UTEP starters get opportunity to rest in lopsided victory

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RENO, Nev. -- UTEP's trip through the quarterfinals of the Western Athletic Conference quarterfinals was so much easier than anticipated.

When UTEP dismantled Hawaii 80-62 on Thursday afternoon, it made breathing much easier for coaches and fans. It also allowed the Miners another advantage.

Miner coach Doc Sadler was able to rest some of his starters in Thursday's near-free ride. Omar Thomas played 36 minutes, Jason Williams 34 minutes, Filiberto Rivera 33 minutes. Giovanni St. Amant played 22 minutes, Miguel Ayala 25 minutes. John Tofi played 21 minutes and Will Kimble played just 15 minutes.

These things can add up if UTEP reaches the tournament finals -- which means playing three games in three days.

All the starters were able to sit in the game's final two minutes, a time when their life normally is extremely intense.

"I think at this point everybody is used to playing a lot of minutes," Sadler said. "But we were able to rest them; not as many minutes as you would like. But maybe two or three minutes does make a difference."

It will probably not make much difference in tonight's game with Rice, because Owl coach Willis Wilson was able to rest his team, too, as they cruised to a 63-47 victory over SMU.

# Got bounce: Miner point guard Filiberto Rivera got a steal, went in and dunked it Thursday afternoon -- marking his second slam of the season. The first one came against SMU.

Laughing, Rivera said, "Hey, I got bounce. People don't know about it. I had the opportunity and it was two points for my team and everybody got excited."

Especially Rivera.

# Taking the free stuff: UTEP continues to sizzle at the free-throw line. The Miners made 20-of-22 free throws Thursday against Hawaii, a 90.9 percentage effort.

UTEP now has made 169 of 195 free throws in its past 10 games, good for a scorching 86.6 percent.

The Miners current season free throw percentage of 79.5 will easily break the school's all-time record of 76.6 set in 1968-69.

Also, UTEP's 81.8 percentage in conference play is a new WAC record, breaking the previous mark of 80.5, set by Brigham Young in 1988-89.

# El Paso support: Approximately 300 UTEP fans were at the game Thursday, wearing orange and cheering on the Miners.

In addition, the UTEP band rode a bus 27 hours to get here Wednesday. The Miner cheerleaders and some of the Golddiggers also are here.

# Thomas moves up: Thomas scored 21 points Thursday afternoon and now has 1,141 points for his two year UTEP career. Thomas is just one point behind Johnny Melvin for 16th on UTEP's all-time list and needs just 26 more to catch Will Smith and get into the top 15.

Thomas has 646 points for the season, the fifth-best single-season total in school history.

 

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Miners face tough semifinal opponent

Bill Knight
El Paso Times

RENO, Nev. -- And now comes Rice.

UTEP will face the Owls for the third time this season, taking them on with a season at stake this time. UTEP and Rice will duel in the Lawlor Events Center, duel in a semifinal matchup of the Western Athletic Conference tournament ... the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament a step away in Saturday night's championship game.

Rice ripped SMU from start to finish Thursday afternoon, ending the Mustangs' season with a 63-47 quarterfinal victory -- a game that was not even as close as the final score indicated.

"When you talk about Rice, you've got to start with Michael Harris," UTEP coach Doc Sadler said. "He is one of the top players in the league and one of the top players in the country. He's always been a handful for us."

UTEP buried Rice in the first meeting, taking a 96-67 decision in El Paso way back on Jan. 6. The Miners and the Owls had a fine faceoff in Houston on Feb. 5, with UTEP taking a 73-71 decision.

Harris, as usual, led Rice Thursday afternoon with 24 points and eight rebounds. J.R. Harrison had 11 points. Jason McKrieth, the strong 6-foot-5 Owl guard, had just three points and only one assist to go with eight rebounds Thursday. But he again will be a huge factor this evening.

"McKrieth is probably the key to their basketball team," Sadler said. "Everybody knows what Michael Harris can do. If both he and McKrieth get scoring, you are in trouble."

Rice now is 19-10 on the season, with very real postseason hopes and dreams.

"It's nice to be able to move on," Rice coach Willis Wilson said. Ironically, the key for the Owls on Thursday was the same as that for UTEP against Hawaii.

"We were able to get off on a good start from a defensive standpoint and it was something we were able to ride all game," Wilson said. "Our team is such that the offense takes care of itself if the defense is good."

SMU double-teamed Harris twice in the regular season, just as UTEP did. It worked the first two times. It did not work for the Mustangs on Thursday.

"I've been working on it," Harris said. "When I get the ball, I make a move fast and the double team is not able to get there. If they do, you just pass it out. The key for us is just defense. Everybody knows now if you win you advance, if you lose you go home."

Someone will go home after tonight's game.

Two teams, one with 25 wins, one with 19 wins, try to move into the WAC tournament championship game, into an opportunity to gain that automatic NCAA bid.