Just starting the thread. They are saying a lot of tickets have been sold. Hopefully we have a good crowd and more importantly a good result. Go Miners.
UTEP vs UCSB
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Hopefully we can get a couple more wins this week heading to face Cal. I wonder if our "depth" will tighten up a little? Hardy and Terrell are the only two guys averaging >20 minutes so far.
I think the only player I don't want to see more of at this point is Kalu. I'm kind of ready to say he hasn't shown anything to make me think he's gonna offer much more than he did last year. Everyone else has shown enough that I'm still kind of excited about what else they can show, especially Camper and Jones.
Kalu is kinda hit or miss based on the opponent. I thought he dominated the boards and set some great screens in the last game. He had some nice finishes as well. 1st game didn't do much. He made some horrible passes.
I've noticed that Golding likes to play Kalu and Jones together. Jones definitely fits as a stretch 4 and is more than capable of providing backside help/rim protection when Kalu is hedging or vice versa.
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Kalu will improve as the season progresses IMO. That broken nose and mask can't help.
Golding said no one works harder than Kevin.
Golding said no one works harder than Kevin.
There’s lots of seats available. UTEP has around 3,500 season tickets or less. This will probably be their best attended game of the season, especially if they lose.
That's a little rough, 2 games in...Let the season progress, he has a lot to offer.
Maybe UTEP will surprise us and win a hyped / tone-setting game for once.
Although, Senter probably thinks he hit his quota for the next 5 years with volleyball beating Liberty.
I can’t totally disagree but he shows up for big games with solid rebounding and good D since he got here. Golding has a full bench now to sub so he and Golding need to find the chemistry.
The Miners have played two nobody teams so far, but to dominate the scoring the way they did will put some pep in their step for UCSB. The Gauchos lost their first game to a pretty good Portland State team. They may come into El Paso feeling deflated or with a chip on their shoulder. The Miners better be ready for the team with the chip on their shoulder. This could be a boost for UTEP to win this one on CBSSN. ESPN has UTEP with a73.9% chance of winning.
I hope you're right. If I remember correctly, it was reported that UCSB held back their star point guard against Portland. 2step has more info on that.
But, I predict UTEP wins and goes into the SoCal challenge at 4-0 against Cal.
The 2 games against USAO and McMurry were a great bonding experience for the team.
Not a far fetched prediction. This is getting ahead, but if we beat UCSB, I think we also beat Cal. Cal lost to Pacific, who lost to Sam Houston.
It is conceivable, although not probable, that we could go into Oregon at 9-0. That would generate a little excitement.
Yup, Bradley is looking good so far with 2 OT wins against UAB and Utah State and Texas A&M beat Ohio State by a comfortable margin. These are SoCal Challenge teams. Their web site kinda sucks but here it is:https://www.socalchallenge.co/
The Miners schedule is starting to look OK.
They were missing their best player, so I don't think that loss is a true indicator of how tough they'll be.
Kalu has terrible hands. He'll never amount to much on the offensive end and his rebounding will always be suspect if he can't hold on to the ball.
Without Ajai Mitchell UCSB is a middle of the pack Big West team. With him they are top 2 and will again make a run at the Big West title and an NCAA birth again. Unfortunately we will see the version with Ajai. It'll be tough, but I think Utep is hungry. Can we make enough free throws to win even if we're up late? We shall see, here's to hoping 🤞
Miners 78
Gauchos 74
Miners 78
Gauchos 74
Last season, the top two teams in the Big West were ranked between 100-130, which isn't particularly impressive. In Conference USA, these rankings were considered average, with Charlotte and MTSU being two examples. Our record against them was 2-2. Winning at home tonight should be the expectation.
Despite UCSB having a stud PG who is supposed to make his season debut tonight, I agree, UTEP "should" win this game at home.
I do think it'll be a difficult game to win, as they are long and athletic, similar to us. Just hoping our scoring continues against D1 competition. If we go drop under 70, it could be a long night. Go MINERS!!
They had a great year but also some questionable road losses last season. Lost to a 7 win Cal St and a 12 win NAU. Good matchup to gauge us but they’re definitely not at some elite level above us.
If we can score in the 80's we will win. Must show a better defensive plan than in the last two games.
It will be fun to watch.
Go Miners
It will be fun to watch.
Go Miners
They early on, hyped this one up as a "sell out the Don" game... but that dwindled a bunch. Last I heard, over 8k sold.
A solid 9K should suffice this early in the season. It'll still be pretty loud if it's a good game
8K is solid. I never expected this game would sell out, despite the efforts to promote a sellout. Hopefully there’s actually 8K butts in the seats, tho.
If you’re able to post on this message board, you’re able to go to utepminers.com/tickets and see how many blue seats they have available. They’re not close to a sellout and would take a miracle to have one. Get your $38 tickets to see UTEP and unranked, winless UCSB!!!!
They are coming off a solid season, and were without their star PG. It should be a good test, and exciting basketball. They lost to a Portland State team, that should be pretty competitive this year. UCSB is no slouch.
I don’t care. The problem isn’t UCSB. If you’re trying to sellout the arena, charging $38 to see that team, isn’t really trying.
I have no predictions for the game. I have no clue how good or bad UTEP is. This game is going to preview how good or bad UTEP does this year. Go Miners!!
He is always going to have an excuse. Tickets are $9.15 and he still won't go.
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