Despite the roadblock, UTEP pulled off a 70-61 win over NC Central in the first round of the West Star Bank Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational on Wednesday night.
As the UTEP men's basketball team readies for the start of conference play, defense will be the key for Miners head coach Joe Golding and his team's success.
The short-handed UTEP men's basketball team trailed for 27:30 against McNeese State, but rallied back in the final 10 minutes to beat the Cowboys 82-72 on Thursday night.
UTEP Starting Forward Tydus Verhoeven Enters the Transfer Portal
The UTEP men s basketball program saw another member of the frontcourt enter the transfer portal on Thursday, as starting forward Tydus Verhoeven elected to leave the program as a graduate transfer, per Verbal Commits.
In addition, the Miners saw JUCO transfer Adam Hess enter the transfer portal. Verhoeven and Hess join Efe Odigie and Vuk Vulikić as four members in the transfer portal so far. The NCAA transfer portal already has over 1,000 players electing to leave their program.
Verhoeven was UTEP s best rim protector and anchored the frontcourt s defense through many stretches this year. He started all 24 games at the forward position alongside Bryson Williams in 2020-21, averaging 4.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per contest. His playing time jumped up in a major way from his sophomore to junior year, going from 13.7 minutes last season to 24.6 minutes per game this year. In addition, the shot-blocker (21 blocks