HUNTSVILLE, ALA. — The UTEP men’s basketball team has the richest of histories, but for all the program has accomplished, there is something special in front of them when they take on Western Kentucky in the Conference USA championship game Saturday night.
If the Miners win as a No. 5 seed and make the NCAA tournament — three weeks ago they were a potential nine seed — it might rank as their most improbable of what would be an 18th NCAA bid.
This run has included UTEP’s back-to-back biggest comebacks in CUSA tournament history (12 points, then 14 points), giving them a five-game winning streak against a Western Kentucky team that closed the regular season on a four-game losing streak.
The teams split two high-scoring games in the regular season, and a UTEP team that sometimes struggles to score could find itself in a points-fest.
UTEP basketball vs. Western Kentucky: Score prediction for CUSA Tournament final
UTEP 88, Western Kentucky 85: This would be an upset, but nothing about the last three weeks of UTEP basketball has followed any form. Playing their third game in three days, the Miners will have to go deeper into the bench, but that’s often been a good thing. UTEP has gotten hot at the right time and can now ride that into perhaps the most improbable NCAA tournament bid in program history.
What worked in UTEP basketball’s previous win over Western Kentucky?
The Miners’ 93-87 victory over the Hilltoppers in January marked the most points they scored in Conference USA play and the most points they’ve scored since opening with two lower-level teams at the start of the season.
However, what put UTEP over the top in that game was clamping down on defense down the stretch. The Miners forced four turnovers in a game-changing 8-0 run in the final 5:30 that enabled UTEP to win a game where it trailed most of the way.
The script was different a month later in Bowling Green, as UTEP was scoring with the Hilltoppers for 30 minutes before WKU clamped down on defense late.
The Hilltoppers like to run
Western Kentucky leads CUSA in scoring, and it leads it by a bunch: Its average of 80.7 points per game is almost six points better than anyone else’s, and the average score of their games is 81-74. They scored 89 and 85 points, respectively, in their two easy tournament wins.
The Toppers don’t do it by flinging threes either, they are middling at that, but by outrunning their opponents. That could make them susceptible to turnovers, however they are a solid ball-handling team. They like to score and they are good at it.
UTEP looking for breakthrough in Joe Golding’s third season
Golding’s hiring three years ago generated plenty of excitement, as his Abilene Christian team was coming off a stunning upset of Texas that created a ripple effect that opened up the UTEP job. His first three seasons have been a bit of a mixed bag, as the Miners have shown flashes of potential but also maddening inconsistency.
The one thing Golding’s Miners teams have always done is play hard, but that didn’t always translate to points and excitement.
When UTEP was swept at home last month by Louisiana Tech and Sam Houston there were grumblings. Those are gone for the moment as UTEP is in its first tournament final since 2011, seeking its first NCAA appearance since 2010.
A win in this game would make this season an improbable, rousing success and reinforce the idea that Golding is the man to take this program into a bright future.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP basketball vs. WKU prediction for Conference USA Tournament
