UTEP men aim to fix free throws, turnovers to rejoin league race
In a slightly different world, UTEP men's basketball fans would be mapping parade routes right now.
For much of last week's game at Conference USA favorite UAB the Miners looked like the best team in the league, one that would be a tough out every night, one that was ready to put a stamp on the league race.
For part of last week's home game against Rice, UTEP showed the grit and fight that can overcome other issues and keep it close on most nights.
What the Miners ended up with was a double-overtime loss at a UAB team that remained unbeaten on its home floor, followed by an overtime loss to Rice where it could have won at the free-throw line with 1 second to play in regulation.
Those are losses that will haunt UTEP all season, ones that will have it looking at standings, figuring where it would be with two more wins. As it is, the Miners are 8-6 with three straight last-possession losses and 1-2 in C-USA.
More:C-USA men's basketball standings
Specifically, what's haunting them is the knowledge that if they had shot 60% from the line in the two league losses, they'd be 3-0 in C-USA right now, 11-3 overall, and talking about how to deal with prosperity. That's the most obvious area to fix, followed by turnovers.
This is vital because another overriding problem, poor outside shooting in general, probably isn't getting fixed. That's just who they are. UTEP needs to go shopping for a 3-point shooter when the transfer season starts, but that's three months away.
Ways to overcome this are to take more shots, particularly the dunks they are best at, which come with fewer turnovers. There's no easy solution to that, but UTEP does have stretches where it takes care of the basketball, which is at least some film to show them what they are capable of.
In terms of how the Miners are built, they can play at a deliberate, turnover-minimizing pace and matters seem to go better when they do.
Another way to overcome poor 3-point shooting is to get to the free-throw line and UTEP is eighth nationally (first in Conference USA) out of 352 teams in getting there. That doesn't need to be a mixed blessing, but it is because the Miners are 347th (and last in C-USA) in terms of actually making them.
Doing the math, UTEP has missed 143 free throws this season, far, far and away the national leader. There is no parade for that.
That simply has to get fixed, and the only way to do that is not always effective: Get in the gym and shoot, shoot, shoot them. The Miners have been doing that all season, and it hasn't worked so far.
Maybe this is one of those mental things that are contagious. Maybe UTEP hits the floor Saturday at Louisiana Tech, someone gets to the line and makes two free throws. Then the basket gets bigger, the line gets closer, and this goes away. There's precedent for that. UTEP has had games this year where it has shot free throws decently; it just hasn't sustained that.
In the meantime, the Miners can focus on what works for them - defense, tenacity and effort. That usually keeps them hanging around in games and it should keep them hanging around the middle of the pack in C-USA while they work on solving turnovers and free throws.
Saturday's game at Louisiana Tech is not a last stand, but in terms of rallying back to where they were a month ago, this could be a big boost.
UTEP women in promising place
The Miner women are also nursing the bruises of a loss at Rice, though getting beat in the stretch run against a recent league power that has their number doesn't point to bigger problems.
More:C-USA women's basketball standings
UTEP played well enough on the road to beat most of the teams left on its schedule and if they can go 11-6 the rest of the way, which seems a little lower than the level they are playing now, it would be 20-9 going to the C-USA tournament an in line for WNIT consideration.
The team is still without leading scorer Mahri Petree, recovering from a concussion, who has been cleared to watch practice and could certainly use her explosiveness. Eliana Cabral is back from a leg injury, though still limited.
The Miner women have been good this year at an area they aren't always good at, turnover margin, where they lead C-USA. They took eight more shots than Rice last week; they just couldn't make enough. With Jazion Jackson and N'yah Boyd assuming ball-handling duties, UTEP has fewer turnovers this year but is still forcing them at a familiar high rate.
UTEP is an average shooting team and its losses tend to come when it goes cold and misses layups. That was the case against Rice, something that often happens to them in the band box that is Autry Court.
The Miners are at home Saturday against Louisiana Tech. Given that they are 5-0 at the Haskins Center, beat Louisiana Tech in Ruston two weeks ago and answered all three of their losses with wins, they will enter with confidence.
This is a team with postseason aspirations and a top-three C-USA finish and this isn't the type of loss they can afford. UTEP looks like a team that can grind out wins and they need that to start back on that track Saturday.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at 915-546-6359; bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP basketball aim to fix free throws to rejoin league race
