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Tip off Info
Florida International Golden Panthers (4-12, 0-3) at UTEP Miners (2-13, 0-3)
Don Haskins Center, El Paso, Texas
7:05 p.m. Mountain Time
Streaming: C-USA TV ($$)
Vegas says: UTEP is a -1.5 point favorite
Radio: 92.3 FM The Fox in El Paso, or UTEP Miners IMG Sports Network on TuneIn, (Jon Teicher/Steve Yellen)
SERIES HISTORY
UTEP is 7-1 all-time against FIU and 5-1 since the Panthers joined Conference USA for the 2013-14 season.
The Miners have knocked the Panthers out of the league tournament each of the last two years.
Last year the Panthers won at the Haskins Center, 79-69, ending UTEP's 11-game Conference USA homecourt win streak.
MINER NUGGETS
The Miners have held four of their last six opponents to field goal percentages under 40, although they haven't been able to post a win. During that span the Miners' defensive field goal percentage is .411 (129-for-314). In the first nine games of the season, opponents shot 48.1 percent.
The Miners also have yielded 69.3 ppg over the last six games, down from 75.2 ppg in the first nine outings.
UTEP is third in C-USA in defensive field goal percentage for league games only (.401) behind LA Tech (.387) and Old Dominion (.393).
UTEP has had two double-figure scorers in four of its last five games.
Omega Harris is sixth in C-USA in scoring for league games only (20.3 ppg).
Omega Harris has scored 20 points in back-to-back games for the first time as a Miner. He is the first UTEP player to score 20+ points in consecutive games versus C-USA opponents since Earvin Morris did so against UTSA (23) and FIU (25) in March of last year.
Harris has scored in double figures in a career-high 10 straight games. Artis has the longest streak by a Miner player in 2016-17 (12 games).
Paul Thomas has been the Miners' most-improved player since the start of conference play, averaging 8.0 points and 5.7 rebounds with a .579 field goal percentage.
Thomas has played 30 minutes or more in two of the last three games, the only times in his career that he has reached that mark.
UTEP has used eight different starting lineup combinations in 15 games, with nine players making at least one start.
The Miner bench has been outscored by a combined 322-201 this season, with the differential more pronounced in league play (65-11).
UTEP has outrebounded back-to-back C-USA opponents (LA Tech & Southern Miss) for the first time since February of 2016. However, the last time they outrebounded consecutive league foes on the road was in January of 2010 (Memphis & UCF).