The Miners (1-0,0-0) opened their regular season with a victory against Western New Mexico University (0-1,0-0) on Nov. 9 at the Don Haskins Center. UTEP came out with extremely high intensity on defense from the beginning and would force 26 turnovers in this contest. This would also be one of the largest crowds for the home opener.
“Defense is something that we’re trying to establish here, it fits the Don Haskins Center,” said UTEP Head Coach Joe Golding in a Nov. 9 press conference. “We’ve got to continue to build on that. Both halves we were able to turn them over.