Big college basketball in February often means two top-of-the-league teams battling for a No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. In its own way, when the UTEP men’s basketball team battles New Mexico State in the Don Haskins Center, the 229th playing of this rivalry game will be bigger than that.
The Miners and Aggies are both struggling this season, both come in with identical 4-8 Conference USA record that have them tied for 10th in the conference.
The significance of that? Ten of the 12-teams in CUSA make the postseason conference tournament, and at the moment, that means either UTEP or NMSU could be staying home in March.
The winner of Saturday’s contest will have a game lead in that chase plus a head-to-head win. Given that six victories seems likely to at least be in a tie for 10th, whoever comes out on top in this one will have five wins with seven games to play and be in great shape for tournament basketball. The loser is in trouble.
A trip to the Conference USA tournament would give UTEP or NMSU a shot at trying to win the tournament, and ultimately receiving a golden ticket to the 2026 NCAA basketball championship.
What channel is New Mexico State at UTEP on?
The 7 p.m. tip between the Aggies and Miners will be streamed on ESPN+. It will also be carried on 600 ESPN El Paso.
How much are tickets for New Mexico State at UTEP?
Tickets start at $8.15 and provide free admission to the UTEP women’s game against Sam Houston at 2 p.m. Tickets are available at the door or on UTEP’s website.
What are the records for UTEP and NMSU?
The Miners are 8-15 overall, 4-8 in CUSA. They are tied for 10th in a conference where 10 teams make the CUSA tournament. The Miners are tied with New Mexico State, which is 11-11, 4-8.
Scouting UTEP
Where: El Paso
2025 Record: 8-15 overall, 4-8 in Conference USA (tied for 10th)
Streak: Lost 1
Coach: Joe Golding, fifth season (78-78 at UTEP, 236-222 career)
Scoring offense: 69.2 points game (318th out of 361)
Scoring defense: 71.4 points per game (116th)
UTEP starting lineup
No. Player Pos. Ht. Points per game
1 KG Thomas PG 6-1 5.6
4 Caleb Blackwell G 6-1 9.5
15 Jamal West Jr. C 6-6 13.7
33 Elijah Jones F 6-8 14.1
13 Kaseem Watson F 6-9 12.3
Miners to watch
Jamal West, 6-6 senior center
A one-and-done senior who transferred from Nichols State, West averages 13.7 points and 6.8 rebounds with 24 blocks.
Elijah Jones, 6-6 junior forward
One of UTEP’s longest-tenured players (he arrived at the semester break in 2022-23 from East Carolina on a redshirt) Jones averages a team-leading 14.1 points with 5.1 rebounds. He is the reigning CUSA player of the week.
Kaseem Watson, 6-9 junior forward
In his first year after a transfer from Delaware State, Watson averages 12.3 points and makes 37.6% of his 3-pointers, which leads rotation players.
UTEP keys to victory
The Miners are at their best when they run up a big turnover margin, which comes from both harassing their opponent into giveaways and taking care of the basketball on offense. UTEP is undersized and usually gets outrebounded so it needs to minimize that deficit.
Scouting New Mexico State
Where: Las Cruces
2025 Record: 11-11 overall, 4-8 in Conference USA (tied for 10th)
Streak: Won 1
Coach: Jason Hooten, third season (41-45 at NMSU, 302-214 career)
Scoring offense: 75.1 points per game (214th out of 361)
Scoring defense: 70.0 points per game (66th)
NMSU starting lineup
No. Player Pos. Ht. Points per game
21 Jemel Jones G 6-4 16.3
9 Anthony Wrzeszcz G 6-4 8.0
1 Gabe Pickens G 6-0 3.7
0 Julius Mims C 6-9 10.7
4 Jae’Coby Osborne F 6-6 5.4
Aggies to watch
Jemel Jones, 6-4 senior guard
A first-year, one-and-done transfer from Cal State-Bakersfield, Jones leads the team with a 16.2 points-per-game scoring average, which ranks seventh in CUSA, and also adds 2.4 assists.
Julius Mims, 6-9 senior center
A one-and-done transfer from Idaho, Mims leds the team with 8.4 rebounds per game (second in Conference USA) and contributes 10.7 points.
Anthony Wrzeszcz, 6-4 senior guard
Another one-and-done player, the Polish transferred from McMaster University in Canada. He averages 36.5% 3-point shooting and averages 8.0 points per game.
New Mexico State keys to victory
The Aggies big advantage over UTEP is with its bench, as NMSU averages 30.3 bench points per game to UTEP’s 14.6. When the Aggies hit their 3-pointers they are hard to beat and they are one of the better teams in the country defending 3-pointers. Success beyond the arc could dictate this game.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP Miners, NMSU Aggies men’s basketball square off; how to watch
Reporting by Bret Bloomquist, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
