The UTEP Miners men's basketball team plays for the University of Texas at El Paso in El Paso, Texas. The team is an NCAA Division I men's college basketball team competing in the Mountain West Conference (MW). Home games are played at Don Haskins Center.

History

1966 Texas Western basketball team

As Texas Western, the Miners won the 1966 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. The 72–65 victory over Kentucky in College Park, Maryland is considered one of the most important in the history of college basketball, as it marked the first time that a team with five African-American starters won a title game. It came against a Kentucky team that had no African-American players, during the period of the Civil Rights Movement.

The title team has been chronicled throughout the American media, including the book And the Walls Came Tumbling Down by Frank Fitzpatrick in 1999 and the 2006 Disney movie Glory Road.

The team was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007.

Postseason

NCAA tournament results The Miners have appeared in 17 NCAA Tournaments and were the 1966 National Champions. Their combined record is 14–16.

1963 Round of 25 L 47–65 1964 Round of 25Sweet SixteenRegional third-place game Kansas StateCreighton W 68–62L 60–64W 63–52 1966 Round of 25Sweet SixteenElite EightFinal FourNational Championship KansasUtahKentucky W 89–74W 78–76W 81–80W 85–78W 72–65 1967 Round of 25Sweet SixteenRegional third-place game W 62–54 L 63–72W 69–67 1970 First round L 81–91 1975 First round Indiana L 53–78 1984* Second round UNLV L 60–73 1985 First roundSecond round TulsaNC State W 79–75L 73–86 1986 First round Bradley L 65–83 1987 First roundSecond round ArizonaIowa W 98–91 OTL 82–84 1988 First round Seton Hall L 64–80 1989 First roundSecond round LSUIndiana W 85–74L 69–92 1990 First round Minnesota L 61–64 OT 1992 First roundSecond roundSweet Sixteen EvansvilleKansasCincinnati W 55–50W 66–60L 67–69 2004 First round Maryland L 83–86 2005 First round Utah L 54–60 2010 First round Butler L 59–77

Received a first round bye in 1984.

NIT results The Miners have appeared in ten National Invitation Tournaments. Their combined record is 6–10.

1965 First round L 53–71 1972 First round L 57–76 1980 First roundSecond round Michigan W 58–56L 65–75 1981 First roundSecond round W 57–53L 72–76 1993 First roundSecond round HoustonGeorgetown W 67–61L 44–71 1995 First roundSecond round W 90–60L 89–92 2001 First roundSecond round W 84–74L 65–90 2006 Opening RoundFirst round Michigan W 85–66L 67–82 2011 First round New Mexico L 57–69 2015 First round Murray State L 66–81

CBI results The Miners have appeared in three College Basketball Invitationals. Their combined record is 4–4 and they advanced to the finals in the 2009 tournament.

2008 First round L 69–81 2009 First roundQuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinals Game 1Finals Game 2Finals Game 3 RichmondOregon StateOregon StateOregon State W 79–77W 75–66W 81–69L 69–75W 70–63L 73–81 2014 First round Fresno State L 56–61

The Basketball Classic results The Miners have appeared in The Basketball Classic one time. Their record is 1–1.

2022 First roundSecond round Western IllinoisSouthern Utah W 80-54L 69-82

Miners in the NBA 17 former UTEP players have played at least one game in the NBA.

Tiny Archibald1970Cincinnati RoyalsGus Bailey1974Houston RocketsJim Barnes1964New York KnicksDerrick Caracter2010Los Angeles LakersAntonio Davis1990Indiana PacersScott English1972Phoenix SunsDave Feitl1986Houston RocketsGreg Foster1990Washington BulletsDick Gibbs1971Chicago BullsTim Hardaway1989Golden State WarriorsVince Hunter2017UndraftedDave Lattin1967San Francisco WarriorsMarlon Maxey1992Minnesota TimberwolvesArnett Moultrie2012Miami HeatJulyan Stone2011UndraftedJulian Washburn2018UndraftedWillie Worsley1968Undrafted

Miners in international professional basketball

McKenzie Moore (born 1992), in the Israeli Basketball Premier League

Randy Culpepper, currently plays for Scafati Basket of the Italian Serie A2 Basketball League.

Kent Lockhart, a member of the UTEP team in the early 1980s, played for several years in the Australian professional league where he averaged over 25 ppg.

Retired numbers

UTEP has retired six jersey numbers for seven different players.

UTEP Miners retired numbers No.PlayerPositionCareerRef.10 Tim Hardaway PG 1985–1989 On honors and jerseys at El Paso Times, 17 Jan 2012 14 Bobby Joe Hill PG 1961–1966 Nate Archibald PG 1967–1970 42 Nolan Richardson F 1961–1964 43 David Lattin PF/C 1965–1967 44 Harry Flournoy F 1963–1966 45 Jim "Bad News" Barnes C / PF 1962–1964

Basketball Hall of Fame Nate Archibald Tim Hardaway Don Haskins Nolan Richardson 1966 National Championship team

Don Haskins Center

The Don Haskins Center (capacity 11,892) is the home of UTEP Miners basketball. With fans seated extremely close to the playing floor and the UTEP student section located near the opponent's bench, "The Don" is so notorious as a tough place for opponents to win that UTEP has historically had difficulty convincing top-rated teams to play there. The highest ranked team (#5) to lose in the Haskins Center, which was known at the time as the Special Events Center, was Georgetown (coached by John Thompson), who lost 78–64 in December, 1985. The Miners repeated twice in 1986 against Auburn, 87-83. This happened in the Sun Bowl Basketball Tournament. UTEP did this for the third straight year with a win over #5 Wyoming in 1988. "The Don" is the home of the UTEP Miners, who were the first Division I Men's National Basketball Champions in the state of Texas (1966). (Previous home was Memorial Gym.)

References

External links