BASKETBALL Middle Tennessee (5-16, 1-7) @ UTEP (12-9, 3-5), 8PM CT, Thursday, January 30, 2020

[SpaceRaider]

TEXAS-EL PASO
Location: El Paso, Texas
Enrollment: 25,0151
Arena: Don Haskins Center
Website: utepminers.com
Colors: Blue, Orange & Silver Nickname: Miners
Head Coach: Rodney Terry Record at School: 8-21 (1 Season) Career Record: 134-129 (8 Seasons)
2018-19 Record: 8-21, 3-15 2018-19 Finish: 14th C-USA 2018-19 Postseason: N/A
Starters R/L: 3/2 Letterwinners R/L: 6/3



Twitter: @UTEP_MBB



GAME NOTES

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LIVE VIDEO

LIVE STATS

Date: January 30, 2020 Time: 8:00 PM CT
Location: El Paso, Texas
Arena: Don Haskins Center (11,892)
Series Record: MT leads 7-3

TV: ESPN+ Talent: Duke Keith (PxP), Leonard Owens (Analyst)
Radio: Blue Raider Network (Game2/WGNS/TuneIn) Talent: Chip Walters (PxP), Kyle Turnham (Analyst)
Twitter: @MT_MBB, #BlueRaiders

 

[SpaceRaider]

espn matchup predictor 14.7%

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/game?gameId=401176004

 

[SpaceRaider]

utepminers.com:

UTEP Starts a Two-Game Home Stand, Hosts Middle Tennessee on Thursday Night

 

[SpaceRaider]

11.5 point dog

https://www.vegasinsider.com/colleg...essee-state-@-texas-el-paso.cfm/date/01-30-20

 

[Blue_H]

What's everyones guess for how big the customary lead MT will allow UTEP to get on us in the first half? I'm guessing 18.

 

[JohnDavidBlue]

Probably standard 20 points.
Nick and Rick have killed all enthusiasm for this athletics program. When a message board has a day with no posts during basketball, it is bad.
I hope we win but doubtful.

 

[MTFNBY5]

JDB: "When a message board has a day with no posts during basketball, it is bad"

So true, so true; and so sad.

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[FranklinRaider315]

I know our broadcast teams have pretty much quit taking questions on the postgame and Coaches shows which is not good but, I can appreciate they have a tough job trying to stay positive and look for anything to promote.

 

[sWiley]

tossed a bill on MT +10 to make it more exciting......please at least cover tonight.....i don't feel that's too much to ask

 

[MT01]

Thinking you probably should have went the other way. I say the first half beat down gets to 22 and we don’t close as much this time. El Paso is still a tough place to place. Will put it at a 15 to 20 point loss.

 

[sWiley]

Thinking you probably should have went the other way. I say the first half beat down gets to 22 and we don’t close as much this time. El Paso is still a tough place to place. Will put it at a 15 to 20 point loss.

you're probably right and i'd be rich if i would have faded our boys in Blue this year but I enjoy cheering them on and the bill makes it more exciting.

I'll also be more angry if they lay an egg though, lol.

This UTEP team isn't the world beaters like they used to be. They're an average CUSA squad. We SHOULD be able to hang with an average CUSA squad.....

 

[MT01]

you're probably right and i'd be rich if i would have faded our boys in Blue this year but I enjoy cheering them on and the bill makes it more exciting.

I'll also be more angry if they lay an egg though, lol.

This UTEP team isn't the world beaters like they used to be. They're an average CUSA squad. We SHOULD be able to hang with an average CUSA squad.....

Except name one time that has happened this season.

 

[sWiley]

FAU game was a good one. It's the only game I can recall us covering though. We even managed to blow the ATS against Southern Miss as the closing line was MT -2.5 (Which I had btw) and we only won by 2....Nothing more frustrating than losing by a hook in a game we should have won by 5+

Gun to my head, I'm taking UTEP. But just to make it more interesting put a little coin on MT. Couldn't watch the game otherwise.

 

[MT01]

Well. I decided to watch tonight. Who the hell is this team. We’ve seen this in very small spurts before but have never been able to sustain it. That said I don’t recognize this version of MT right now.

 

[sWiley]

UTEP has some men at the F position

 

[sWiley]

Kind of fools gold when you compare the 3 point %'s.......those things usually have a way of evening out over the game.

Need to make our damn free throws and figure out how to defend the paint. Seems like we are always giving up easy baskets to our opponents and NEVER get any ourselves....

I really don't understand what this staff sees in Crump. I hate to keep knocking the guy, but he just doesn't have a true role. He is too thin and weak to be a Forward, and he clearly can't play guard with his limited offensive capabilities and average ball handling skills. I have a very difficult time envisioning a future for him on this team....we sure could use his scholarship too....

 

[MT01]

Better first half than I expected but I think I’m going to skip the second half. I have a feeling how this is going to go. Outscored 25 to 12 after we came out hot to start the game. We very quickly regressed to our mean.

 

[SpaceRaider]

34-34 at the half

 

[crposton]

Kind of fools gold when you compare the 3 point %'s.......those things usually have a way of evening out over the game.

Need to make our damn free throws and figure out how to defend the paint. Seems like we are always giving up easy baskets to our opponents and NEVER get any ourselves....

I really don't understand what this staff sees in Crump. I hate to keep knocking the guy, but he just doesn't have a true role. He is too thin and weak to be a Forward, and he clearly can't play guard with his limited offensive capabilities and average ball handling skills. I have a very difficult time envisioning a future for him on this team....we sure could use his scholarship too....

It is difficult to say with him. He is not much thinner than Hawthorne was. Maybe they like his length and hope he fills out enough to be able to play down low. I do think he would be a fairly skilled forward if he can develop his body and skills at that position. Pretty sure he played point in HS, so it may take time. I also do not think we can use a scholarship on a project right now. Hope we figure out what is best for both parties.

 

[coachchia]

While we have played well in spurts, I feel the perimeter defense has been very lacking....
Also, we seem to be out of control with the ball on numerous occasions... and our FT% is dismal...

 

[sWiley]

It is difficult to say with him. He is not much thinner than Hawthorne was. Maybe they like his length and hope he fills out enough to be able to play down low. I do think he would be a fairly skilled forward if he can develop his body and skills at that position. Pretty sure he played point in HS, so it may take time. I also do not think we can use a scholarship on a project right now. Hope we figure out what is best for both parties.

Why bother with a project like Crump when we can sign a known commodity from the transfer portal or a JUCO or a better developed high school player?

If Crump had some crazy upside then maybe it's worth it but he offers us nothing and has shown us nothing in his time here. Terrible on defensive end, non-existent on offense, no jump shot, average ball handling skills......

What else is there to see? I'm tired of a players youth being used an excuse for them sucking. There's talented young players all across the country burning the nets down every night. You can generally tell if a high school player is going to be good or not early in their career. Crump does not have that look....not even close.

Hate to be so mean and single him out, but I want to win and do so at all costs. We don't give out charity scholarships and we have no room for dead weight.

 

[crposton]

Why bother with a project like Crump when we can sign a known commodity from the transfer portal or a JUCO or a better developed high school player?

If Crump had some crazy upside then maybe it's worth it but he offers us nothing and has shown us nothing in his time here. Terrible on defensive end, non-existent on offense, no jump shot, average ball handling skills......

What else is there to see? I'm tired of a players youth being used an excuse for them sucking. There's talented young players all across the country burning the nets down every night. You can generally tell if a high school player is going to be good or not early in their career. Crump does not have that look....not even close.

Hate to be so mean and single him out, but I want to win and do so at all costs. We don't give out charity scholarships and we have no room for dead weight.

I said we should not use a scholarship on a project right now. I hope he does have amazing success wherever he goes, but I want to free up his scholarship on a forward that can help us next year.

 

[MTLynn]

these past two games are the worst shooting games I can recall...

Millner needs to start

 

[sWiley]

can't shoot 50% from the FT stripe and expect to win on the road

 

[crposton]

these past two games are the worst shooting games I can recall...

Millner needs to start

He started 2nd half tonight. Does he start over Scurry or Jackson? Depend on size of team we are playing?

 

[sWiley]

please dont blow this cover....

 

[crposton]

Too many missed FTs overall and open shots at the end.

 

[SpaceRaider]

Every single player on this team is so pathetic and clueless on offense

Need to get some players that can actually make a freaking shot when open...

 

[SpaceRaider]

lose by one, geez...

 

[sWiley]

We look clueless in crunch time. Sims couldn't even get a shot off at the end of the first half when we inbounded the ball with 21 seconds to do so. He literally just dribbled the clock out and didn't even get a shot off in time. Like, REALLY? Maybe run a play ??????????? Motion, screens, pass the ball???????????????

We had 21 attempts at the FT and only made 12.....Lost the game by 1 point....

11 assists......15 turnovers.........0 easy baskets.......Some things never change with this team, that much is for sure. We've got to have one of, if not THE worst, assist to turnover ratio in the country.

There is no excuse to outshoot your opponent by 6%, get more FT attempts, out rebound them, AND STILL LOSE.....WTF?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

 

[Raiderclyde]

Coulda...woulda...shoulda! Just bad basketball.

Blown 13 point first half lead at 22-9, only 12-21 from the charity stripe, and too many turnovers do us in. On defense UTEP ate us alive in the paint in rebounding!

The stat that really hurts: 1-8 in C-USA. Tied for last and one full game out of 12th place. Saturday makes it nearly a must win to reach 10 wins and qualifying for the C-USA Tournament.

 

[MTFNBY5]

I assume it's McDevitt's philosophy to let the players figure it out for themselves but we have too many players who don't "play within themselves". They're trying to do things that have very little chance of success creating way too many unforced turnovers and bad shots.
And don't get me started on the bad interior defense. We must lead the country in uncontested layups and dunks given up.

 

[Blue_H]

At least we found a different way to lose.

In other news, last night at the women's game, I saw signs up for the McD basketball camp so your kid can learn this style of play. Just sayin'.......

 

[RaiderDawg78]

Going into last nights game, we were 337 out of 353 based on analytic rankings on seven overtimes. If we hit 353, I wonder if Massaro will cite that he expects us to show improvement in 20-21, thereby justifying a contract extension in his mind?

 

[RaiderDawg78]

At least we found a different way to lose.

In other news, last night at the women's game, I saw signs up for the McD basketball camp so your kid can learn this style of play. Just sayin'.......

In winter of 93/94, we received an flyer to the Wade Houston team camp at UTK. That’s the season he was fired for going 5-22. Even as a HS sophomore, I remember thinking why would we go there to learn to lose? For some reason your post made me remember that.....

 

[Blue_H]

In winter of 93/94, we received an flyer to the Wade Houston team camp at UTK. That’s the season he was fired for going 5-22. Even as a HS sophomore, I remember thinking why would we go there to learn to lose? For some reason your post made me remember that.....

Ha! Exactly!

Coaching tips probably overheard at camp:

"Don't pass! Take the shot!"
"Ease up on that D hustle. Save it for the O!"
"Easy now! Save yourself for the 2nd half!"
"It's okay! A 24 point deficit can still be cut to a respectable loss!"

 

[FranklinRaider315]

Going into last nights game, we were 337 out of 353 based on analytic rankings on seven overtimes. If we hit 353, I wonder if Massaro will cite that he expects us to show improvement in 20-21, thereby justifying a contract extension in his mind?

I try to look at the bright side. Our Blue Raiders covered and Wiley got paid last night.

 

[FranklinRaider315]

At least we found a different way to lose.

In other news, last night at the women's game, I saw signs up for the McD basketball camp so your kid can learn this style of play. Just sayin'.......

LMAO!!!

 

[MTLynn]

He started 2nd half tonight. Does he start over Scurry or Jackson? Depend on size of team we are playing?

Millner should start over Scurry.