Wednesday, March 19th, 9:00 p.m. (et).

FACTS & STATS: Site: Don Haskins Center (12,000) -- El Paso, Texas. Television: None. CBI Record: Utah 0-0, Texas-El Paso 0-0. Series Record: Utah leads, 34-31.

GAME NOTES: The third tier of college basketball's postseason lands in the Don Haskins Center tonight, as the Miners of Texas-El Paso host the Utah Runnin' Utes as part of the inaugural College Basketball Invitational. The newly- created event picks up where the NCAA Tournament and the NIT leave off, claiming another 16 programs that didn't make the cut for either of the other two tourneys. Utah is here after losing six of the last eight games and finishing two games under .500 (7-9) against the rest of the Mountain West Conference. During the conference tournament, the Utes defeated New Mexico by a basket in overtime and then bowed to eventual tournament champion UNLV by six points on Friday. Meanwhile, the Miners were almost unbeatable through December, losing only to nationally-ranked Texas A&M and UNLV. But a closer look at the team's schedule during that span shows a laundry list of weak opponents (Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Southeastern Louisiana, USC Upstate, Texas Southern). During the Conference USA Tournament, UTEP made it past both SMU and Houston before losing to Tulsa in overtime (64-62). With respect to the all-time series between these two schools on the hardwood, Utah is ahead by a count of 34-31 and has won four in a row over the Miners in El Paso. With their 60-54 victory three years ago this week, the Utes extended their win streak in the series to 13 games in a row. The winner of this game will take on the winner of the Miami-Ohio/Tulsa battle in the quarterfinals of the event on Monday.

Despite being the team's leading scorer and rebounder with averages of 15.3 points and 6.5 boards per game, Luke Nevill is finding himself coming off the bench these days, rather than in the starting lineup where he remained for the majority of the regular season. While it might be seen by some as a demotion, it is important to note that the only other double-digit scorer for the Utes is also a reserve, Johnnie Bryant. In the case of Bryant, he didn't start a single game for the program this season, on his way to 13.9 ppg, but he did have plenty of opportunity to make a team-best 81-of-181 (.448) behind the three-point line. Last season, Shaun Green (7.6 ppg) was one of the most potent deep threats in the country, but it seems his job description has changed since then, getting pushed more into the paint where he claimed five rebounds per game and left his 37.8 percent shooting beyond the arc as a second thought.

Outside of only a few games this season, the scoring duties for the Miners were mostly handled by Stefon Jackson. Second in the nation in free throw attempts (303), Jackson rarely saw a shot that he didn't like, or take, which led to his 23.7 ppg. The seventh-leading scorer in the nation, Jackson played 35 minutes per game for the program and was responsible for more than five and a half rebounds per contest as well. Marvin Kilgore, who fed Jackson the ball more often than not with one of his team-best 161 assists, contributed another 12.9 ppg to an offense that produced close to 77 ppg. Although he knocked down just 39.3 percent of his field goal attempts on the season, leading to 12.8 ppg, Randy Culpepper earned himself Sixth Man of the Year honors in C-USA, which means Jackson isn't always the only option on offense for UTEP. Just as impressive, Culpepper was named to the league's All-Freshman Team as well, which means he should be around a little longer with the program.

For as hard as Jackson worked this past season, he and the Miners deserve some reward, so perhaps the CBI trophy will be just enough to satisfy them.

Predicted Outcome

Texas-El Paso 75, Utah 71