UTEP HEAD COACH
RODNEY
TERRY ST. EDWARD’S UNIVERSITY ‘90 THIRD SEASON AT UTEP 10TH SEASON AS A COACH
Rodney Terry, was appointed the 19th head coach in UTEP men’s basketball history on March 12, 2018. He is in his third season as UTEP head coach and 10th overall at the helm of a collegiate program. Terry has chalked up 151 wins as a head coach, while he’s compiled 73 conference victories. In Terry’s second season at the helm, UTEP won 17 games, nine more than the previous season, while more than doubling its Conference USA wins. The Miners posted their first winning season in four years, and made a return to the C-USA Tournament. UTEP finished with a 13-4 record in the Haskins Center, its best home mark and most home victories in four years. On Nov. 12, the Miners beat NM State to end a nine-game losing streak to the Aggies, as the last time the Miners had NM State was on Nov. 22, 2014. The Miner defense held the Aggies to 50 points, their lowest point total in a game versus UTEP since Nov. 29, 1983. On Nov. 19, UTEP defeated longtime rival New Mexico. It was the first time UTEP had beaten NM State and UNM in the same
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season since 2008-09, while it was the first home sweep in the Sun City since 1997. After beating MEAC runner-up NC A&T and Big West Champion UC Irvine in El Paso on December 16 and 17, the Miners won their first WestStar Bank Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational Championship since 2014. Other highlights during the season included UTEP’s largest comeback win in program history. The Miners found themselves down 24 points to UTSA, only to rally and win 80-77 in overtime on Jan. 15. The historic victory also tied for the 24th-biggest comeback in NCAA history. UTEP scratched out another big comeback victory, this time against Rice on Feb. 22. The Miners rallied from 19 points down, flying past the Owls, 68-62. The Miners made multiple improvements from year one to year two under Terry. UTEP shot 74.9 percent from the foul line, ranking fourth in C-USA and 54th nationally. The year prior, UTEP shot 66.1 percent from the free-throw line. UTEP’s 451 made free throws last season ranked second in C-USA, while its 602 free-throw attempts
ranked fourth. The defense also improved, as the Miners allowed 66.1 points per game from 69.0 the season prior. UTEP also decreased its turnovers, while forcing more turnovers. The Miners ranked fourth in C-USA in blocked shots (103) after ranking 12th the season before. Terry directed redshirt junior Bryson Williams, who was named to the 2020 All-C-USA first team and the 2020 District 11 NABC first team. Williams was the first Miner in five seasons to earn a first team spot in conference, while he was the first student-athlete since 2010 to earn an NABC honor. Williams finished third in C-USA, averaging 17.8 points per game, ranked fifth in rebounding (7.2 rpg) and 13th in free-throw percentage (81.1). Williams was named the C-USA Player of the Week three times throughout the season. One of the honors came after his 34-point, 10-rebound performance against UTSA on Jan. 15. Souley Boum also experienced success in his first year as a Miner. The redshirt sophomore led C-USA in free-throw percentage (87.8) and rated 21st nationally. Boum’s single-season performance ranked second in
