EL PASO, Texas – McNeese continues its long road trip on Thursday when it visits UTEP at 8 p.m. CT on Thursday.
 
The game will stream live on CUSA-TV.
 
McNeese (3-7) will be playing its sixth straight game away from home and is 1-4 during the stretch including an 83-68 loss at Louisiana-Lafayette last Wednesday in its last outing. McNeese will be back home on Saturday against Dallas Christian with a 4 p.m. tip in Burton Coliseum.
 
UTEP is 5-4 on the year and defeated New Mexico 77-69 its last time out.
 
The Series: Thursday's game will be the fourth meeting between the Cowboys and Miners with UTEP holding a 3-0 lead all-time. The last time the two teams met happened on Dec. 19, 2011 in El Paso with UTEP winning 69-54. The two teams met in the 2001 NIT first round with the Miners taking an 84-74 win while the first-ever matchup came on Dec. 18, 1982 with UTEP winning 82-72 over a sophomore Joe Dumars-led Cowboys team.
 
Bench Play Key for Cowboys: McNeese has a regular rotation of 9-10 players so far this season while the bench minutes accounts for 40 percent of play, ranking as the 23rd most in Division I. Through nine games, McNeese has scored 312 points from its bench, accounting for 44 percent of the team's total scoring. McNeese's bench is averaging 31.2 points per game.
 
Paint Points: The Cowboys have been a dominant force in the paint early on, scoring a total of 362 of the team's 717 points, an average of 36.2 points per game and just over 50 percent of the total scoring.
 
Opponents high in NET rankings: LSU is ranked No. 3 in the rankings while Wyoming is 20th. TCU is ranked 64th, SMU 107, Seattle 177, Samford 190, ULL is 205, St. Francis Brooklyn 313. McNeese is ranked No. 292. Upcoming, UTEP is No. 168 and Kansas State is No. 91.
 
About UTEP: The Miners are coached by first-year head coach Joe Golding who before leaving for UTEP, was the head coach at Abilene Christian for 10 seasons. Golding has a 3-3 career record against McNeese. UTEP, a member of the Conference USA, was picked 10^th in the league's preseason poll. Souley Baum was voted as a preseason All-CUSA selection.
 
McNeese Projected Lineup:
G Johnathan Massie – 6-5, 200, Fr. (4.6 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.6 apg)
G Zach Scott – 6-4, 175, Jr. (4.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.1 apg)
F Myles Lewis – 6-5, 190, Gr. (10.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.0 apg)
F Kellon Taylor – 6-6, 215, Gr. (9.0 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.9 apg)
C Brendan Medley-Bacon – 7-1, 245, Jr. (10.1 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.1 bpg)
 
UTEP Projected Lineup:
G Keonte Kennedy – 6-5, 180, So. (11.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 2.2 apg)
G Jamal Bieniemy – 6-5, 177, Jr. (14.5 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 2.8 apg)
F Souley Boum – 6-3, 160, Jr. (20.8 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.5 apg)
F Jamari Sibley – 6-8, 184, Fr. (7.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.2 apg)
F Kevin Kalu – 6-8, 184, Fr. (2.3 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 0.1 apg)