BASKETBALL Middle Tennessee (6-11, 0-2) @ UTEP (9-8, 0-2), 8PM, Thursday, January 18, 2024

[SpaceRaider]

TEXAS EL PASO

Location: El Paso, Texas
Enrollment: 23,880
Conference: Conference USA
Arena: Don Haskins Center (11,892)
Website: utepminers.com Twitter: @UTEP_MBB
Colors: Blue, Orange & Silver Nickname: Miners
Head Coach: Joe Golding Record at School: 34-32 (3rd Season) Career Record: 168-146 (11th Season)
2022-23 Record: 14-18 22-23 Finish: T-9th CUSA 22-23 Postseason: CUSA First Round
Starters R/L: 3/2 Letterwinners R/L: 7/6
Roster: Miners

WATCH: CBS SPORTS NETWORK
STATS: LINK
RADIO: CLASSIC HITS 93.3/95.1 (LINK)
NOTES: LINK
HISTORY: LINK

Radio: Classic Hits 93.3 - 95.1

• LIVE STATS
• LISTEN LIVE
• WATCH LIVE
• FULL SCHEDULE
• ROSTER
• MATCHUP HISTORY

 

[SpaceRaider]

25.9%

 

[SpaceRaider]

UTEP Men’s Basketball Opens Key Homestand Vs. Middle Tennessee Thursday - UTEP Miners

Game Notes In PDF Format

utepminers.com

Blue Raiders make first CUSA road trip of 2023-24 - Middle Tennessee State University Athletics

EL PASO, Texas – Middle Tennessee men's basketball is back on the road Thursday for the first leg of its western swing in Conference USA. The Blue Raiders take on

goblueraiders.com

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[SpaceRaider]

excerpt from a preseason preview:

ROAD TO SUCCESS​

For a Golding team, all success begins on the defensive end. He has been a Division I head coach for 10 years now (eight at Abilene Christian, two at UTEP); for the last nine, his defenses have placed higher than his offenses in KenPom’s adjusted efficiency rankings.

The Miners thrive on making you uncomfortable. They pressure the ball, they get you out of rhythm, and they force isolation possessions at an extremely high rate (8th nationally last year, per Synergy). That will not change, though UTEP may look somewhat different to opponents.

“We’re longer in the backcourt this year,” said Golding. “At Abilene and here, we’ve had smaller guys that can get under you. We’ll still do that, but our guards are definitely bigger.”

Tae Hardy is the most notable returner, a hard-nosed slasher who is in his sixth year of college. He and Buffalo transfer Zid Powell will be on ballhawk duties at the point of attack. Powell ranked 28th nationally in steal rate last season, and he looks like a perfect fit in Golding’s intense man-to-man.

The true wrecking ball, though, is Calvin Solomon. A 6-7 Swiss Army knife, Solomon can defend four (and sometimes five) positions thanks to his length, strength, and quickness. Golding thinks he might be the best defender in the conference.

He may not be wrong, either. Per EvanMiya’s player ratings, Solomon is the best returning defender in the league. Second place? UTEP’s own Otis Frazier, who shares many of the same positional versatility traits. A healthy season for Jonathan Dos Anjos would add another malleable forward to the mix, as will Elijah Jones, a skilled East Carolina transfer.

Golding cannot wait to unleash David Terrell, a long lead guard who Golding labeled “an on-ball demon.” Fellow newcomers Corey Camper and Trey Horton may be more valuable offensively, but they have the tools to contribute defensively as well.

 

[SpaceRaider]

ROSTER​

#	Player	Pos.	Listed	Year	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3PT%

0	Zid Powell*	G	6-4	Sr.	24.6	13.0	4.1	2.7	1.9	0.4	41.8	17.6
2	Tae Hardy	G	6-3	Sr.	32.5	12.8	2.7	1.9	1.2	0.3	43.0	32.4
23	Otis Frazier	F	6-6	Sr.	22.9	7.5	4.1	0.7	0.9	0.3	50.3	27.6
13	Calvin Solomon	F	6-7	Sr.	27.8	9.6	6.0	2.0	2.0	0.4	46.4	0.0
34	Kevin Kalu	F	6-9	Jr.	13.3	3.7	3.6	0.1	0.3	0.4	56.3	–
33	Elijah Jones	F	6-8	R-Fr.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
1	Jon Dos Anjos	F	6-8	Sr.	12.1	4.2	1.5	0.2	0.4	0.1	38.0	30.0
4	Corey Camper Jr.	G	6-5	Jr.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
32	Derick Hamilton	F	6-10	Jr.	4.1	2.7	1.4	0.1	0.2	0.0	66.7	–
5	David Terrell Jr.	G	6-4	Fr.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
11	Trey Horton	G	6-5	Fr.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
21	Sebastian Cole	G	6-1	Jr.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
3	Baylor Hebb***	G	6-2	Sr.	12.8	2.3	1.4	1.1	0.5	0.1	46.8	31.6

FROM THE COACH​

“It’s crazy to say this, but we brought seven guys back and we’re happy. That’s a lot in today’s world (of player movement). We ran out of bodies and depth last year, but we have a core group of guys who know what we want, and we added a lot more to that.”
—Joe Golding

 

[SpaceRaider]

MTSU Blue Raiders vs UTEP Miners Prediction, 1/18/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

The MTSU Blue Raiders will take on the UTEP Miners on 1/18/24. Doc's has NCAA basketball predictions, picks, and tips for this matchup.

www.docsports.com

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[SpaceRaider]

25.9%

Line: UTEP -6.5
Over/Under: 127.5

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[FranklinRaider315]

I’ll wait to see which way the sWiley wind is blowing. 😂😂

 

[sWiley]

It's a game you simply cannot touch. After 20+ years of gambling, I simply avoid games with shitty teams that never do anything consistently. You just can't wager meaningful amounts of money on the bottom half of CBB unless you like losing. I look for hot teams that pass the eye test, don't currently have great records, and are still getting disrespected by Vegas. This is the way.

This is currently the Utah Jazz in the NBA and Northern Iowa in CBB, but the lines makers do finally appear to be caught up with them. Raptors too but I have a bad feeling about both Toronto and Utah tonight so I'm laying off after banking a ton. Won $700 last night on UNI @ Belmont. Largest bet I've made in a year. Belmont was the biggest bait in history. Giving the better record team, at home, +2.....they were begging you to bet Belmont. But if you've watched them, you know they're really not that good...and UNI has looked really good lately including nice road wins. You have to take UNI there all day long.

Gun to my head, you play the Under. But I wouldn't bet a nickel on any outcome for a game like this. There are infinitely better plays out there on any given night, though I'm not in love with anything tonight. Probably a medium size play on UW-Milwaukee +2 @ Northern Kentucky but that's it. I have a super small bet on the Jazz but nothing meaningful. They've cashed 5 games straight for me so I gotta keep riding.

 

[FranklinRaider315]

It's a game you simply cannot touch. After 20+ years of gambling, I simply avoid games with shitty teams that never do anything consistently. You just can't wager meaningful amounts of money on the bottom half of CBB unless you like losing. I look for hot teams that pass the eye test, don't currently have great records, and are still getting disrespected by Vegas. This is the way.

This is currently the Utah Jazz in the NBA and Northern Iowa in CBB, but the lines makers do finally appear to be caught up with them. Raptors too but I have a bad feeling about both Toronto and Utah tonight so I'm laying off after banking a ton. Won $700 last night on UNI @ Belmont. Largest bet I've made in a year. Belmont was the biggest bait in history. Giving the better record team, at home, +2.....they were begging you to bet Belmont. But if you've watched them, you know they're really not that good...and UNI has looked really good lately including nice road wins. You have to take UNI there all day long.

Gun to my head, you play the Under. But I wouldn't bet a nickel on any outcome for a game like this. There are infinitely better plays out there on any given night, though I'm not in love with anything tonight. Probably a medium size play on UW-Milwaukee +2 @ Northern Kentucky but that's it. I have a super small bet on the Jazz but nothing meaningful. They've cashed 5 games straight for me so I gotta keep riding.

Belmont’s move to The Valley has really made their conf. schedule brutal. There are few patsies in that league like they enjoyed in the OVC and ASUN. It is fun basketball to watch at The Curb.

 

[SpaceRaider]

15:58

10-2 MT has 5 turnovers

Team Comparison

STATISTIC	MT	UTEP
FG%	50%	50%
FGs	1-2	4-8
3FG%	0%	100%
3FGs	0-0	1-1
FT%	0%	100%
FTs	0-2	1-1
TOs	5	0
PtsOffTO	0	7
TotReb	5	1
DefReb	4	1
Off Reb	1	0
2ndChPts	0	0
BenchPts	0	0
PtsPaint	2	4
FstBkPt	0	5
Blocks	0	1
Steals	0	4
Assts	1	1
Times Tied:	0
Time Tied:	1:04
Lead Chg:	0
LeadTime	0:00	2:58

 

[SpaceRaider]

out of the timeout, MT commits 6th turnover

 

[MTFAN61]

Announcer really thinks Coleman-Jones is 315 lbs? Are they at the arena or broadcasting via Zoom?

 

[SpaceRaider]

10:52

10-18 MT has 9 turnovers

This team is giving me a headache. I'll be lucky to make the season without a stroke.

 

[MTFAN61]

What happened to Tre Green the turnover machine?

 

[SpaceRaider]

MT has 11 turnovers, UTEP 1

 

[SpaceRaider]

7:49

MT 14 UTEP 22

Team Comparison

STATISTICS	MT	UTEP
FG%	44%	37%
FGs	4-9	7-19
3FG%	25%	43%
3FGs	1-4	3-7
FT%	63%	83%
FTs	5-8	5-6
TOs	11	1
PtsOffTO	0	13
TotReb	15	3
DefReb	11	2
Off Reb	4	1
2ndChPts	2	2
BenchPts	1	3
PtsPaint	6	6
FstBkPt	0	7
Blocks	1	1
Steals	0	6
Assts	3	2
Times Tied:	0
Time Tied:	1:04
Lead Chg:	0
LeadTime	0:00	11:07

 

[SpaceRaider]

4:13

MT 23
UTEP 26

Team Comparison

STATISTIC	MT	UTEP
FG%	57%	39%
FGs	8-14	9-23
3FG%	20%	38%
3FGs	1-5	3-8
FT%	60%	83%
FTs	6-10	5-6
TOs	13	4
PtsOffTO	6	13
TotReb	17	4
DefReb	13	3
Off Reb	4	1
2ndChPts	2	2
BenchPts	1	5
PtsPaint	14	8
FstBkPt	0	9
Blocks	1	1
Steals	2	6
Assts	3	2
Times Tied:	0
Time Tied:	1:04
Lead Chg:	0
LeadTime	0:00	14:43

 

[SpaceRaider]

Halftime

34-25 MT trails

 

[SpaceRaider]

Raiders have not led once

Team Comparison

STATISTIC	MT	UTEP
FG%	50%	37%
FGs	9-18	10-27
3FG%	13%	38%
3FGs	1-8	3-8
FT%	60%	85%
FTs	6-10	11-13
TOs	16	4
PtsOffTO	6	17
TotReb	21	7
DefReb	17	6
Off Reb	4	1
2ndChPts	2	2
BenchPts	3	5
PtsPaint	16	8
FstBkPt	0	15
Blocks	1	1
Steals	2	8
Assts	4	2
Times Tied:	0
Time Tied:	1:04
Lead Chg:	0
LeadTime	0:00	18:56

 

[SpaceRaider]

59-73
FINAL

27 freaking turnovers

 

[SpaceRaider]

6-12, against D1 competition: 4-12

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[FranklinRaider315]

Turned it off at halftime

 

[sWiley]

It takes effort to be this bad

 

[MTFAN61]

Coleman-Jones 16 points on 5-9 shooting %, 6-7 from free throw line. Also 11 rebounds for a double double. Box score also showed him with 6 assists.
His talent is starting to show up more & more. Unfortunately whatever he does by taking one step forward the team cumulatively takes two steps back.

 

[SpaceRaider]

Turnovers stymie Blue Raiders at UTEP - Middle Tennessee State University Athletics

EL PASO, Texas — Middle Tennessee men's basketball shot nearly 50 percent from the floor and outrebounded UTEP by 13 Thursday night, but 27 turnovers were too many

goblueraiders.com

 

[JohnDavidBlue]

I dunno who blue raider stats guy is but I like his x’s or whatever tweets are called.

Gbr

 

[SigmaNuBlue]

27 turnovers is impressive. That's hard to do against air.

I watched the first half and turned it off. We are sloppy with ball. Soft on defense. We are what our record is. There is no sugar coating it. This program is completely unrecognizable from where we were.

 

[blueraider315]

I saw the passion, but this team is just not good. i watched it, but spent more time on my phone than actually watching it. Something needs to change.

 

[Hop45]

Severely offensively challenged.........