UTEP (14-15, 6-9 C-USA) faces Houston (15-14, 9-6 C-USA) for the second time this season in the regular season finale for both schools on Saturday at Hofheinz Pavilion ... tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. MST ... the Miners are coming off a 78-67 loss to sixth-ranked Memphis on Thursday at the Don Haskins Center ... Houston lost at UCF, 75-72 in overtime, in its last action on Wednesday ... it was the Cougars’ third loss in four games, all on the road ... Houston is 10-3 at home, including 6-1 in league play with the only blemish a 79-69 loss to Memphis in the conference opener on Jan. 11 ... UTEP is 1-8 on the road this season, 1-11 in its last 12 road games dating back to the 2005-06 campaign and riding a five-game road losing streak ... the Miners are 2-8 in their last 10 games after starting conference play 4-1.

On The Air ...

The game will be televised in El Paso on Time Warner Cable MetroSports Southwest Channel 24 in a simulcast with KOFX 92.3 FM ... English and Spanish radio coverage is available on KOFX 92.3 FM and ESPN Deportes 1150 AM respectively ... Jon Teicher (play-by-play) and Steve Yellen (color) are the English broadcasters, while Omar Ropele (play-by-play) and Victor Luces (color) are the Spanish commentators.

Noting Houston ...

Junior guard Robert McKiver scored 25 points in Houston’s 75-72 overtime loss at UCF on Wednesday ... the Cougars shot 38.1 percent and were outrebounded 40-28 ... McKiver is second in the conference, averaging 19.1 points per game ... he is shooting 37.3 percent from the field, 33.4 percent from three-point range and 74.8 percent from the line ... senior guard Oliver Lafayette is averaging 14.6 ppg and leads C-USA in steals (2.5 spg) ... McKiver and Lafayette are averaging 3.6 and 2.4 three-pointers made per game respectively to rank first and third in the conference ... Houston is first in C-USA in turnover margin (+5.66) and three-point field goals made per game (10.2), and second in free throw percentage (.724) and steals (8.8 spg) ... the Cougars are shooting 39.3 percent from the field and 32.6 percent from outside to rate 12th and 10th in C-USA in the respective categories.

Series History ...

The Miners lead the series 6-2, but Houston has won both previous meetings at Hofheinz Pavilion -- 56-47 during the 2002-03 season, and 63-57 a year ago ... UTEP beat Houston at the Don Haskins Center, 79-71, on Feb. 3.

Miners Versus Houston ...

Three UTEP players scored in double figures in the first matchup between the schools this season -- Stefon Jackson (21 points), Darren Clarke (13) and Marvin Kilgore (10) ... Jackson had 17 rebounds in that game, a UTEP record for a guard ... Jackson has faced Houston three times in his career, averaging 9.3 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 1.3 apg and 0.7 spg with a .286 (8-for-28) field goal percentage, .250 (1-for-9) three-point percentage and .733 (11-for-15) free throw percentage ... senior guard Kevin Henderson has also played against Houston on three occasions, averaging 8.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.3 apg and 2.3 spg with a .348 (8-for-23) field goal percentage, .308 (4-for-13) three-point percentage and .833 (5-for-6) free throw percentage ... Maurice Thomas has faced Houston twice ... he scored eight points (3-for-3 FGs) and pulled down four rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench in the first matchup between the schools a year ago at Hofheinz Pavilion ... Thomas tallied eight points (2-for-6 FGs, 4-for-10 FTs), five boards and two blocked shots versus Houston on Feb. 3 ... Clarke and Kilgore will both be facing Houston for the third time on Saturday ... Kilgore played six minutes, scored two points and tallied two steals in East Carolina’s 76-72 loss to the Cougars on Feb. 26, 2005 in Greenville ... Clarke played against Houston once while at Saint Louis on March 5, 2004 ... he was on the floor for 16 minutes, totaling five points, two rebounds an an assist in the Billikens’ 72-69 overtime triumph over the Cougars.

The Last Meeting ...

Stefon Jackson scored 21 points and pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds, and UTEP received a season-high 34 boards from its guards in a 79-71 victory over Houston on Feb. 3 in the Don Haskins Center ... the Miners, who snapped a three-game losing streak, didn’t trail after going ahead 17-14 on a three-pointer by Darren Clarke with 12:54 remaining in the first half, but they did have to sweat out the win over the Cougars ... Houston, which trailed by 13 points four minutes into the second half, rallied to pull within three points twice, the last at 66-63 on a free throw by Marcus Malone with 4:58 to go ... UTEP led 72-64 when Maurice Thomas hit a free throw at the 2:22 mark, but the Cougars’ Dion Dowell converted a four-point play to cut the deficit in half with 1:58 remaining ... however, Marvin Kilgore drove for a layup to extend the Miners’ advantage to six points, beginning a 7-0 run that put the game away ... Kilgore scored 10 points and had six assists with only one turnover ... Clarke was UTEP’s third double-figure scorer with 13 points ... Dowell led Houston with 21 points ... Oliver Lafayette added 12 points and Robert McKiver scored 10 points after averaging 19.5 coming in ... McKiver fouled out with 5:54 remaining ... UTEP held Houston to 30.9 percent shooting, including 29.4 percent in the second half ... the Miners outrebounded the Cougars 46-42 ... UTEP, which shot 53.3 percent in the first half, cooled off to 36 percent in the second stanza ... the Miners survived another off night at the foul line, going 22-for-36 from the stripe (61.1 percent).

Miners Give Memphis a Battle ...

Chris Douglas-Roberts and Jeremy Hunt combined to score 40 points as sixth-ranked Memphis held off upset-minded UTEP, 78-67, before a crowd of 11,066 on Thursday at the Don Haskins Center ... the Tigers posted their 18th consecutive victory in the first meeting between the schools in El Paso since 1977 ... the Miners trailed 57-56 with 10:14 remaining and 59-58 with 7:41 to play, missing four shots that could have given them the lead during that stretch ... after UTEP’s Maurice Thomas missed a jumper with 7:10 left, Douglas-Roberts and Hunt went on a personal 9-0 run to extend the Tigers’ lead to 68-58 with 5:13 to go ... UTEP drew within 68-63 with 3:49 remaining on two free throws by Stefon Jackson ... Kevin Henderson, playing in his final home game for the Miners, misfired on a three-point attempt with 2:25 to play that could have closed the gap to two points ... Douglas-Roberts nailed a jumper at the 1:57 mark and Robert Dozier hit a foul shot with 1:34 to go to widen Memphis’ margin to 71-63, and the closest UTEP could get the rest of the way was seven points ... Douglas-Roberts scored 21 points, and Hunt had 12 of his 19 in the second half for the Tigers ... Hunt buried four three-pointers in the game ... UTEP trailed 26-15 with nine minutes left in the first half, but rallied to knot the contest at 36 with 58 seconds to go in the opening period ... the Miners trailed 40-36 at the break ... Jackson led UTEP with 19 points and 12 rebounds ... Jeremy Sampson added 14 points -- making four three-pointers -- and Marvin Kilgore had 12 ... UTEP outshot Memphis 47 percent to 41 percent, but the Mineirs committed 21 turnovers and were outrebounded 47-33.

UTEP in the C-USA Stats ...

UTEP leads Conference USA in assists (15.3 apg) ... the Miners are second in scoring offense (76.0 ppg), and third in steals (8.6 spg), rebounding offense (38.4 rpg), turnover margin (+2.79) and offensive rebounds (13.6 rpg) ... Malik Alvin is fifth in assists (4.5 apg) ... Stefon Jackson is third in scoring (18.5 ppg), sixth in rebounding (6.2 rpg), tied for seventh in offensive rebounds (2.5 rpg) and tied for seventh in steals (1.5 spg) ... Kevin Henderson is fifth in steals (1.7 spg) and 10th in three-point field goals made per game (2.0) ... Jeremy Sampson is ninth in blocked shots (1.3 bpg) ... Maurice Thomas is third in field goal percentage (.553) and offensive rebounds (2.8 rpg) ... UTEP is third in scoring offense (72.2 ppg), steals (8.8 spg) and turnover margin (+2.73) for C-USA games only.

C-USA Tournament Picture ...

UTEP would be locked into the 10th seed at next week’s Conference USA Tournament with a loss to Houston on Saturday, but the Miners could move up to 8 or 9 with a victory over the Cougars and losses by Marshall and/or UAB ... the Thundering Herd and Blazers both enter Saturday 7-8 in league play ... Marshall plays at Southern Miss and UAB hosts Tulane ... UTEP would own the tiebreaker advantage over Marshall, having beaten the Thundering Herd 88-64 on Jan. 10 ... UTEP and UAB split two games this season, but the Miners own the tiebreaker advantage having gone only 0-1 against league-leading Memphis (UAB was 0-2 versus the Tigers) ... in the event of a three-way tie between Marshall, UAB and UTEP at 7-9, UTEP would own the tiebreaker advantage by going 2-1 against that group (UAB was 2-2 and Marshall was 1-2) ... Memphis has clinched the no. 1 seed in the tournament and UCF has clinched the no. 2 seed ... the 7-10 game is set for noon CST (11 a.m. MST) on Wednesday, and the 8-9 game is slated for 6 p.m. CST (5 p.m. MST) at the FedExForum in Memphis.

UTEP Road Notes ...

The Miners are 1-8 on the road this season, with a 72-67 win at SMU on Jan. 20 ... UTEP is averaging 71.4 points on the road (79.8 ppg at home) ... the Miners are shooting 37.9 percent from the field, 28.4 percent from three-point distance and 67.3 percent from the line on the road ... UTEP has had a lesser field goal percentage than its opponent in all nine road games ... UTEP’s rebound margin in road games is -5.4 (-6.3 in Conference USA play) ... the Miners have trailed at the half in each of their last seven road games, and in eight of nine overall (UTEP led 32-20 at the break at New Mexico State on Dec. 9) ... UTEP has had more assists than turnovers in one road game this season (14 assists/13 turnovers at Southern Miss on Jan. 31).

Home/Road Splits ...

Every player on the UTEP roster has a better shooting percentage at home than on the road ... UTEP’s leading scorer, sophomore guard Stefon Jackson, is averaging 19.4 ppg at home while shooting .480 (110-for-229) from the field and .431 (22-for-51) from three-point range ... Jackson is averaging 17.3 ppg on the road with a .400 (52-for-130) field goal percentage and .176 (6-for-34) three-point percentage ... Jackson also shoots 79.9 percent (107-for-134) from the line in home games and 62.2 percent (46-for-74) in road games ... junior guard Darren Clarke is averaging 8.1 ppg in the Haskins Center with a .446 (50-for-112) field goal percentage and .421 (24-for-57) three-point percentage ... Clarke has averaged 5.8 ppg on the road, shooting .278 (15-for-54) from the floor and .259 (7-for-27) from outside ... freshman forward Dale Vanwright has shot 52.4 percent (11-for-21) from three-point land at home, and 30.8 percent (4-for-13) in road games.

Jackson Among High-Scoring Sophomores ...

Stefon Jackson has set UTEP sophomore records for points scored (536) and 20-point games (15) this season ... Jackson ranks third among Miner sophomores with an 18.5 ppg scoring average behind Charlie Brown (21.1 ppg, 1956-57) and Nolan Richardson (21.0 ppg, 1960-61) ... his 536 points in 2006-07 ties him with Nate Archibald (1969-70) and Eddie Rivera (1992-93) for 11th place on the UTEP season scoring chart ... Jackson is chasing Luster Goodwin, who is in 10th place with 543 points scored during the 1984-85 season ... others within reach are Dave Feitl (ninth place, 548 points, 1985-86) and Archibald (eighth place, 559 points, 1968-69).

The Jackson Notebook ...

Stefon Jackson is Conference USA’s only three-time Player of the Week to date ... Jackson was honored by the league on Dec. 4, Jan. 22 and was a co-winner on Feb. 5 ... two-time honorees this season include Rice’s Morris Almond, UAB’s Paul Delaney III, Memphis’ Chris Douglas-Roberts and Houston’s Robert McKiver ... Jackson pulled down 17 rebounds against Houston on Feb. 3, a UTEP record among guards ... he scored a career-high 33 points versus Jackson State on Dec. 22 -- just four shy of the UTEP sophomore record of 37 points, established by Charlie Brown versus West Texas State on Feb. 15, 1957 ... Jackson has scored 20 points in a half twice this season -- on Nov. 16 against UC Davis (21 points in the second half), and again versus Jackson State (22 points in the first half) ... he has attempted a free throw in 28 of 29 games this season (averaging 7.3 attempts per game) ... he has made 154 free throws in 2006-07 (tied for 13th on the season chart) and attempted 212 (12th) ... Jackson is the fifth UTEP guard to attempt 200 foul shots in a season, joining Nate Archibald (1969-70), Charlie Brown (1956-57), Antoine Gillespie (1993-94 and 1994-95) and Tim Hardaway (1988-89) ... Jackson has attempted 10 free throws or more in 12 games ... Jackson has shot 50 percent or better in three straight games for the first time since Dec. 19. He has averaged 21.7 ppg while shooting 61.5 percent (24-for-39) from the floor over the last three contests ... if Jackson shoots 50 percent or better on Saturday for a fourth consecutive game, it will mark the first time in his career that he has achieved that feat.

UTEP Causing Turnovers ...

The Miners have forced 551 turnovers this season, tying the school record initially set in 1986-87 ... UTEP has forced 20 or more turnovers in 15 games this season, including six times in conference play ... UTEP leads C-USA in turnovers forced (551) and turnovers forced per game (19.0) ... UTEP has scored more than 30 points off turnovers in three games (UC Davis, Toledo, Marshall), and is averaging 18.8 points off turnovers per contest ... UTEP’s 248 steals mark the fourth-best seasonal figure in school history ... UTEP has had at least 10 steals in 12 games this season (9-3 record), including seven times in conference play ... the Miners had a season-high 14 takeaways at Tulsa on Jan. 13 ... seven Miners have 20+ steals for the first time in school history (Malik Alvin, Darren Clarke, Kevin Henderson, Stefon Jackson, Marvin Kilgore, Victor Ramalho, Maurice Thomas).

Chart Watching ...

Malik Alvin owns Miner freshman records for assists (130) and steals (42), eclipsing the previous marks of 86 assists by Henry Hall in 1989-90 and 32 steals by Roy Smallwood in 1999-00 ... Alvin’s 130 assists are the 13th-best seasonal figure in school annals ... Alvin is chasing Eggie McRae (12th place, 133 assists, 1999-00) ... Kevin Henderson’s 56 three-point field goals rank tied for 11th on the school seasonal list behind Mark Ingles and Jarvis Mullahon’s 60 in 1994-95 and 1999-00 respectively ... with 38 blocked shots, Jeremy Sampson has tied Greg Foster (1989-90) and Marlon Maxey (1989-90) for the 14th-top seasonal figure ... Paul Cunningham (1982-83) and Brian Stewart (2001-02) are tied for 12th place with 39 rejections.

Talking Triples ...

UTEP has made 195 three-pointers -- fourth-most in a season in school history -- and attempted 583 (second-most) ... the school records are 214 makes and 627 attempts, both set during the 1994-95 season ... UTEP is averaging 20.1 three-point attempts per game and shooting 33.4 percent from beyond the arc ... UTEP established a school record with 37 three-point attempts at Southern Miss on Jan. 31 ... the Miners have already tied the school record by making 10 or more three-pointers in six games ... seven UTEP players have made 10 or more three-pointers this season (Malik Alvin, Darren Clarke, Kevin Henderson, Stefon Jackson, Marvin Kilgore, Jeremy Sampson, Dale Vanwright) for the first time in school history ... UTEP has made a three-point field goal in 203 consecutive games.

Guards Carrying the Load ...

Guards have scored 1,596 of the Miners’ 2,203 points this season (72 percent) ... UTEP has started four guards five times, and three guards 24 times ... a guard has led the Miners in scoring in 27 of 29 games this season ... either Kevin Henderson or Stefon Jackson has led the team in scoring in 13 of the last 14 contests ... a guard has led UTEP in rebounding in 19 games, including each of the last nine ... UTEP’s guards are averaging 20.8 rebounds per game and have been responsible for 59 percent of the team total ... UTEP’s guards have combined for double-digit boards in 28 of 29 games this season, including 30 or more on five occasions.

Two Guards Share Rebounding Lead ...

Stefon Jackson and Kevin Henderson -- 6’5” and 6’3” respectively -- rank 1-2 on the team in rebounding ... Jackson is averaging 6.2 boards and Henderson 6.0 ... a guard hasn’t led UTEP in rebounding since the 1998-99 season (William Smith) ... Jackson is averaging 6.7 rebounds in conference play, and Henderson 6.6 rpg ... Henderson has had seven boards or more in 13 games this season, including a career-high 15 versus UCF on Jan. 27 ... Jackson has had five games with double-figure rebounds, and has snared seven or more on 11 occasions this season ... Jackson has averaged 9.0 boards over the last seven games ... UTEP is 11-3 when outrebounding opponents and 3-12 when being tied or outrebounded.

UTEP Player Tidbits ...

Malik Alvin leads all Conference USA freshmen in assists (4.5 apg) and steals (1.4 spg). He has had no steals in the last two games after having at least one in his previous 13 contests ... Darren Clarke is 3-for-27 (.111) from the field over the last six games, including 1-for-14 (.071) from outside. He has gone the last six games without scoring in double figures, his longest drought of the season ... Kevin Henderson has made a three-pointer in a career-long 17 straight games, the longest running streak on the team. It is the longest string by a Miner player since Chris Craig hit a trifecta in 28 consecutive contests during the 2003-04 season ... Marvin Kilgore is six assists shy of 100 for the season. After scoring in double figures in UTEP’s first three conference games, he has scored in double digits only three times in the last 12 outings ... Jeremy Sampson has nine blocked shots in the last four games. Sampson hit a three-pointer for the first time since the second conference game (Marshall) against Memphis on Thursday. Sampson drained four trifectas versus the Tigers after hitting three in the previous 20 games combined ... Maurice Thomas is the only Miner shooting 50 percent or better from the field (.553). He has had nine or more rebounds in eight games this season, but has averaged 2.6 boards over the last five contests. Thomas is third on the team -- and first among frontcourt players -- with 15 double-figure scoring games.

UTEP Signee a Mr. Basketball Finalist ...

Guard Randy Culpepper, who will be a freshman at UTEP beginning with the 2007-08 season, was named a finalist for Mr. Basketball in the state of Tennessee last week ... Culpepper, who attends Sheffield High School in Memphis, is one of three Class AA Mr. Basketball finalists by the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association ... the 5-11 Culpepper has scored more than 2,600 career points ... UTEP also signed forward Manuel Cass (South Kent [Conn.] High School) and center Wayne Portalatin (The Patterson School [N.C.] during November’s early period ... like Culpepper, Cass is regarded as a national top-200 prospect.

UTEP Building Basketball Practice Facility ...

UTEP is expected to break ground on the Foster and Stevens Basketball Complex this summer, with the building targeted for completion in the fall of 2008 ... the facility will be approximately 45,000 square feet with a cost of $13 million ... the complex will feature two practice courts, strength and conditioning center, sports medicine center, academic/film room, coaches’ offices, locker rooms, equipment room and lounges for the UTEP men’s and women’s basketball teams ... the complex will be situated just east of the Don Haskins Center, near the corner of Glory Road and Mesa Street ... two lead gifts of $3 million each were pledged by Jeff and Sharon Stevens and Paul L. Foster towards the completion of the facility ... Jeff Stevens is Executive Vice President of Marketing for Western Refining, Inc., and Foster is President and CEO of the company.

Miner Nuggets ...

Dale Vanwright is a Houston native who attended Bellaire High School ... with 14 victories this season, Tony Barbee has the third-most wins among first-year UTEP coaches behind Doc Sadler (27, 2004-05) and Don Haskins (18, 1961-62) ... the Miners are 9-3 when they have more assists than turnovers, and 5-12 when they don’t ... UTEP has had nine games where at least one starter hasn’t scored this season, and two games where two starters haven’t scored ... UTEP has only two players averaging double-figure points -- Stefon Jackson (19.4 ppg) and Kevin Henderson (10.7 ppg) -- for the first time since 1996-97, and only the third time in 21 seasons ... the Miners have missed 114 free throws in their last 12 losses ... UTEP is 11-4 this season when making more free throws than foes and 10-3 when going to the line more times than the opposition ... UTEP’s four Philadelphia natives -- Malik Alvin, Stefon Jackson, Marvin Kilgore and Maurice Thomas -- have scored 1,283 of the team’s points this season (58 percent) ... five Miners have scored over 20 points in a game this season -- Malik Alvin, Kevin Henderson, Stefon Jackson, Marvin Kilgore and Maurice Thomas.