SAN ANTONIO — UTSA will open Conference USA play at 3 p.m. on New Year's Day when it hosts intrastate foe UTEP at the Convocation Center. The game can be seen on Spectrum Sports, channel 323 in Texas.
The Roadrunners (5-8) already have matched last season's win total and will look to extend their home winning streak to seven games. The squad also will look to improve on its 16-14 all-time record in conference openers, including a 1-2 mark since joining C-USA.
The UTSA offense continues to be led by Jeff Beverly, who tied a season-high with 22 points in Thursday's victory against East Central to raise his scoring average to 15.2 points per game (11th C-USA). The big man has had plenty of help recently, as the Roadrunners have had five players score in double figures their last two games.
Nick Billingsley has provided a spark off the bench with a team-leading 22 3-pointers and the senior is averaging 15.3 points over his last six contests. Reigning C-USA Freshman of the Week Byron Frohnen has reached double figures in each of his last three contests, while Gino Littles has turned the ball over just twice in his last six games (165 minutes) to go along with 19 assists in that span. The junior went five consecutive games without a turnover and he is averaging 9.8 points since entering the starting lineup on Dec. 10.
Meanwhile, the Miners (2-10) are in the midst of a four-game road trip and the squad will look to snap a nine-game losing streak. However, four of the team's 10 losses have come by just five points or less.
UTEP is led by its backcourt of Omega Harris and Dominic Artis. Harris leads the team in scoring at 16.6 points per game, while Artis is averaging 15 points to go along with team-leading totals of 7.3 assists and 6.5 rebounds per outing. The pair has led the offense to an average of 70.2 points per outing, while the team is shooting 45.8 percent from the floor and 35.5 percent from behind the arc. However, the opposition has shot 46.7 percent en route to 74.1 points per contest against UTEP this season.
UTEP leads the all-time series 9-2, but the team's split a pair of matchups last season. The Roadrunners claimed a 71-67 win on Jan. 16, 2016, when the squads met in San Antonio.
In addition to the telecast on Spectrum Sports, Sunday's game can be heard live in the San Antonio area on Ticket 760 AM beginning with the pregame show at 2:30 p.m. Andy Everett (play-by-play) and Jim Goodman (analyst) will have the call.
Click here for complete game notes.
