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After taking WKU down to the wire on Thursday night in Bowling Green, Ky., UTEP (5-14, 3-4 C-USA) continues to pursue its first road victory of the season on Saturday at Marshall (13-8, 6-2 C-USA). Tip-off is at 5 p.m. MT.

–    UTEP is 0-6 in enemy venues and has dropped eight consecutive road games dating back to last season.  The Miners’ last road win came at Florida Atlantic, 89-82 on Feb. 13, 2016.
–    Marshall is 11-0 at the Cam Henderson Center this season and is 21-2 in its last 23 games in the facility dating back to the 2015-16 campaign.
–    Marshall and UTSA are the lone remaining C-USA teams that are unbeaten at home this season.  The Roadrunners are 8-0 at the Convocation Center.
–    Marshall is 4-0 at home in Conference USA play, including Thursday’s 92-71 victory over UTSA.  The Herd has also beaten Old Dominion (90-86 in OT), Charlotte (110-93) and WKU (94-80).

ABOUT MARSHALL

–    The Herd once again leads Conference USA in scoring, averaging 88 points per game.  Six Marshall players are averaging over 10 points per game — junior guard Jon Elmore (20.0 ppg), senior guard Stevie Browning (16.8 ppg), senior forward Ryan Taylor (14.9 ppg), senior guard Austin Loop (11.3 ppg), sophomore guard C.J. Burks (10.5 ppg) and junior forward Terrence Thompson (10.3 ppg).
–    Marshall has scored 80+ points 17 times in 21 games, 90+ points 10 times and 100+ points on three occasions.
–    The Herd ranks among the C-USA leaders in scoring margin (+4.1 ppg, fourth), free throw percentage (.733, fourth), field goal percentage (.468, fifth), three-point field goal percentage (.386, third), three-point field goal percentage defense (.342, fifth), three-pointers made per game (10.6, first), blocked shots (4.1 bpg, fourth), assists (16.8 apg, first), steals (6.5 spg, fifth), turnover margin (+1.4, fifth) and assist/turnover ratio (1.3, second).
–    Elmore leads C-USA in scoring and is second in assists (6.3 apg), fourth in three-pointers made per game (2.4), seventh in steals (1.4 spg) and eighth in assist/turnover ratio (1.8).  Browning is second in free throw percentage (.857), fourth in assist/turnover ratio (2.0), fifth in three-point field goal percentage (.429) and ninth in scoring.  Taylor is third in rebounding (8.6 rpg), fourth in blocks (1.8 bpg) and ninth in field goal percentage (.521).  Loop is second in three-point field goal percentage (.454) and first in three-pointers made per game (3.3).  Sophomore forward Ajdin Penava is 10th in blocks (1.1 bpg).
–    The Herd rates seventh nationally in three-pointers per game, eighth in scoring offense and 27th in assists per game.  Elmore is 13th in the country in assists per game.  He is also eighth in free throws made (126) and attempted (157).  Loop is 14th in three-point field goal percentage and 15th in three-pointers per game.

SERIES HISTORY

–     UTEP leads the series 10-4.
–     The teams split two meetings last season.  UTEP improved to 7-0 versus the Herd in the Haskins Center with a 112-108 victory on Feb. 4, 2016.  But Marshall bounced the Miners from the Conference USA Tournament with an 87-85 triumph on March 10 in Birmingham.
–     UTEP has won three times in five previous meetings between the teams in Huntington, W. Va., although Marshall has won the last two games played at the Cam Henderson Center.

THE LAST MEETING

–    Ryan Taylor converted a driving layup with three seconds left, sending no. 3 seed Marshall past no. 6  seed UTEP, 87-85, and into the Conference USA Tournament semifinals on March 10, 2016 in Birmingham.
–    The game featured 13 ties and 16 lead changes, but in the end the Herd was left standing.
–    Dominic Artis raced up the court in the final seconds, but couldn’t get a shot off as UTEP dropped its season finale.
–    After falling behind by five points with about six minutes left – punctuated by a technical foul on Earvin Morris that resulted in three free throws for the Herd – the Miners battled back to regain the lead, 83-81 on two foul shots by Omega Harris with1:35 to go. Taylor tied it on a putback off his own miss with 1:20 remaining. Terry Winn rebounded Artis’ missed layup and scored to put UTEP ahead 85-83 with 46 seconds to play. C.J. Burks knotted it up once again on free throws with 38 seconds left.
–    Harris drove to the rim, but his potential go-ahead layup was swatted away by Taylor with 18 seconds on the clock.
–    Taylor scored 21 points with 14 rebounds.  James Kelly also had a double-double with 13 points and 11 boards.  Austin Loop was a major factor for the Herd, accounting for six of their 13 three-point field goals and scoring 18 points.
–    Winn scored a career-high 21 points for the Miners and added 11 rebounds.  All five starters scored in double figures as Artis chipped in with 18 points, Lee Moore 14, Harris 12 and Morris 11.
–    The Miners started strong and took their biggest lead of the half, six points (14-8) on two free throws by Artis with 15:00 on the clock.  Later in the period, the Herd went on a 10-2 run and surged ahead 34-31 on a jumper by Jon Elmore with 6:21remaining.  UTEP answered with an 11-2 spurt and matched its earlier six-point lead (42-36) on a layup by Morris with 2:46 to play.
–    The Miners led 42-39 at the half, then scored the first four points of the second half to take their biggest lead of the game (46-39).

UTEP (5-14, 2-5 C-USA) will aim at a split in its mini homestand when it plays host to Marshall (12-7, 4-4 C-USA) on “80’s night” at 2 p.m. MST at the Don Haskins Center Saturday. Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for kids.

Duke Keith (play-by-play) and Traci Miller (color commentary) will have the call on 600 ESPN El Paso, KROD-AM Radio. There will be a live stream on UTEPAthletics (subscription based).

Fans can also stay up-to-date by following the Miners (@UTEPWBB) or Thundering Herd (@HerdWBB) on Twitter.

–  UTEP, which is in the midst of playing seven of nine on the road, is wrapping up its first homestand in almost three weeks. The Miners were upended, 71-54, by league-leading WKU on Jan. 26 last time out.

–  The Miners are 4-6 at home, including 1-2 in C-USA. MU is 2-5 on the road, including 1-3 in C-USA.

–  Following the mini homestand the Miners will play four straight league road games for the first time since 2005-06 (initial year in C-USA). Upon conclusion of that, UTEP will have had seven of nine away from home.

–  In seven league games UTEP is shooting 41.6 percent (182-438), compared to 40.7 percent (183-450) by its opponents, but UTEP’s scoring margin is -6.3 (69.4-75.7). A big difference has been free throws. Foes have hit 74.3 percent (127-171) to UTEP’s 65.7 percent (90-137).

THIS AND THAT ON CONFERENCE USA

–  Teams play all 13 members at least once and face five teams in home-and-home for 18-game C-USA slate.

–  The top 12 teams (14 in C-USA) will qualify for the single-elimination tournament (March 8-11, Birmingham, Ala.-UAB) with the top four teams as seeded by regular season standings receiving a bye. The winner will gain the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.

–  Charlotte (7-1) and WKU (7-1) share first place in the league with Middle Tennessee (6-2) and UTSA (5-2) one game back in the loss column. LA Tech (5-3) is the only other team with a winning league mark. –

 –  Marshall, Southern Miss and Old Dominion are all 4-4 while UAB, North Texas and FIU share ninth at 3-5 UTEP is in 12th at 2-5, with a half-game lead on Rice (2-6), followed by FAU (0-8).

INSIDE THE SERIES

–  UTEP leads the series, 7-6, aided by a 4-1 mark in El Paso.

–  UTEP claimed the first four meetings at the Don Haskins Center before a 76-71 win by Marshall in ‘14-15.

–  Marshall has won two straight in the series, including a 79-64 (2/4/15) win last year.

–  The programs have squared off annually since both teams joined C-USA for the 2005-06 season.

GETTING TO KNOW MARSHALL

Overall: 12-7                 Home: 9-1   Road 2-5     Neutral 1-1 | C-USA: 4-4  Home: 3-1   Road 1-3

–  Marshall returned three starters and seven letter winners from last year’s team (21-12, 9-9 C-USA).

–  MU won four straight to help fuel an 8-3 mark in non-conference play.

–  The Thundering Herd got off to a 2-0 start in C-USA action before dropping three straight and four of the next five. They got back on track last time out with an impressive 88-81 win at UTSA (1/26).

–  Marshall is among C-USA/national leaders for rebounds/game (41.1-first/53rd), three-point field goal defense (27.6-first/27th), blocks/game (5.6-2nd/19th), scoring offense (73.5-second/47th), scoring margin (+9.5-second/69th), field goal defense (37.4-second/77th), rebounds/game (41.6-third/77th) and field-goal percentage (43.2-fifth/64th).

–  Marshall is seventh in C-USA for three-point percentage but it paces the league and is top-50 nationally for triples made (148-50th) and attempted (459-40th).

–  Shayna Gore paces the squad and checks into league/national rankings for points/game 16.7 (sixth/100th) and steals/game (2.2-sixth/101st).

–  Kiana Evans (12.3) and Talequia Hamilton (12.0) join Gore in double figures scoring average.

–  Hamilton (2.0-first/46th) and Ashley Saintigene (1.9-third/57th) are big time shot blockers.

–  Notable university alumni include Hal Greer (NBA Hall of Fame Member) and Jim Thornton (Wheel of Fortune Announcer).

LAST MEETING WITH WKU (at Marshall 79, UTEP 64 (2/4/16)

–  A valiant comeback bid by UTEP fell short in a 79-64 loss at Marshall on Feb. 4, 2016.

–  The Miners trailed by as many as 24 (46-24) with 8:58 to play in the third quarter before unleashing a 22-4 run to pull all the way back to within four (50-46) late the stanza. To their credit the Thundering Herd weathered the storm, answering the UTEP surge with one of their own (11-2) midway through the fourth quarter to reinstate a double-digit advantage (69-55) with 5:43 remaining in regulation. UTEP showed good character in refusing to quit but it could get no closer than 10 the rest of the way.

–  The loss was the first in C-USA and second overall for UTEP, which had its 10-game win streak stopped

–  Jenzel Nash recorded her first career double-double (14 points, 12 rebounds) while Sparkle Taylor came off the bench to tally 17 points.Lulu McKinney added 10 from the pine as well while Starr Breedlove and Cameasha Turner each finished with eight points.

–  But enough shots wouldn’t fall, with the Miners finishing at 30.8 percent (30.8) from the floor

–  Rebounding was also a factor, with the Thundering Herd winning the boards by a count of 50-42.

–  Both Turner and Breedlove fouled out, marking the first disqualifications of the year by a Miner.

The UTEP volleyball team fell in five sets to Marshall (25-23, 29-31, 25-17, 18-25, 14-16) on Friday in Memorial Gym.

Senior Talia Jones led the Miner’s attack posting 17 kills and two digs, while Sarah Villa notched 37 digs. Setter Lindsey Larson registered 49 assists and chipped in 18 digs, six blocks and three service aces.

The Miners posted 61 kills, 56 assists, 98 digs, 18 blocks (4s/14a) and eight service aces but it was not enough to upset the Thundering Herd who recorded 65 kills, 60 assists, 94 digs and 14 blocks (2s/12a).

The squads fought point for point as the set saw 10 tied scores and three lead changes. A setting error by the Miners tied the score at 22’s but a strong kill by Kylie Baumgartner sealed the set for the Orange and Blue, 25-23.

Once again the squads went back and forth tying the score 14 times in the second frame. A kill by Idalis Rodriguez tied the score at 29’s but the Herd claimed the set, 31-29.

The intensity continued into the third set as the score tied six times. However, UTEP picked up a 11-9 lead and never looked back. The Miners captured the set 25-17 taking a 2-1 match lead.

The Herd fought back taking a 10-6 lead early in the fourth set. The Miners were unable to match Marshall’s momentum as it took the set 25-18 tying the game once again, 2-2.

Much like the previous sets, the squads continued to fight tying the score seven times in the final stanza. Back to back Marshall errors gave UTEP a 13-11 lead but the Herd was able to pick up a 5-1 run to come out on top, 16-14.

UTEP will look to bounce back when it plays Rice at 1 p.m. on Sunday in Memorial Gym.

Author: UTEP Athletics