Marcus Ruppel News

There were no surprises Saturday afternoon as Alcorn State served as sacrificial lamb for a rim-rattling UTEP dunkfest in the Don Haskins Center.

Basketball is the ultimate team game, an exercise in balance and beauty when all five players are working in tune.

Christian Polk never really let depression make any inroads and, in the end, simply made the most of a lost winter.

New Mexico State basketball fans were introduced to Randy Culpepper two years ago.

UTEP began in a frenzy, smothering everything on the court for the first 10 minutes on this Thanksgiving Eve.

It was a baby step, a step out into the bright lights of the Don Haskins Center.

Though there is not a senior to be found on its roster, UTEP has a talented, veteran roster this season, a roster that Miner hoop fans know well.

UTEP sprinted through a highly energized, highly intense three-and-a-half hour workout Friday evening at its shiny new Foster/Stevens Basketball Center -- the beginning of a chase for victories and championships and possibly even a dance in March.

SCOUTING THE NEWCOMERS: Junior F Derrick Caracter, junior G Christian Polk, freshman G/F Marcus Ruppel, junior G Myron Strong and junior F Jeremy Williams are the five new faces.