UTEP men to face Abilene Christian in homecoming for Golding
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The UTEP men’s basketball team (6-4) will play for the first time in more than a week when it competes at Abilene Christian (4-6) at 2 p.m./3 p.m. CT Sunday, Dec. 17.
It is a homecoming for Miners’ head coach Joe Golding, who directed the Wildcats to a record of 158-144 in 10 years, while leading them to two NCAA Tournament appearances in their final three years. It is also a return to the school for former Wildcat standout Reggie Miller, in addition to staff member Brandon Decker and Bryen Spriggs.
UTEP, which started 5-0 on the year, including a win against Pac-12 member Cal, will be looking to regain that early season form. The Orange and Blue have dropped four of the past five, including coming up shy at perennial power Oregon, 71-49, on Dec. 9 last time out.
UTEP trailed by just three (28-25) at the half before the Ducks pulled away over the final 20 minutes. The Wildcats defeated Howard Payne, 120-69, on Dec. 10, but they had lost the prior four match-ups. ACU is 1-3 at home, with the win against Howard Payne, while the Miners (0-2) are in search of their first road triumph.
The contest is taking place as part of the Conference USA and WAC scheduling initiative, where each league member will have both a home and an away game. UTEP will play host to Seattle on Dec. 30 for its home tilt in the scheduling initiative between the leagues. Jon Teicher (43rd year) will be on the call on “The Home of UTEP Basketball” 600 ESPN El Paso. It will also be broadcast on the ESPN+ (subscription required).
DIFFERENT MONTH, DIFFERENT PACE
After playing a total of eight games in November (most since 2013-14) in a 24-day span (average one contest every three days), the Miners are in the midst of a more reasonable pace in December. UTEP has just six games (1-1 thus far) in the month and will have played just twice from Dec. 5 through Dec. 19 (L, 49-71 at Oregon, Saturday, Dec. 9 and at ACU, Sunday).
GOLDING TWO SHY OF 200 WINS
Third-year UTEP head coach Joe Golding picked up his 198th career victory between his time with Abilene Christian and the Miners following UTEP’s 90-62 thrashing of Division II Western New Mexico on Dec. 4. It was also his 40th career win (40-35) as head coach of the Miners. He is ninth on UTEP’s all-time coaching victories list, needing seven victories to surpass Jason Rabedeaux (46-46, 1999-02)
LOOK FOR LOTS OF TURNOVERS
Both UTEP and Abilene Christian play a hard-nosed pressure style of defense that can cause fits for their opponents. UTEP is second in CUSA and sixth nationally with 18.4 turnovers forced per game while the Wildcats are third in the WAC and 16th in the country by harassing foes into 16.4 turnovers per game. Each program has struggled to take care of the ball, with the Miners committing 14.7 per game (eighth CUSA/317th NCAA) and ACU checking in at 13.2 turnovers per contest (238th NCAA).
SAME FOR BENCH SCORING
UTEP (28.0 bench points per game-second USA/49th NCAA) and ACU (26.0 bench points per game-third WAC/87th NCAA) both rely heavily on production from their reserves.
MIGHT BE A LOT OF FREE THROWS TOO
UTEP paces CUSA and is 19th in the country with 25.8 free throw attempts per contest, but ACU isn’t too far off in that area. The Wildcats take 24.6 free throws per game, which is third in the WAC and 30th in the country. ACU, however, does a better job at the line with a readout of 72.8 percent (third WAC), compared to 66.3 percent (eighth CUSA) by the Miners.
MILESTONE SCORING WATCH FOR TAE & CALVIN
Tae Hardy (962 career points) and Calvin Solomon (940) are both closing in on 1,000 career points at the DI level. Hardy has amassed more than 550 of his points with the Miners while Solomon is six points shy of 400 points in a UTEP uniform.
GET TO KNOW ABILENE CHRISTIAN
Abilene Christian started the campaign at 3-2, including an impressive season-opening 64-59 victory at Oklahoma State on Nov. 6. The Wildcats then endured a four-game skid, but they got back on track last time out with a 120-69 win against DIII Howard Payne on Dec. 10. ACU is under the direction of third-year head coach Brette Tanner, who is 42-34. He replaced current Miner head coach Joe Golding after serving as his associate head coach for eight seasons. Airion Simmons (13.9 ppg-14th WAC), Ali Abdou Dibba (13.3 ppg-16th WAC) and Hunter Jack Madden (10.9 ppg), help ACU produce 74.8 points per game (fourth WAC). The Wildcats have a similar style to the Miners as detailed in prior notes, with pressure defense, getting to the line and relying on the reserves for some points as well aiding in their success. ACU has struggled on the boards (-4.2 margin-eighth WAC/308th NCAA). It also only connects on 5.7 3-pointers per game (seventh WAC/307th NCAA). Another concern has been yielding 73.7 points per game (243rd NCAA). The Wildcats are 1-3 at home, with their lone victory being the win vs. Howard Payne. It has had close calls in its three home setbacks, falling by five to both Prairie View A&M (79-74, Nov. 14) and SFA (79-74, OT, Dec. 2). It also dropped a two-point tilt to Northern Arizona (78-76, Dec. 6). Notable university alumni include UTEP head coach Joe Golding and famed Christian author Max Lucado
SERIES HISTORY: UTEP LEADS, 9-3
UTEP leads the series with Abilene Christian, 9-3, including an 8-0 mark in El Paso. The Miners, however, are 1-3 when playing in Abilene. Sunday’s match-up will mark nearly 30 years to the date that the two sides last faced off, with UTEP downing the Wildcats, 80-76, on Dec. 18, 1993.
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