Middle Tennessee visits UTEP after Watson’s 25-point outing

By Canadian Press on January 8, 2026.

Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (9-5, 3-0 CUSA) at UTEP Miners (4-10, 0-3 CUSA)

El Paso, Texas; Thursday, 9 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: UTEP faces Middle Tennessee after Kaseem Watson scored 25 points in UTEP’s 76-64 loss to the Florida International Panthers.

The Miners are 4-2 on their home court. UTEP is 3-7 in games decided by 10 or more points.

The Blue Raiders are 3-0 against conference opponents. Middle Tennessee ranks eighth in the CUSA with 23.3 defensive rebounds per game led by Torey Alston averaging 5.2.

UTEP averages 69.9 points per game, 0.5 more points than the 69.4 Middle Tennessee gives up. Middle Tennessee averages 76.7 points per game, 4.3 more than the 72.4 UTEP gives up.

The matchup Thursday is the first meeting of the season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Elijah Jones is averaging 13.6 points for the Miners. Watson is averaging 13.5 points over the past 10 games.

Alston is averaging 11.9 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.5 blocks for the Blue Raiders. Alec Oglesby is averaging 2.7 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Miners: 2-8, averaging 66.4 points, 30.1 rebounds, 11.3 assists, 8.0 steals and 3.2 blocks per game while shooting 41.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 74.1 points per game.

Blue Raiders: 6-4, averaging 72.7 points, 31.4 rebounds, 13.3 assists, 6.3 steals and 4.7 blocks per game while shooting 44.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 70.7 points.

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

The Associated Press

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