from the SportsNetwork.com

Texas-El Paso (7-4) at Santa Clara (6-7)

The Sports Network
DATE & TIME: Tuesday, December 30th, 11:00 p.m. (et). 8pm PT Finals of The Cable Car Classic

FACTS & STATS:

• Site: Leavey Center (5,000) -- Santa Clara, California.
• Television: None.
• Home Record: UTEP 5-1, SCU 4-1.
• Away Record: UTEP 0-1, SCU 2-3.
• Neutral Record: UTEP 2-2, SCU 0-3.
• Conference Record: UTEP 0-0, SCU 0-0.
• Series Record: First-ever meeting.

GAME NOTES: The Texas-El Paso Miners and Santa Clara Broncos clash at the Leavey Center tonight in the championship game of the 42nd annual Cable Car Classic. The Miners earned their spot in tonight's title tilt with a solid 79-66 victory over James Madison last night. It was the third straight win by UTEP, which now stands at 7-4 on the year. As for Santa Clara, it had a much more difficult time in its opening game, but it was able to rally for an 83-80 victory over Belmont on Monday. The triumph put the brakes on a three-game slide and pushed the Broncos to 6-7 overall and 4-1 on their own floor. Tonight's game marks the first-ever meeting between UTEP and SCU on the hardwood.

UTEP opened the game with a 17-2 run and never looked back in a 79-66 victory over JMU last night. The Miners shot a solid 44.8 percent from the floor in the contest and that includes a 14-of-33 performance from beyond the arc. Randy Culpepper set a school record by making eight three-pointers and he finished with 30 points to pace the Miners. Stefon Jackson and Gabriel McCulley also got into the mix, netting 13 points apiece. On the year, Jackson tops the roster in scoring with a hardy 22.6 ppg and he is also pulling down 6.3 rpg. The talented Jackson is also just 35 points away from becoming UTEP's all-time leading scorer. Culpepper has formed a solid one-two punch with Jackson, as he turns in 20.5 ppg. As a unit, the Miners are generating 78.5 ppg this season, although they have shown some vulnerability on defense, allowing 75.4 ppg.

The Broncos scored the first 18 points of the second half, as they overcame a 46-28 deficit for an 83-80 victory over Belmont last night. It was a great come-from-behind win by SCU, which shot 46.2 percent from the field and made 14-of-19 free-throw attempts. Kevin Foster led a balanced attack with 24 points and three steals. James Rahon added 15 points off the bench, while John Bryant and Perry Petty chipped in with 11 points apiece. On the season, Bryant has clearly been the team's most productive player, leading the Broncos with his double-double average of 17.9 ppg and 12.4 rpg. Foster is next in line at 11.8 ppg and he is trailed by Rahon and his 10.4 ppg. Overall, Santa Clara is turning in 63.6 ppg and making good on 45.5 percent of its field goal attempts.

SCU has the luxury of hosting this game and behind the support of its fans and a big game from Bryant, it should prevail over a solid UTEP squad.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Santa Clara 74, Texas-El Paso 69

12/30 10:27:03 ET

Santa Clara vs			Texas-El Paso
Points	63.6		75.4	Pts Against
Assists	13.8		13.5	Ast Against
Rebounds	33.4		35.8	Reb Against
Steals	6.0		5.5	Stl Against
Blocked Shots	4.8		2.5	Blk Against
FG%	.455		.451	FG% Against
3P%	.347		.321	3P% Against
FT%	.747		.744	FT% Against
Inverse Matchup
Texas-El Paso at			Santa Clara
Points	78.5		61.0	Pts Against
Assists	15.1		11.1	Ast Against
Rebounds	38.5		28.2	Reb Against
Steals	6.2		7.1	Stl Against
Blocked Shots	3.9		2.2	Blk Against
FG%	.428		.425	FG% Against
3P%	.330		.350	3P% Against
FT%	.711		.698	FT% Against
Inverse Matchup

Team Leaders Points S. Jackson 22.6 Assists J. Stone 6.4 Rebounds A. Moultrie 7.3 Steals R. Culpepper 1.5 Blocked Shots T. Watts 1.8 FG% K. Cooper .553 3P% K. Cooper 1.000 FT% B. French 1.000 Scoring Leaders Team Leaders Points J. Bryant 17.9 Assists P. Petty 3.7 Rebounds J. Bryant 12.5 Steals P. Petty 1.6 Blocked Shots J. Bryant 2.3 FG% J. Bryant .608 3P% J. Rahon .433 FT% S. Thompson 1.000

from KenPom.com

Scouting Report Game Plan

Date	Result	Site	Record	Conf		Prediction*
Mon Dec 29	(130) Santa Clara 83, (79) Belmont 80	Home	6-7			L, 67-65[65] (38%)
Tue Dec 30	(115) Santa Clara vs. (80) Texas El Paso (sr)	Home
Wed Mar 4	(116) Colorado vs. (76) Texas A&M (sr)	Home				L, 63-62[62] (45%)^^
Projected record**			17-13	8-6
Chance of undefeated record				0.00%

^^ because KenPom does not list this game I used (116) Colo at home against (76) Texas A&M as a substitute
(and yes A&M is slower than UTEP ... so this only counts if we dictate the pace)
*Predictions include predicted pace in [brackets] and chance of winning in (parentheses)
**Projected record is based on chances of winning, and therefore may not conform to the
cumulative game-by-game predictions. This accounts for the unexpected results that
will inevitably happen during the season.

Colo 
 Raw Tempo: 65.7 poss/40 min  National Rank=241
 Adj Tempo: 64.6 poss/40 min  National Rank=282

                   Offense               Defense
 Raw Efficiency :  104.3 (109)          93.8 ( 78)
 Adj Efficiency :  101.6 (145)          96.6 (119)

SCU
 Raw Tempo: 64.4 poss/40 min  National Rank=281
 Adj Tempo: 64.5 poss/40 min  National Rank=286

                   Offense               Defense
 Raw Efficiency :  98.0 (220)           99.0 (148)
 Adj Efficiency : 100.6 (156)           95.4 ( 93)
===========================

Texas A&M

Raw Tempo: 65.7 poss/40 min  National Rank=237
Adj Tempo: 65.2 poss/40 min  National Rank=258
                      Offense               Defense
Raw Efficiency :  108.1 ( 63)           93.3 ( 71)
Adj Efficiency :  107.3 ( 73)           94.9 ( 85)

UTEP
 Raw Tempo: 73.6 poss/40 min  National Rank=26
 Adj Tempo: 71.6 poss/40 min  National Rank=49

                   Offense               Defense
 Raw Efficiency :  106.7 ( 77)          102.7 (213)
 Adj Efficiency :  107.7 ( 67)           96.1 (104)

BELMONT
 Raw Tempo: 70.5 poss/40 min  National Rank=81
 Adj Tempo: 70.8 poss/40 min  National Rank=71
                      Offense               Defense
 Raw Efficiency :  110.8 ( 41)           98.7 (142) 
 Adj Efficiency :  111.1 ( 43)           99.0 (152)


 

--- obviously TEMPO will be a HUGE decider in this game ... BTW the Pace for the Belmont game was [76]

NCAAB Matchup Consensus - Team Experts
(for amusement purposes only)

12.50%

VS.

87.50%

Expert Picks for Texas-El Paso

Expert Picks for Santa Clara

Expert Picks for the Over

Expert Picks for the Under