UTSA (8-8, 4-5) vs. UTEP (7-8, 3-6)
Don Haskins Center, El Paso, Texas; Saturday, 9 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: UTEP seeks revenge on UTSA after dropping the first matchup in San Antonio. The teams last played each other on Jan. 28, when the Roadrunners outshot UTEP from the field 50.8 percent to 40.6 percent and made five more 3-pointers on the way to a seven-point victory.
SAVVY VETERANS: Senior leadership could play a big role in this game’s outcome. Souley Boum, Bryson Williams and Tydus Verhoeven have combined to score 54 percent of UTEP’s points this season and 58 percent of the team’s points over its last five games. For UTSA, Jhivvan Jackson, Keaton Wallace, Jacob Germany and Eric Parrish have collectively accounted for 65 percent of all UTSA scoring, including 95 percent of the team’s points over its last five games.
TAKE IT UP A NOTCH: The Roadrunners have scored 74.2 points per game and allowed 77.7 points per game in conference play thus far. Those are both improvements over the 69.8 points scored and 81.3 points given up to non-conference foes.
FUELING THE OFFENSE: Jackson has either made or assisted on 48 percent of all UTSA field goals over the last three games. The senior guard has accounted for 24 field goals and 14 assists in those games.
WINLESS WHEN: The Roadrunners are 0-6 when they score 69 points or fewer and 8-2 when they exceed 69 points. The Miners are 0-7 when they fail to score more than 68 points and 7-1 on the season, otherwise.
WINNING WHEN: The Miners are 5-0 when they block at least four opposing shots and 2-8 when they fall shy of that mark. The Roadrunners are 7-0 when they hold opponents to 72 points or fewer and 1-8 whenever opponents exceed 72 points.
DID YOU KNOW: UTEP has turned the ball over on just 14.7 percent of its possessions this season, which is the ninth-lowest percentage among all Division I teams. The Miners have turned the ball over only 10.3 times per game this season.
___
For more AP college basketball coverage: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and http://twitter.com/AP_Top25
___
This was generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
