West and UTEP host Missouri State

Missouri State Bears (11-8, 5-3 CUSA) at UTEP Miners (7-12, 3-5 CUSA)

The Associated Press
January 23, 2026 at 9:51AM

Missouri State Bears (11-8, 5-3 CUSA) at UTEP Miners (7-12, 3-5 CUSA)

El Paso, Texas; Saturday, 4 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: UTEP hosts Missouri State after Jamal West scored 28 points in UTEP's 83-77 win against the Florida International Panthers.

The Miners are 6-3 in home games. UTEP is 4-4 when it wins the turnover battle and averages 11.5 turnovers per game.

The Bears are 5-3 against conference opponents. Missouri State has a 5-6 record in games decided by at least 10 points.

UTEP's average of 7.1 made 3-pointers per game this season is the same per game average that Missouri State gives up. Missouri State has shot at a 45.0% clip from the field this season, 0.9 percentage points fewer than the 45.9% shooting opponents of UTEP have averaged.

The Miners and Bears face off Saturday for the first time in conference play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Elijah Jones is scoring 13.9 points per game with 4.6 rebounds and 0.6 assists for the Miners. Kaseem Watson is averaging 14.4 points and 4.4 rebounds while shooting 41.2% over the last 10 games.

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Keith Palek III is scoring 18.4 points per game with 7.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists for the Bears. Kobi Williams is averaging 15 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Miners: 4-6, averaging 69.0 points, 30.1 rebounds, 13.0 assists, 6.7 steals and 3.8 blocks per game while shooting 43.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 74.2 points per game.

Bears: 7-3, averaging 76.4 points, 30.4 rebounds, 13.9 assists, 7.1 steals and 3.2 blocks per game while shooting 44.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.0 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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