saturday’s opponent) and Middle Tennessee, with two home games immediately ahead.

UTEP is going to need an extended winning streak to have a chance of catching a Jacksonville State team that looks set to pull away (it has now won eight straight, including an impressive win in the Don Haskins Center, to get to 9-2), and that matters for a Miners program that hasn’t won a regular-season title since 2010.

Circle UTEP’s Feb. 22 game in Jacksonville, and the Miners are going to have to win the four games leading into it for that to matter, starting Thursday at home against last-place Florida International.

What is realistic is battling to the end for the No. 2 spot in a conference tournament that will determine everything for everyone.

Key players for UTEP men’s basketball

The way UTEP has gotten to this point is encouraging. The Miners continue to lead the nation in turnovers forced and steals and has developed an identity around its pressure defense.

All-purpose forward Otis Frazier has been a first-team all-conference player, and while point guard David Terrell doesn’t have head-turning numbers, his steadiness has been an engine for the Miners.

UTEP’s David Terrell Jr. (5) and Elijah…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/analysis-utep-mens-basketballs-huge-120333175.html

Author : The El Paso Times

Publish date : 2025-02-11 12:03:00

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